Silverchair - Neon Ballroom

Knowing what comes next (the brilliant Diorama) it is easy to see this as a stepping stone from the Silverchair of old to a more varied body of work that eventually saw Daniel Johns disband his own group and walk his own path.  Diorama is a complex and layered album.  It has strings and keyboards and unusual song structures.  It is a million miles away from Frogstomp and Freak Show.  Diorama was released in 2002 so is out of scope of these reviews.   Neon Ballroom has songs like Emotional Sickness and Paint Pastel Princess which point in the direction that Daniel Johns was about to head in.  These songs are layered and feature lush production, which are at odds with the loud guitars of the other tracks.   

Perhaps the most revealing song on the album is Ana’s Song. A song about anorexia.  Daniel Johns has admitted that there were so many things in his life that he couldn’t control, what he ate (or didn’t eat) was something he could.  Of course, no one really took this seriously at the time.  What more could he do?  He wrote a freaking song about it!!! But I think the pressure of him being a Cash Cow for so many people made them ignore that he really needed help.  Looking back now, you can’t help but feel for him. No wonder he retreated into his own world for the next album.  And created a masterpiece.