The first in a long series of about-faces and left turns,
Visions of Excess forgoes the noise-funk of
the Golden Palominos' debut in favor of more pop-oriented material and staggering lineup of underground luminaries. Built around a nucleus of
Anton Fier, bassist
Bill Laswell, guitarist
Jody Harris, and keyboardist
Bernie Worrell, the album recruits vocalists from
Jack Bruce to
John Lydon to, most impressively,
Michael Stipe, who turns in striking performances on the opening "Boy (Go)" (featuring guitarist
Richard Thompson), the
Jefferson Airplane-like "Clustering Train," and a cover of
Moby Grape's "Omaha." The real find of the record is singer
Syd Straw, who makes her debut on the lovely "(Kind of) True" and "Buenos Aires" and more than holds her own with the big guns.