Twilights Moon: Biography: Part IV: From ClockWork to Emergency Exit

Weathered from his work on "Slope," tired from his career, and too young for anything he was doing, Brian had already burnt out. "Oh, I hit the wall, definetly." In a haze, Brian started ClockWork while still working in support of Slope. His poor state, however, made it hard for his work to be coherent. His former manager notes that "ClockWork was an interesting album. There was a certain urgency to 'stike-while-the-iron-was-hot' and put out another product, but Brian shouldn't have done that at that point in his life. He just wasn't healthy enough to keep going at that pace. He was too young. He was too tired." Work on ClockWork stalled for a brief period (as Brian collapsed in the studio) before Brian quickly finished the album, laying down all the tracks in less than 11 weeks. "It was probably towards the end of the 'ClockWork' sessions that I began to seriously worry about Brian. It seemed as if he was cronically depressed. He stopped caring about who was watching him or what he said in the public eye. Larsen got himself together enough to finish the album, and it was released to critical acclaim on January 23, 2001. Brian attempted to tour in support of the record, playing dual concerts of classical songs alongside "ClockWork" material, but Larsen collapsed offstage and had to cancel the remainder of the tour. By March of 2001, Brian was done with ClockWork, accepting it as a "creative loss," although it was met with positive sales and fan support despite Larsen's personal turmoil. "'ClockWork' was a great album," he says, "but I knew I could do better." He took the entire month of March, 2001 off to rehabilitate himself, and began working on the demos that would become "Emergency Exit." "During the day, he would demo songs with an acoustic guitar and piano into a 4-track recorder, and in the evenings, he would record tracks," friend Philip Dennis noted. "It was the happiest I'd ever seen him up to that point." Larsen amassed a collection of more than 50 demos, from which he selected 13 songs that became "Emergency Exit." The album was released to huge critical appeal and fan support on November 27, 2001. "This is the beginning of Brian Larsen hitting his stride," noted All Music Guide's Editor-in-Chief. But before that kind of creative energy could come once again, there would be more personal strife surrounding Larsen.

Concluded on Page 5

An outtake photo of Brian from the early ClockWork sessions, mid-2000

A promo photo from early 2002