How did it happen? All good things must come to an end, yes yes, of course, but with such tragedy in tow? Is it meant to be? The nature of the beast that this art, this sweet beauty we all cherish wil perish and be gone...forever? Never again will we have and hod, laugh and cry our way through another record from Miracle Legion? The world now knows it's been 3 long years since the release of their most loved and respected "Drenched" album. That exquisite record prompted two world tours, appearances on David Letterman and MTV, an attic trunk full of four star reviews and continued
Miracle Legions' tradition of superexcellence that began with their first record "The Backyard". The date was set to begin the next album. I remember it like it was only yesterday....

Flashback to Newport R.I., offseason, a frigorific island winter. The band rented a house on the point near the railroad tracks. Scott hit the drums and Miracle Legion started writing the classics that would become thos "Portrait...." Then the police came. They came agin. The heater exploded, melting Mr. Ray's cherished Les Paul. A family of skunks moved into the basement. Funky Claude was running in and out, smoke in the water. These problems were solved-The Newport Police....liked the music, Mr. Ray got a new guitar, the skunks hibernated. Little problems solved. Bigger Problems later.

The general routine for the next few months was to drink coffee, write songs, rehearse, watch jeopardy and get freaky in the deserted shining-like surroundings. The group set up a regular monday night gig to try out the new songs and get out of the house. Playing as 'The Danny Kayes" to obdurate locals, it was a lesson in humility but a great escape from the little house by the railroad tracks. It took a few covers (reelin' in the years, it never rains in california) but the regulars came around. The owner Jerry, offered a Wednesday. Things looked good.

Now while art was being made, plans were being laid or the recording of this masterpiece. Producers, studios, flights, all being decided on and plugged into the master budget. The album would be made in New Orleans. Recording would begin in one month. As the beginning drew closer, it became all to apparent that the end was nearer. No one at the label could approve the budget. The start date came and went. Miracle Legion packed up and went back to the mainland and off to Hollywood to find out what can the matter be.

The problem was centered in a shrinking office tower in Century City. The salad days of penthouse views and sprawling, over staffed offices gave way to a tiny suite of rooms on the second floor with a nervouse president and a fidgety lawyer titanically mannig the silent phones. A new investor...The Japanese...Don't worry. The band was worried and asked to be let go. The answer was no. The lawyers moved in and pounded out an agreement and the band was released. The negotiations took a year and a half.

Miracle Legion had taken breaks before, drifted apart and back together, but 18 months of legal limbo was a new kind of rainy day. They played a few shows but that faded. McCaffrey studied French, Mr. Ray became a fencing insructor, Mulcahy went back to Spain and Boutier went to off Broadway in Chicago. Unable to do, they didn't and waited for a chance to be able to make records. Now they could so they did.

This time they asked no one. Drew Waters( see Funky Claude), a long time Legion confidant was called in from Cleveland to produce. They all decided on setting up a studio in an old furniture factory in Glastonbury. The basic tracks were recorded in a huge stone room that was filled with sewing machines. Overdubbing was done in anither room where couches were assembled. It was a work environment, but the work at hand was pure ecstasy. To finally be making the record that had been ready for so long was so satisfying, such sweet amelioration. The music flowed to tape, the groove was so real, like a heart pumping life back into the the sleeping giant. The Rip Van Winkle Legion was awake. They recorded 25 songs in 2 weeks. Giant electric guitars, delicate acoustic guitars, violins, trumpets, flutes and singing. Lots of singing, and plenty to sing about. Domination, Danny Kaye, adoration, teenage prostitutes in Cambodia, desperate love, desperate life and oh yeah, you better watch out because here comes that....buffalo. It's all drenched as it ever was, but this time the consequence is pure Miracle Legion. A Portrait of a Damaged Family.

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"The Connecticut quartet's appela lies in the bright simplicity and decidedly
non-post-modern feel of it's songs. Portrait of a Damaged Family certainly
stands alone in the context of college radio in 1996,and by it's own merits
is probably a bit more soulful and pleasing as a result."

Colin Helms- CMJ

"The somber tone of Mark Mulcahy's voice is most effective on the slower
numbers; there's a puritydeep inside his chords that's instantly recognizable. But
even the the louder songs are stunning on Portrait.If any band of it's generation deserves a second chance,it's Miracle Legion."

Randall Roberts - CMJ

© 1978-1999 College Media, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

"Mid-80's flashback:A tinyEast-Coast punk club,a gathering of indie-pop fans experiencing a collective dropping of the jaws when the band preceeded to blow the roof off with a gale force of sound and vision. Miracle Legion was determined to alter the preceptions of those who'd only heard the sensitive pop-melodic studio side of the band. Now,after an unseasonably long hiatus,the group is back with a lengthy set, directing its trajectory forward. There's still an oddball,caberet sensibility to Miracle Legion,as evidenced by the good timey 'I Wis I was Danny Kaye",the loungey "As Long as You Have a Lovely Time" and the waltzing "Screamin'." Too.the band never lost its affection forthe straightforward,tuneful pop. "K.K.M." is all minor chord jangle from guitarist Mr. Ray and trademark Mark Mulcahy vocal warlble,plus hippieish flute, and "Gone to Bed at 21" manages to moody,gentle,desperate and reassuring all at once within a traditional folk rock arrangement. But present as well is porgressive urge within the band. "You're My Blessing" is a complex,suite like meditation with baroque strings and strangely timbered double-tracked vocals,while "la Muerte di Gardenier" flirts with funk.jazz and hip-hop as surreal lyrics and a Latinized trumpet fly loose 'n' easy. Miracle Legion was always about making the unexpected palatable. That still holds.Welcome the band back."

Fred Mills, Magnet Magazine 1997