Marquee Moon: The Television album that shouldn't have worked - but did
You ever hear a record so meticulously crafted yet so raw that it feels like it shouldn't exist? That's Marquee Moon - an album born from the CBGB's punk scene that sounds nothing like punk. It's too long-winded, too intricate, too clean. But here's the thing: Marquee Moon isn't just a record - it's a mood, a soundscape, a hypnotic blend of tension and release that somehow manages to be both razor-sharp and dreamlike. And nearly 50 years later, it's still one of the most captivating albums ever recorded.
A different kind of punk
Let's rewind to 1977. The Ramones were pounding out two-minute anthems, the Sex Pistols were sneering at the monarchy, and then there was Television - four guys weaving tangled guitar lines like they were jazz musicians who had a soft spot for Rimbaud. Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd weren't trading power chords; they were painting with guitars, crafting intricate, crystalline duels that felt more like duets.
The irony? Despite coming from the same Lower East Side scene that birthed punk rock, Marquee Moon is about as far from the three-chord ethos as you can get. It's sprawling, poetic, and technically dazzling - but never indulgent. Every note, every pause, every moment of space feels deliberate. This wasn't just about rebellion; it was about reinvention.
The opener that sets the stage - See No Evil
The first track, See No Evil, wastes no time setting the tone. It's taut, it's jittery, and it's got one of the most confident opening lines of any album: "What I want, I want now, and it's a whole lot more than 'anyhow.'" Verlaine's voice is sharp, almost taunting, while the guitars slash and intertwine like switchblades in a knife fight. The rhythm section - Billy Ficca's frenetic-yet-precise drumming and Fred Smith's pulsing bass - holds it all together, never flashy but always locked in. It's the perfect launch into the album's world: urgent, wired, impossible to ignore.
The title track - where rock becomes poetry
Then there's the title track. Ten minutes and forty seconds of pure transcendence. A song that doesn't just unfold - it evolves. It starts with that unmistakable riff, eerie and skeletal, before building into something almost operatic. Verlaine's guitar work here is practically otherworldly, channeling jazz, blues, and something entirely his own. And that solo - good god, that solo. It doesn't shred; it ascends, like a staircase leading into some unknown, electric ether.
People call it one of the greatest guitar performances of all time, and they're not wrong. But what really makes Marquee Moon special is how it feels both meticulously planned and completely spontaneous. Like it was discovered rather than written.
The ghostly beauty of Guiding Light
For all its nervous energy, the album isn't afraid to slow down and let things breathe. Guiding Light is as close to a love song as Television ever got - a hazy, melancholic ballad with Verlaine's voice at its most fragile. It's a moment of quiet introspection before the album dives back into the wiry intensity of Prove It and Torn Curtain.
Legacy: still untouchable
Some albums age. Others just sit in time. Marquee Moon is the latter. You can hear its influence everywhere - from R.E.M. to The Strokes to Sonic Youth - but no one's really managed to replicate it. And maybe that's the beauty of it. It was a product of its time, yet it feels untethered to any era. Even now, when you put it on, it still sounds like the future.
Final Thoughts
Marquee Moon is anything but boring. It's jagged, cryptic, sometimes frustratingly aloof. The vocals can be an acquired taste. The songs demand patience. But all of that is precisely why it's brilliant. It doesn't cater - it challenges. And once it clicks, there's no going back.
Whether you're a die-hard music nerd or just a casual listener looking for something that feels different, Marquee Moon is essential listening. It's the kind of album that keeps revealing itself, even after dozens of listens. And that's the mark of a true masterpiece.
FINAL SCORE: 9/10