The album is an eclectic work of underground music featuring a diverse mix of musical styles as well as lyrical topics, with its songs being primarily based on LaVey's personal interest in the synthesizer. Unlike the public image often associated with his words and actions, and the surrounding controversy, the album has received positive reviews from publications such as AllMusic and is known for its often comedic approach, emphasizing straightforward entertainment. Scholar James R. Lewis of the book Satanism Today: An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore, and Popular Culture has asserted that "LaVey's musicianship is preserved" in both the album and a previous release from 1994 in songs that "are impressive", particularly given LaVey's abilities in musical engineering.[2][1]
In addition to founding LaVeyan Satanism as a belief system, LaVey had a long career as a showman and particularly as a musician, which the album had captured. In contrast to the dramatic and serious public image often associated with LaVey and his doctrines, with his words and actions drawing controversy, the album is a frequently comedic release intended for straightforward entertainment purposes featuring popular music styles of a "lighthearted" nature, including lyrics with romantic appeals and merry-go-round type carnival backgrounds. It additionally features materials from a diverse array of songwriters, including media created in the 19th Century. A praising review by music journalist Greg Prato of AllMusic remarked that "[b]efore listening to this album, one must cast aside all preconceptions of... LaVey". Prato regarded LaVey's diverse take in both musical genres and instrumental skills as "comforting" to the listener, in the context of the whole album's "spooky" nature.[1]
In depth, Satan Takes a Holiday is an eclectic body of songs that LaVey primarily constructed using his personal synthesizer. A few of these tracks are standards, being associated with famous media of years prior, and their composers well known. Nevertheless, LaVey chose all of these songs to create deliberate modes of feeling in terms of emotional tone.[1] His original treatments of many of these releases, and others similar to them in context and style, were performed on a variety of organs that he mastered over the course of his life. Throughout his various experiences, LaVey performed many such songs in burlesque houses, circuses, carnivals, and roadhouses as an entertainer, with his career's twists and turns not necessarily being associated with the CoS in any sense. The album's very title shows this in the context of the positive term "holiday".
Looking back in retrospect, scholar James R. Lewis of the book Satanism Today: An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore, and Popular Culture has asserted that "LaVey's musicianship is preserved" in both the album and a previous release from 1994 in songs that "are impressive", particularly given LaVey's abilities in musical engineering.[2] Still looking back retrospectively, Amarillo Records released Satan Takes a Holiday in 1995, in the context of LaVey's campaigns during the 1990s.[2][1] The independent record label has been known for its association with other eccentric artists (especially in the burgeoning San Francisco music scene of the 1990s) and was created by actor and comedianGregg Turkington, who ironically had absolutely no connection to Amarillo, Texas whatsoever and abandoned the company while also emigrating out of the United States altogether.[3]
Track listing
"Satan Takes a Holiday" – written in 1937 by bandleaderLarry Clinton. Arranged for Hammond Novacord. Originally used as background music for "magic acts and midnight spook shows".
"Thine Alone" – Bombastic version of a 1917 piece by Victor Herbert and Henry Blossom, for stage show, called Eileen.
"Golden Earrings" – Written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for the film of the same name, starring Marlene Dietrich. Vocal by A. LaVey, credited as "The Tipsy Gypsy".
"Satan Takes a Holiday (reprise)" – Vocal treatment of title track by Blanche Barton.
"Satanis Theme" – Written in 1968 by LaVey for the film, Satanis.
The information for the track listings were lifted, at times verbatim, from the liner notes for the CD of this release. Copyright Amarillo Records, 1995.
^ abcdLewis, James R (December 7, 2001). Satanism Today: An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore, and Popular Culture. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. pp. 144–147.
