Church of Anthrax

The album blends "Riley's drones and patterns with a more muscular and melodic bent versed in both free jazz and experimental rock."[3] Rolling Stone labeled it "largely stretched-out organ-heavy improvisations, a freak-out in slow motion."[6] The album was mostly improvised on the spot, using two drummers, Bobby Gregg and Bobby Colomby.[7] "The Soul of Patrick Lee" is the only vocal track on the album; all others are instrumentals. No singles were taken from the album.

Terry Riley noted that "John Cale and I had a lot of disagreements about the album, including the way it should sound and the way the material should go. During the last mixing session, John started feeding in a lot of extra guitar tracks over what we had done. That started to obscure some of my keyboard work that I thought should be heard. We had a disagreement about that, so I stopped going to the mixing sessions and they mixed it without me."[7] However, in retrospect he stated that "over time, I’ve grown to like what they did."[7]

In the early 1990s, the duo reunited in New York to record a Church of Anthrax II, but nothing materialized after it became clear that Cale only wanted to produce rather than perform on the album.[7]

Upon release, the album received mixed reception.[2] Rolling Stone called it "one of the finest records to be released this year" but noted that it was largely ignored.[6] Melody Maker described the album as "an uneven record, remarkable for one excellent Cale song ("The Soul of Patrick Lee") and the title track, a brilliantly dense piece of production. Cale's viola and bass and Riley's organ and saxophone create an impenetrable, organic vortex of sound. One of the all-time great headphones tracks, featuring the avant-garde at its funkiest."[8] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice described it as "an album of keyboard doodles posing as improvisations."[4]

Following its reissue in 2014, the Irish Times noted that the album was initially regarded as an "unsatisfying concoction between two motivating forces in the avant-garde," but suggested that "for those who like their minimalism spiked with broken glass (notably "Ides of March"), perhaps it’s time to open the door and walk down the aisle."[2] Record Collector stated that the album "walked the thin line between boundary-pushing experimentation and indulgent jamming, only reaching a cathartic breakthrough on "The Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles"' shimmering collision between Cale’s piano and Riley’s tape-delayed soprano sax."[5] The New York Times called it "an art-rock touchstone."[1]

• John Cale – bass guitar, harpsichord, piano, guitar, viola, organ
• Terry Riley – piano, organ, soprano saxophone

Additional personnel

• Adam Miller – vocals on "The Soul of Patrick Lee"
• Bobby Colomby – drums
• Bobby Gregg – second drums

Technical personnel

• Don Meehan – engineering
• John Berg, Richard Mantel – cover design
• Kim Whitesides – cover art
• Don Huntstein – cover photography

• Church of Anthrax at Discogs (list of releases)