Firesign Theatre: Phil Austin, Peter Bergman, David Ossman, Phil Proctor.

Recorded at Sunburst Studios, Culver City, California in 2001.

THE BRIDE OF FIRESIGN was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Comedy Album.

Recording information: Sunburst REcording, Culver City, CA (2001).

Photographer: Rocky Schenck.

Following two concept albums, Firesign Theatre returns to the multi-threaded approach with The Bride of Firesign, pulling together many of their most memorable past characters into a single story line -- though it's hard to tell how it's all going to come together at first. Peorgie Tirebiter and Mudhead are all grown up and driving virtual trucks for a living, when a shipment of wetware (okay, eyeballs) comes in and regulations force them to actually get in a real rig and take them across the country. Meanwhile, our favorite cop, Lt. Al Bradshaw, is in a heated mayoral contest against our favorite criminal, Rocky Rococo, while Nick Danger somehow gets pulled into the skirmish. Throughout, references to the troupe's previous two albums are dropped into the mix: Peorgie and Mudhead both work for Get Trucked Industries (a division of U.S. Plus), and in the background you get to listen to Radio Now. There are a ton of references to the early albums, too, with old bits subtly reworked into the new story. Unfortunately, the overall experience is slightly marred by a pretty pointless cut about penises right at the very beginning of the album (just skip it), as well as constant references to keywords that can be entered at http://www.firesigntheatre.com for additional material -- but it's easy enough to ignore the keywords and get on with the listening. Fans who have followed Firesign Theatre for the past three decades will find The Bride of Firesign both a glorious blast from the past and a great new adventure, all at the same time. ~ Sean Carruthers