If one chooses to categorize the music on this recording as "rock," this is surely one of the greatest rock albums ever made.
But there's the rub.
While sporting many of the trappings of the genre -- the instrumentation (electric guitars), the rhythms, the volume, and, most certainly, the attitude -- there is much about The Ascension that doesn't fit comfortably into the standard definition of the term.
Not only does the structure of the compositions appear to owe more to certain classical traditions, including Romanticism, than the rock song form, but Branca's overarching concern is with the pure sound produced, particularly of the overtones created by massed, "out of tune," excited strings and the ecstatic quality that sound can engender in the listener.
Though his prior performing experience was with post-punk, no-wave groups like the Static and Theoretical Girls, it could be argued that the true source of much of the music here lies in the sonic experimentation of deep-drone pioneers like La Monte Young and Phil Niblock.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lesson No. 2Glenn Branca, Jeffrey Glenn, Stephen Wischerth | Glenn Branca | Play | 04:55 | 11 MB | 27 MB |
| 2 | StructureGlenn Branca | Glenn Branca | Play | 03:09 | 7 MB | 17 MB |
| 3 | Light Field (In Consonance)Glenn Branca | Glenn Branca | Play | 08:18 | 19 MB | 51 MB |
| 4 | The AscensionGlenn Branca | Glenn Branca | Play | 13:09 | 30 MB | 81 MB |
| 5 | The Spectacular Commodity | Glenn Branca | Play | 12:38 | 28 MB | 78 MB |
| 42 mins | 96 MB | |||||
| 42 mins | 257 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ed Bahlman | Producer |
| 2 | Glenn Branca | Composer, Guitar, Primary Artist |
| 3 | Ed Bahlmann | Producer |
| 4 | James Farber | Engineer, Mixing |
| 5 | Jeffrey Glenn | Bass, Composer |
| 6 | Todd Hyman | Reissue Producer |
| 7 | Robert Longo | Cover Design, Drawing |
| 8 | Kevin Noble | Photography |
| 9 | Lee Ranaldo | Guest Artist, Guitar |
| 10 | David Rosenbloom | Guitar |
| 11 | Dan Selzer | Design, Producer |
| 12 | Ned Sublette | Guest Artist, Guitar |
| 13 | Weasel Walter | Digital Remastering |
| 14 | Howie Weinberg | Mastering |
| 15 | Stephen Wischerth | Composer, Drums |
Glenn Branca
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |