5
this album is everything that punk pretends to be.
D.o.A: The Third and Final Report is the second studio album by industrial music pioneers Throbbing Gristle, released in December 1978 by record label Industrial. Pitchfork described the album as "a nauseating masterpiece, and an essential recording". AllMusic stated that the album "is nearly as harsh and uncompromising as The Second Annual Report. While both albums are a mixture of live and studio material, D.o.A is much more stylistically varied -- rather than focusing on multiple versions of the same pieces (plus a 20-minute film score), each of the 13 tracks is distinct, ranging from captured conversations to thoroughly composed creations." The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. On the album, Throbbing Gristle member Chris Carter recalled: "DoA showcased some of our strongest work and established the course we would head in."
this album is everything that punk pretends to be.
Just random noise. It's heartwarming to know that a complete lack of musical talent or ability is no barrier to creating an influential album. With that in mind, I hereby announce that my innovative pop duo 'Bumblecheek and the Reverb' is working on its debut album, to be titled 'Sexual Overcoat'. I fully expect inclusion in the next edition of the '1001 albums...' book. Rating: 1/5 Playlist track: AB/7A Date listened: 07/06/22
if someone tells you they are really in to throbbing gristle you've either accidentally walked in to a BDSM club or you're talking to someone who is such a music aficionado they've decided the way to keep themselves in their ivory tower is to listen to something extremely close to unlistenable because you proles don't get it. that being said, i'd rather listen to this than kanye or beyonce. what's the safe word again?
Bad music. I hate anyone who likes this.
I can feel the rhythm coursing through my veins. The remarkable thing about it is that some people think it's a joke and just random industrial noises, but those of us who are in the biz, know how powerful and influential this record is. It's breathtaking in its ruthlessness. It's not afraid to go to places you never knew you needed to go. A masterful triumph of heavyweight crescendos and thunderous beats. Danger lies around every corner. Beware.
Massive banger after massive banger. Huge soaring choruses, exquisite melodies and perfectly polished pop hooks. An earworm if ever there was one.
What the fuck 0/5
This is some weird ass shit I'm grateful to have learned about today.
Well that was a cheery start to Monday morning. It's not exactly Britney Spears. Pleasant, but you'd be hard pushed to call it music. More of a project.
I'm surprised more people haven't taken the time to review this album, for good or for bad. Thumbs up to anyone who gave it a shot. Yes, it's a difficult listen, but it's also pretty fascinating. I doubt I would listen to this again in its entirety, but it was interesting. You'd be hard pressed to find many musical acts as adventurous as Throbbing Gristle is on this album. They really push the boundaries of what you can call music, and also for our tolerance as listeners. Their palette is noise - blips, feedback, guitar distortion, fragments of conversations. Sometimes the effect is oddly musical, sometimes it's aggressively grating. The lyrics, if you care to look them up, can get disturbing. The general vibe is definitely creepy, but in the middle, a bright, synth-y song like "AB/7A." Go figure. There are some interesting ideas here, but I think the arrangement of the songs could have been a little more precise, like ordering the the songs so they flow better. The way they're organized now, they come off as tonally a little haphazard. I also think they could have dropped a couple of tracks and had a much tighter album. As for my review, I've been back and forth between 2 and 3 stars. That's not because I think it's bad necessarily, but because it's really challenging (and I like challenging stuff). Intellectually I appreciate it, but it's also unsettling in a way I didn't enjoy. Fave Songs: AB/7A, Dead on Arrival, Weeping
Honestly not bad. I cannot believe this is the lowest rated album on this entire website. Sometimes your brain needs to be challenged a bit, and this was a very interesting series of sound experiments. i can totally see how this is the grandfather to NIN.
If nothing else, this sounds like nothing else that had been put on record at that time. A real mix of styles, from Weeping to AB/7A, I love all aspects of this album. You could say AB/7A owes a debt to Kraftwerk, but Hamburger Lady sounds unlike any other artist (thankfully). In equal parts uplifting and downright scary, this is not an album I would sit down and listen to very often, but certainly one that has had a massive influence in my subsequent musical taste.
Ok...what the F&^% was that? Most of the album isn't music. The tracks that can be called music are 'interesting' but does that make it good? Is this something I want to listen to?
