Great Album from the Fathers of Industrial
09/22/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This album is yet another good album from the great, the one and only, Throbbing Gristle. This album is more in the vein of some of their other albums, like Blood Pressure, where there are no real distinct lyrics. Just lots og great atmospherics. The liner notes contain a few interesting thoughts as to if T.G. is really art or if it's jut noise. Well, take a listen for yourself and if you can try to find a copy of Blood Pressure since it is the superior album to this one."
Pure Ambience
The Pitiful Anonymous | the Acres of Skin | 05/03/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This CD is a very interesting recording (not that any TG isn't) because it strays so far from what any other industrial artist has made, even though it was created by the band credited with inventing the genre. I have never heard another album that sounded like this.
In short this is-
Ambient keyboards with a bizarre synth patch that makes them sound as if they are simple pure tones, not any type of instrument. Little to no rhythms of any sort, except in "Merely Nodding" where there is a quiet bass drum on every quarter note. The other sounds on this CD are bizarre squeals/experimentation of guitars and keyboards, performed in seemingly no melodic pattern. Machinery (but not rhythmic like SPK or other early industrial) and unrecognizable sounds are also used. There are absolutely no vocals. There are a couple samples in "Rumour and Dishonour" but they aren't prominent. The album maintains a fairly uniform sound all the way through and the tracks transition smoothly. It could be all one song.
This may sound rather strange, but in all actuality I love this album. It is a beautiful mood setter. Walking down the street or through a field with this album playing in your headphones (I just did before writing this) will change the way you look at everything around you. Letting this play all day may affect your ability to interract with others normally. In this case, that's a good thing. Throbbing Gristle are everything they're said to be."
Kings of Unease
filterite | Dublin, Ireland | 09/26/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Well in actual fact this is probably an easier album to digest than the last album I bought of them - Mission of Dead Souls. The sound is much clearer and while the sound is still very much creepy, it doesn't feel quite so bad. Perhaps this is because Gen doesn't jibber-jabber about dead dogs walking under the car and whatnot. The sound that comes from the machines, synths and guitars sound like an apocalyptic future where the world has become a wasteland. Given how some people are bemoaning about the effects of global warming, you can almost picture the effects it will have in 10-15 years time. It certainly is ugly as it was intended to be but not completely grotesque which I suppose is part of the beauty of it. And therefore it perhaps destroys everything they went for by saying that. Still you've got to marvel at how they manage to make something ugly seem almost beautiful. It's a bit of a twisted concept really. A bit like Gen then, given his transformation from man to woman lately but then that's the whole deal with Throbbing Gristle - twisted concepts are par for the course!"
Track Listings (5) - Disc #1