The Empyrean - info

The Empyrean review so far



Up to this point, John Frusciante has not revealed too much information on his new album The Empyrean. I will try to give you a summary of the information that is availiable at the moment.

The highly anticipated The Empyrean, is going to be released on January 20th 2009. Why John Frusciante has decided on this date is for me unknown. I think for marketing reasons it would be wiser to release it before Christmas, but they have decided against it. It might be that he thinks he can't compete with the storm of records that arrives in the build up to everyone's favorite holiday, and wants to mop up what is left of buyer after the
festivities are over. Or, maybe he doesn't really care about all this, because he knows that he has a horde of true fans that will buy The Empyrean no matter what. Or he might feel that he has enough money already.

John Frusciante has started a journal over at johnfrusciante.com where he talks a lot about the upcoming album, The Empyrean. While he seemed to be updating it frequently the first days, he has now disappeared for some time now. I have to say that I miss those posts, so if you are out there John, make us happy with some updates. I haven't really mentioned his last journal entry here, but it consists of some thoughts about The Empyrean. Anyway here is the post:

The Empyrean is a story that has no action in the physical world. It all takes place in one persons mind throughout his life. The only other character is someone who does not live in the physical world but is inside it, in the sense that he exists in peoples minds. The mind is the only place that anything can be truly said to exist. The outside world is only known to us as it appears within us by the testament of our senses. The imagination is the most real world that we know because we each know it first hand. Seeing our ideas take form is like being able to see the sun come into being. We have no equivelent to the purity of that in our account of the outside world. The outer world appears to each of us as one thing and it is always also a multitude of others. Inside to outside and outside to inside are neverending. Trying and giving up are a form of breathing.

- John

Deep stuff, eh?

It's deep alright, and that's just what John Frusciante wants i guess. His first post on the site opened like this:

Hello. This is John. I’m going to keep this blog as a place to write things for people who listen to my music. I’ll just write whatever I feel like saying whenever I feel like doing it. I don’t like the old media channels and this is a way of communicating to people without the filter of magazines and their bullshit that has nothing to do with music.
When I read that I, by knowing John's lyrics and former statements, read; I will write down a lot of stuff that I don't think other people will understand, but as long as I understand it, I really dont care. I guess The Empyrean will be like John Frusciantes other work; a lot of metaphors and other stuff that are somewhat out there. You really have to think when reading and listening to his lyrics. It makes it an experience like no other.

John Frusciante has also released the cover art for The Empyrean. It is a drawing of something that looks as stairs from heaven to hell. I'm really not sure what to make of it, but it looks alright. If anyone care to explain it to me, i would be thrilled. Here is the picture:


The empyrean cover art
Once again, if anyone can tell me the meaning (I am sure there is one, just too lazy to look it up myself), i would be grateful.

On johnfrusciante.com he also demonstrates a hand-brain exercise. It is really good, and you should really try it out. The exercise is not related to The Empyrean, but is something you can do with just about any instrument. In addition he has revealed that his favorite shoe is a sorel boot, for some reason.

That just about sums up the information that is out there on The Empyrean by John Frusciante.

If you have any other sites that provide info on The Empyrean, please let me know.


Also, I have found a site about Motivational Songs that you should visit.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

the cover is hemispherically separated into halves, showing the first symbol, the two parts that are in all human beings, those being open reality, and suppressed subconscious. In the part that is heaven, an angle that has been obscured is connected by a ring, and a golden string to the man, also obscured, in the bottom, hell. Heaven and hell, representing goodness, and the antithesis. The angel is supporting the buried man, who appears to be a fellow whose shares a characteristics of john. This is showing how the two entities are always working with each other, and have to coexist in one subconscious mind. The man is dissected in to separate parts, shows the many mental layers that are in the mind of those individuals who are, or seemed to be trapped in place the cant get out of or a way from. The stair case connected the two halves represent how easy it is to go from one entity to the other, but the stairs are winding and obscured, showing their are things that arise and overcome on the transition. The way the angel and the man appear to be frozen in position, show how easy it is to become part of the two entities, or become stuck in one, and unable to get out. The cover is the message of how when john quit the chili peppers, he recessed into one of the entities and struggle to get out, and experience rebirth.

Unknown said...

The man lying down is Josh Klinghoffer, not John Frusciante.

Bruce Tutcher said...

A wonderful review. The spiritual journey as represented by poets throughout history: Dante, Rumi, Ibn Arabi, St. John of the Cross, Jacob Boehme, Swedenborg, ad infinitum, traverses the realms of heaven and hell

Andi 50000 said...

I think the cover is based on a window in the Tudely Church: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tudeley_church_window.jpg made by Marc Chagall!