Congratulations, you experiment with what you could make music out of. And you do it in the worst way possible. Out of the first 4 tracks, literally only one of them has any melodic value. The only reason "I.B.M." is the third most played track on the album is that it's the opener and a good amount of people shut off the record before they get a minute in. Most of these tracks are nothing more than either shock value or an academic study into the extremities of meshing various sounds with abrasive electronic effects, but even then little to no worth could be found in comparison to their more refined follow-up "20 Jazz Funk Greats" which actually served as the primary influence of the industrial genre. As a fan of noise rock, I quite fancy the chaotic "Hit by a Rock", but really the album starts with "Dead on Arrival," one of the two tracks alongside "AB/7A" as a harsh response to Kraftwerk. "Weeping" is a personal favorite of mine if only cause they managed to make something that sounds like it came from The Madcap Laughs even more disturbing than anything Syd Barrett came up with. Good for a couple of listens but you get a bit tired of the 5.5-minute length. Next, we have "Hamburger Lady", and if you're wondering why it's the most popular song, it's cause it's actually quite notorious as being one of the most unsettling songs in music history. Personally, I find it intriguing but nothing more emotional, unfortunately. Only one of the next 5 tracks is actually melodic, the beforementioned Kraftwerk-esque "AB/7A", which has nice school cafeteria ambiance in the background and hilariously gruesome lyrics. Brilliant. Finally, we end with an ironically bad punk closer "Blood on the Floor". I fancy it. I give 1 star to albums that have no worth or interest at all. This is not a 1-star album. I'd listen to "Hit By a Rock" or "Weeping" again for pleasure. There's plenty to revisit for curiosity and to share with others, whether to shock them or show them something of note. However, I would advise never listening to the album in its entirety ever again. Favorites: Hit By a Rock, Weeping, Hamburger Lady
What a wonderful album, it has so many of Throbbing Gristles biggest hits like 'Hit By A Rock', 'Valley of the Shadow of Death', 'AB/7A' and the all time classic 'Death Threats'. They made such sweet sounds back in the 70's, you have to wonder how many babies were conceived listening to this timeless album. Everything about it is wonderful; the classic songwriting of Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti, the gorgeous vocal harmonies, the immaculate string arrangements, the sparkling production. I could go on and on. No seriously, this was terrible. It was like being sat in a dentist chair having all my teeth pulled out without anesthetic. How the F**k does this qualify as music??? There's nothing clever or ground breaking or artistic about it. It's just a pile of garbage. Stop wasting my f**king time with this nonsense!!!!!!
Creepy. Weird. Kind of cool? Maybe? Probably not. I thought I enjoyed industrial music. This album makes me feel like a schizophrenic. Fave tracks: AB/7A
Yeah, no.
Wow. My first thought was thank god it wasn't more punk. My second was noisy! Really grew on me though as it poured its sinister sampling sound down my ears. Dark and sombre. I've never heard of Throbbing Gristle but will check out their other stuff now for sure. Amazing such a challenging sound got released. Definitely not dinner party music! Best tracks - Hamburger Lady, AB/7A, E-Coli. I need to listen to this again.
Went into this with low expectations, but it turned out to be quite an interesting album. Experimental and unsettling at times, but it kept me intrigued.
This is totally my jam
Grinding, burbling synths and processed vocal samples. Yet surprisingly soothing. Maybe there’s something wrong with me.
I found this album to be quite interesting. While it's not something I would listen to regularly, I didn't find it to be the inaccessible barrage of noise a lot of "industrial" albums are. At times I found it to actually be almost relaxing, more akin to an ambient work. The use of spoken word recordings on a couple tracks such as Valley of the Shadow of Death and Hometime had the feeling of being in a cafe or watching someone's old home recordings. The punk-like tracks Hit By a Rock and Blood on the Floor are pretty standard of the time. Then there are the tracks in the middle that experiment more with the synth and vocal effects, to varying degrees of success, but some are actually quite good. There are also a few tracks that lean more towards the noisy/industrial side like I.B.M, Dead on Arrival and Walls of Sound that I could do without. Overall I think this is interesting piece of musical history. Very experimental, it gets a few things right and a few things wrong. I'm glad I got to listen. Fav Tracks: Hamburger Lady, AB/7A, E-Coli
This one didn't speak to me
Weird. I didn't enjoy this AT ALL! Would be a 1, but bonus star for badass band name! Ye must worship the THROBBING GRISTLE!
Had given this album a try before out of curiosity but still do not see why this is an "essential" album - experimental pre-industrial 70s music that deliberately sounds ugly and lo-fi (it sounds exactly as what you would expect it to sound like). The follow-up "20 Jazz Funk Greats" is better (more pop) and would be a more appropriate choice for this list (i assume it is included as well).
