Local Album

Morphine, The Night (DreamWorks)

Dark star

Over the past few years it became difficult for us to decide whether Morphine belonged in the national or the local categories. Although they had a national -- hell, an international -- profile as well as a major-label deal with DreamWorks, they remained an integral part of the local scene. If it felt as if they'd never really left to become international stars, well, that's because they never really did.

The Night is the disc the band had just finished before they left for Europe on a short tour that would turn out to be their last when frontman Mark Sandman suffered a fatal heart attack on stage in Italy. It had been their most difficult album to complete -- a work that Sandman had struggled with as he wrestled with where to go next with a trio he'd already taken farther than anyone ever expected. Even if it had turned out to be just another Morphine album, another solid collection of the kind of songs he'd been writing all along for the band, The Night would have been fine. But it turned out to be much, much more than that. Recorded at his own studio, at his Cambridge loft, it turned out to be nothing short of a major artistic breakthrough both for Sandman and for Morphine. Using two drummers and drawing on the talents of many of the musicians/friends he'd played with over the years, Sandman brought a broader spectrum of the music he loved into the Morphine fold, opening the band up to a range of new sounds. Yet the relaxed intensity and the vibe, mood, groove, and tone of the album all retained that elemental feel that made Morphine so uniquely Morphine. Which made it all the more tragic that Sandman wasn't around to enjoy the reception that The Night received.

-- Matt Ashare