Although the career of Television has been sparse and sporadic over the years since their emergence in the mid-seventies, their debut album, Marquee Moon, still remains a timeless rock classic and additionally, they are associated with the CBGB's scene from its earliest beginnings rooted in the american punk rock scene; however, the band were anything but punk. The core of the group's sound resulted in a more Velvet Underground approach via the "Loaded" album era and yet singer/guitarist Tom Verlaine's songwriting style is thoroughly original and engaging with a strong sense of melodic punch and lyrical whimsy. The group originally began a trio as the "Neon Boys" including Verlaine, bassist/vocalist Richard Hell and drummer Billy Ficca, formed around 1972, adding second guitarist, Richard Lloyd a year later and renamed Television. CBGB's became one of the starting points for the band in honing their playing skills as well as building an audience following and by the time they attracted the attention of major record labels, Hell had left to form the Heartbreakers with ex-NY Dolls members, Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan. Fred Smith(ex-Blondie) was recruited as Hell's replacement and by the summer of '76 the group were to begin recording their debut album with famed engineer, Andy Johns(Led Zeppelin, Mott the Hoople, etc) behind the mixing console.

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As Verlaine's writing dominates and drives the group's repertoire, second guitarist Richard Lloyd, compliments Tom Verlaine's guitar playing and within the grooves of this record, the two of them utilize their talents within a rock and jazz interplay mold, setting them apart from the punk scene that they orbited during the time period of 1976. Beginning with "See No Evil", their twin guitar attack sets a standard throughout the rest of the recording and is the focal sound of the group, backed with a solid and steady rhythm section in Ficca and Smith, carrying and sustaining the music with a resounding sense of innovation and originality. Pivotal cuts like "Venus", "Guiding Light" and the album's title track are but the high points within a record that contain a perfect blend of pop sensibility matched with a rawness and "bare bones" underground appeal within the genre of the time.

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Other tracks like "Elevation", "Prove It", "Friction" and the album's closing cut, "Torn Curtain" run the gamut of fine guitar driven melodies and consolidates the claim of Lloyd and Verlaine's styles with an impression that this group were quite the innovative muse for what would follow certainly within the "post-punk" scene of the early 80's and on into the alternative rock scene that emerged in the latter part of the decade. The 2003 remaster contains their first single "Little Johnny Jewel(pts 1 & 2)" which contains a much more raw and abstract quality of improvisation and innovation that hinted at what was to come on their debut record. There are alternate takes of "See No Evil", "Friction" and the title cut that differ slightly, moreover within some of the guitar arrangements than the backing tracks or vocal takes. For serious fans, specifically guitarists who follow Lloyd and Verlaine, these alternate takes are quite the find in comparing and contrasting to the finished takes of the record and add to its value of reissue, especially the classic title cut which is the main frame of reference to the record as a whole.

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This release remains a catalyst for future genres of the punk rock scene that would splinter into their post-punk and alternative rock counterparts and groups from the Meat Puppets to the Minutemen to the Cure and even Jane's Addiction owe a great deal of homage to the band known as Television, in my humble opinion.

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Rating Grade- A+