A little bit of this, a little bit of that...
Mark Bychowski | houston tx | 01/14/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"here's those plucky kids from TG to entertain you on this, their second release & first one to be primarily studio recordings. at this point in their career (3 years after forming), perhaps they were tired of being pigeonholed as a sick all-noise band, so they begin to stretch out by including a solo recording from each throbbing member. as they each contribute something different to the mix, plus they were a band where each person stood out with a unique personality, i'd like to compare each solo recording with the solo equivalent of another band that released solo material from all 4 members that year: kiss. sleazy's "valley of the shadow..." is, like peter criss' entire album, filler. also, if you're gonna be all dark & gross & ... well, sleazy, at least try not to be BORING! speaking of boring, here's cosey's "hometime", which compares to paul stanley's solo; it SOUNDS like TG (very atmospheric with found sound overlaid), but it just kind of lays there, quite inert. at least its half as long as sleazy's, so its here and gone before you know it. chris' "ab/7" is the epiphany of the album. its a SONG - a melodic, danceable, catchy one. chris always seemed out of place in TG (the musician vs the "artistes"), but this short piece established he had a future on his own, just like ace frehley's rockin' lp. which leaves us with little gen, who so obviously is the gene simmons of the group, but here, he catches you off guard. "weeping" is a very heartfelt sad song about gen being dumped by paul stanley, very original sounding, and extremely suprising, much like gene singing "when you wish upon a star", except much much much better.
all this said, the group compositions in the studio ("Dead on Arrival", "Hamburger Lady", "IBM") are among the best they ever did, and the live cuts "hit by a rock" and "blood on the floor" are the first outright signs of TG possessing a "normal" sense of humor (or at least as normal a sense as they could possess).
a cool platter!"
13 successful early experiments in ambience
The Pitiful Anonymous | the Acres of Skin | 01/29/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Throbbing Gristle's "Dead On Arrival- The 3rd and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle" is one of the most inventive albums ever produced. Every track has a completely different approach. It's as if with each track they started from scratch and scrapped past methods. With little to no exception, every track on DOA is a successful exercise in anti-musical atmospherics.
In my opinion the most successful tracks are-
"Weeping" is haunting and menacing, a violin masterpiece with a real melody and an organic feel. One of TG's most memorable moments. "Hamburger Lady" is another fantastic track, supposedly simulating the feel of the inside of a hospital ward where a burn victim resides. It kind of reminds me of driving in intense rain with the wipers going. "E-Coli" combines low synth with cornet and samples of dialogue related to the E-Coli virus, very effective as well. "Walls of Sound" is several TG performances spliced together, sounds a bit like a construction yard.
Some of the other pieces-
"I.B.M" is an inhuman and somewhat grating beginning to the album. "In the Valley of the Shadow of Death" is the first real ambient piece on the album, a spacious, 'grey' feeling mix of static, conversation and weather. This is followed by "Dead on Arrival" which is sort of reminiscient of a moving vehicle or working machine. "Hometime" is supposed to capture the feeling of being at home after school as a child (according to Cosey) and does so, with soft echoing guitar notes. "AB/7A" is a great early synth song. There are also some live snippets, a sped up version of older song "United", some death threats left on TG's answering machines, and 2 bonus songs from singles released in the era in which this was released on vinyl.
What makes this a great album is its amazing diversity and flow- no track overstays its welcome. The less interesting and effective tracks are also the shortest ones. "D.O.A." accomplishes psychologically what many groups with today's technology still can't manage, and it was created with homemade equipment."
Overwhelming
J. M. Myers | Charlottesville, VA | 11/13/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've listened to this album exactly once, on a pair of headphones. The experience was so thrilling and unsettling that I don't know which I'm more afraid of -- that listening to it twice would diminish the impact, or that it wouldn't."
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1
