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Singer-bassist-frontman Mark Sandman died July 3, 1999, onstage just outside Rome doing what he loved most. While it was never intended as a swan song, The Night, Morphine's fifth official studio album (not counting a B-sides collection or a projected live album), has all the dramatic hallmarks of a long, permanent goodbye. The band's "low-rock"--of bass, baritone sax, drums, and Sandman's own Leonard Cohen-afterworld vocals--always had a finality about it. The serious mix of blues fatalism and muted jazz hysteria filtered through the downbeat world of Tom Waits ("Like a Mirror" is gift-wrapped in his image) and other lingering beatniks always means it's 3 a.m. in Sandman's gypsy soul. The title track, "Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer," and "Rope on Fire" will stand among the finest in Morphine's catalog--which will seem deeper and increasingly profound as distance creates a greater mystery for a band that always presented itself as an enigma. --Rob O'Connor

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 49 reviews)

Sax on the Beach by Pharaoh (Erie, PA)

5 Stars
January 12, 2009
By the late 1990's Morphine was at a crossroads. After the well-received but by-the-numbers Like Swimming the band was running out of ideas. They had built their name on the unique minimalist combination of bass, sax, and drums, but it's not so unique if you do the same thing every album. Something more was needed. So they hit the studio, armed with a bunch of ideas about how to take their sound to the next level. Singer/ bassist Mark Sandman didn't get the chance to see the fruit of his bands labors - he died onstage in 1998 after suffering a heart attack - but his contribution to the album was complete, and DreamWorks released The Night on February 1st, 2000; a bittersweet occasion, but one that was necessary for everyone involved. The Night wasn't intended to be a swan song, but that's what it turned into, a dreamy, intimate vibe permeating the albums 11 tracks. Considering the circumstances it's almost impossible to look at the album in an objective light. Many songs go above and beyond anything Morphine has ever done, like the after-hours lounge vibe of 'Souvenir' or the Middle Eastern-flavored 'Rope on Fire'. Violins, cellos, and pulsating organs all have their go; there are a lot of guest appearances on this album. Most of the time this newfound approach is rewarding, taking you to places the old Morphine never dared to venture; even when it's not, it's still something different. On the albums last track, 'Take Me With You', it all comes together - the soft string section, the chug-a-lug drumming, the grace, the general soulful air. Sandman's voice takes wings and soars. I admit it was a weird feeling, hearing him sing 'I can't live without you/ take me with you/ take me with you when you go' after I heard of his heart attack on stage. The Night is the most subtle, mature album the band has ever recorded, becoming a somber, lasting swan song to close the final chapter of Morphine.

Great album by Travis Scott Fisher

5 Stars
March 22, 2007
Jazzy, smooth, and dark. I was really into this album for a while, lost it along with a bunch of other CDs, and just now purchased it again. Takes me back.

Yawn... by Dave Buschow (Marshall Islands)

2 Stars
September 03, 2005
I took the gamble and purchased this CD because of some of the positive reviews that it was given. I'd never heard of Morphine but it felt like it was a worthy risk. I gotta admit I was disappointed. I just couldn't find much substance in the lyrical or instrumental composition. I listened to it many times hoping that I might discover some subtle appeal, but nuttin...I found it empty and boring.

The buzz of the Night.... by Vingilot (EU)

