Hallowed Ground (Violent Femmes album)

The songs were written before their first album. With multiple albums' worth of songs ready, the band decided to focus on more pop songs for their debut album and 'confuse people' with the more experimental songs that ended up as Hallowed Ground. They also stated a goal of "being unpredictable." "Country Death Song" was the first song Gano played to Brian Ritchie after meeting in high school. The Christian-related lyrics on Hallowed Ground were thought by some to be ironic, despite Gano being a devout Baptist. Avant-garde musician John Zorn plays saxophone and clarinet on "Black Girls", and the group Horns of Dilemma perform clarinet and trombone on the rest of the album. ==Album artwork==

The album artwork is a photo of a sculpture created by Mary Nohl. ==Reception==

AllMusic, in a 4.5 out of 5 star review, described the album as a "hellfire-and-brimstone-beaten exorcism that both enraged and enthralled critics and fans alike". RAM agreed it was, "the dark side of country and hillbilly blues, at the same time skidding off on tangents that take in everything from neo-psychedelic to Beefheart to jazz" but also described the album as "remarkably cogent". Legacy Orlando Weekly described the album as both underrated and divisive. The Phoenix New Times, in a 30th anniversary look-back, called the album the band's "finest musical effort" and praised Gano's lyrics as his "definitive moment as a lyricist." and singled out "Never Tell" as his favorite song to play. ==Track listing==

;Violent Femmes • Gordon Gano – vocals, acoustic guitar (1, 2, 4, 7, 9), electric guitar (3, 5, 6, 8), violin (4) • Brian Ritchie – acoustic bass (1, 2, 4, 7, 9), electric bass (3, 5, 6, 8), slide bass (8), celesta (5), marimba (2), jews' harp (8), vocals (2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9) • Victor DeLorenzo – tranceaphone (1, 2, 4, 7, 8), acoustic and electric drum kits (1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9), stompatron (8), percussion (8), vocals (all songs except 1) ;Additional musicians • Mark Van Hecke – piano on "Hallowed Ground" and "It's Gonna Rain", organ on "I Know That It's True but I'm Sorry to Say" • Tony Trischka – banjo on "Country Death Song" and "It's Gonna Rain" • Christina Houghton – autoharp on "Jesus Walking on the Water" • Peter Balestrieri – vocals on "Jesus Walking on the Water", tenor saxophone on "Black Girls", harmonica on "It's Gonna Rain" • Cynthia Gano Lewis – vocals on "Jesus Walking on the Water" • Drake Scott – cornetto on "Black Girls", sackbut on "Sweet Misery Blues" • John Zorn – alto saxophone, clarinet and game calls on "Black Girls" • John Tanner – clarinet on "Sweet Misery Blues" • Horns of Dilemma – clarinet and trombone ;Production • Mark Van Hecke – production • John Tanner – engineering • Warren Bruleigh – engineering ==Charts==