Speechless (Fred Frith album)

Speechless
The album cover is white with a grey rectangle in the center tilted downwards to the left. In the center of the rectangle is a black-and-white photograph of the head and shoulders of a crying child. In the top left corner of the cover, on the white background, is the text "FRED FRITH" in black, with the text "SPEECHLESS" underneath it in red.
Studio album by
Released1981 (1981)
RecordedApril 1980, United States
July–August 1980, France and Switzerland
GenreAvant-rock, experimental
Length43:47
LabelRalph
ProducerFred Frith, Tina Curran, Etienne Conod, Robert Vogel and Francois Riether
Fred Frith chronology
Gravity
(1980)
Speechless
(1981)
Live in Japan
(1982)

Speechless is a 1981 solo album by English guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith of the group Henry Cow. It was Frith's third solo album, and was originally released in the United States on LP record on the Residents' Ralph record label. It was the second of three solo albums Frith made for the label.

Speechless was recorded in France, Switzerland and the United States, and featured Frith with French Rock in Opposition group Etron Fou Leloublan on the first side of the LP, and Frith's New York City band Massacre on the second. It is mostly a studio album with extracts from a Massacre concert mixed into four of the tracks on side two of the LP.

Speechless has been described as a mixture of folk music, free improvisation, avant-rock and noise. AllMusic said that it is often regarded as one of Frith's best solo albums.


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