5 Stars
August 31, 2004
Released posthumously, the Night stands out as the culminating masterpiece of the Boston trio. The low-sounding buzzing monotonic jazz-rock vibrates from the speakers without becoming too boring or annoying. Dim the lights, put your feet up, close your eyes and enjoy. I was introduced to Morphine in 1993, when they had just released their classic album "Cure for Pain". The low-rock minimalistic sound with that incredible baritone saxophone just did the trick to me. The songs on that album are quite open to a general audience, with choruslines of many songs like " Buena", "Candy" and "All Wrong" remaining in your head. The sound was low, but quite crisp and clear. Coming from the sound of their more jazz-like debut album "Good" (1993) it had evolved. This debut album contains some jewels like "The Saddest Song" and "The other Side". However, the characteristic baritone sax sound was not that prominent then. I can remember once hearing a live version of "the saddest song" during their Cure for Pain time, when Dana Colley had added more sax to the song; it was great! While anticipation was high, the third album was a bit of a disappointment to me. It was clear to me that the music was evolving further, but IMHO the general sound on "YES" was too experimental. "Free Love" however, contained by far the lowwest baritone sax note ever striking my ears and I found myself up to my stereo set increasing bass to a maximum to relive the feeling I encountered on the one occasion I heard Morphine live (1994): the feeling of my pants vibrating to the dark low waves of the sax. The disappointment about YES was the reason I never bought "Like Swimming". When I heard Sandman had collapsed on stage, but not until he had handed in material for a full studio album, I was curious what his final musical accomplishment had been. From the moment I heard the titlesong "The Night", it just struck me: this was some of the best Morphine had produced. Integrating the jazz-like sound of their first album with the catchy choruslines of Cure for Pain and topped with the experimental flavor of YES Morphine had proven to advance. "Top floor, Bottom buzzer" reminded me again of the some of the cure for pain songs. "Souvenir" struck me as a very jazzy song (especially the drumming), more like the songs on "Good", but then with the improvement I have already been talking about. Then again, The Night also contains unique material like "Rope on Fire". Never in my life I have heard a saxophone play this catchy eastern tune. Marvellous! In "Take me with You", minimalism has been reduced with even backing vocals; but, I have to say, the combination of Sandman's intriguing monotonic sound combined with more instruments (even orchestrated) and backing vocals is very nice to the ear. To me, "the Night" is a Morphine classic with overall quality rising to the level of "Cure for Pain", but with a sound which has evolved and grown. Sandman left us where he was best, in the sound of the Night.

Low rock at its best by A music fan (Portland, OR)

5 Stars
July 26, 2004
This album is my favorite album by morphine. The band mixed it up on this record. Not all the songs sound the same. There is more variety and the band seems to showcase their musicianship well. I finally found a guy singing a song about how partners dont always meet under romantic circumstances. That, mixed with the sax, is the antithesis of the dave mathews band and that alone earns it five stars.

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	Like Swimming by Morphine Morphine's music, which connects with listeners on a very physical level, is so simple it's amazing no one's done it before. Using exclusively low-register instruments, Mark Sandman's two-string bass and baritone voice, and Dana Colley's bass and baritone saxophones, the band's songs actually reverberate in the chest, treating listeners to a low-impact massage. And anything that feels this good can't be bad. But Morphine's blessing--that distinctive low rock sound--is also their curse. Not...
	Yes by Morphine Originally released in 1995, Yes was Boston-based trio Morphine's third album. Featuring Mark Sandman on vocals and slide bass, Dana Colley on baritone sax, and Billy Conway on drums, Yes hit #1 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart, expanding the group's substantial cult following and the appeal of their noirish, guitar free, "low rock" sonics. Critical acclaim for the album and stand-out tracks, including singles "Honey White" and Super Sex," paved the way for Morphine's major label deal the...
	Cure for Pain by Morphine Cure for Pain is a most unlikely artistic breakthrough from a thoroughly unlikely band. Fronted by saxophone and two-string slide bass guitar, Morphine earned a modicum of critical praise for their prior recording, Good, but Cure for Pain has a harder edge and a distinctly bigger sound. "Buena" urges the listener, with singer and bassist Mark Sandman's best come-hither baritone voice, "closer to the front of the stage," and then "Candy" tells a love-lost story that could come right out of Tom...
	Good by Morphine With no guitars and a half a set of bass strings, Morphine managed to rock harder than most of their fret-bound competition while retaining the slippery nocturnal undercurrent that would become their signature sound. On this 1992 debut album, the Boston trio strips down the minor-key blues of frontman Mark Sandman's former group, Treat Her Right, and adds a host of off-kilter elements. Sandman's slide bass and narcoleptic vocals are perfectly complemented by Dana Colley's frenetic baritone sax,...
	B-Sides & Otherwise by Morphine