I'm presuming they've been included as a joke. because there's NOTHING on display here of anything resembling musicianship or song craft. truly awful
Not sure where the music in this one was.... Its just some experimental sounds with dinner table chatter in the background
I hate that I have to give any stars to this. This is shameful to include on this list.
Err yeah, I've heard of them was quite excited to engage with their notorious avant garde sounds. I can't lie I really wanted to like this, in electronica they have this rep early pioneers and all. But it was a large bag of rat infested goats shit. Im sure they had cerebral laughs making it, I was just glad when it was over.
All I can say is - literally oh my days blud.
This is definitely the worst album I’ve listened to yet. At least electronic music can be enjoyed and has direction. This is pure nonsense and a collection of noises. 0.0/10
Horrible. Many tracks didn’t even have lyrics, just noise on top of electronic noise “. When there were ‘lyrics’ it was spoken word garbage
Absolute trash. This isn't music. It is random noise and is an unorganized mess. Several songs were skipped. Burn it down.
Äntligen något bra. Jag har fått lyssna på den ena dåliga plattan efter den andre. Hårdrock och Hip-hop. Blir förundrad över att den har så låga poäng. Folk har ingen kultur i kroppen. Har radar Throbbing Gristle med Genesis P-Orridge i spetsen hit efter hit. Ska jag försöka säga något negativt med plattan så ska det väl vara att de inte fick med singelversionen av United. 16 sekunder är lite för kort.
Protean horrors.
Full marks for being different and influential and pushing the DIY envelope in arty ways. However, on substance, this is moderately interesting at best and often primitive-sounding. Much of it barely qualifies as music or, for that matter, a record. "Found sound" (especially answering machine content) jumped the shark quite some time ago, no? One might be just intrigued enough to explore a touch more of the catalog (liking soundscapes, obscurities and irrelevant artistic endeavors as much as one tends to do), but it’s certainly not a no-brainer and one’s skeptical about finding much else worthwhile.
For having the second-lowest rating on this site (as of writing this), I expected it to be a lot worse. It turns out it’s just…boring. It reminded of Boards of Canada but industrial. It was very light on any actual music or rhythm but I didn’t mind it at all. It’s interesting this is from the late 70s; I would have guessed mid to late 90s. Consider me confused why this is so hated.
D.o.A: The Third and Final Report is the second album by English industrial music pioneers Throbbing Gristle. In this album the band continued toying with industrial music - which is a genre of music that uses harsh, mechanical, transgressive, or provocative sounds and themes. Defined in simple terms, industrial music is the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music". The genre began as a blend of noisy patterns from electronic devices and punk rock. This album was one of the early works of industrial music and was an "essential, nauseating masterpiece". I'm not sure I would echo that previous sentence, but this was an interesting album. Less music and instead more random sounds strewn together in rhythmic patterns. It was definitely trippy, but not something I would ever go out of my way to listen to. Also, what's with the little girl on the album cover? I read they gave away a calendar of her with the first 1,000 album purchases. That's more than a little weird - but I guess it wasn't weird for the late 70's.
That sure throbbed my gristle.
Is this album a collection of songs? Is this a song? Am I listening to a song or working in a factory in 1980? Is this reality? What I'm doing listening to it? Who am I? I need to give this album an extra star for predicting 1978 how AI-generated songs would look like in 2023. Impressive.
Ik vind chip-music wel leuk, maar dit is me toch iets teveel fabriek-music. *
A daring foray into experimental musical stylings. Bold. Brave. I absolutely hated it.
I would like to send a bag of gummy dicks packed in glitter to the person who wrote this list for making me listen to such nonsense.
This was a great surprise. Odd and very interesting. Understandable that they show up in the lineage of industrial music.
What makes this good and not just complete nonsense? I have no idea but good it certainly is. Unusual, weird, noisy, and really really good.
Another bit of wierd serendipity, I get this the day after going to see cosey fanni tutti talking in my local library....this is pretty special and wonderfully odd. All the negative comments make me love it more. I'd rather listen to this back to back than more MOR classic rock that makes me want to claw my eyes out.
This album is so ridiculously ahead of its time that it is absolutely staggering that they pulled this off in the 70s. It is disconcerting, perspective shifting industrial/experimental music that I hear in so much of what came later. As the originators of the industrial genre (even having a record label named Industrial), Throbbing Gristle's influence can be felt across genres. It may be an uncomfortable album, but it is certainly essential.
Un trabajo sumamente interesante por el colectivo de arte experimental Throbbing Gristle. Con unos tintes de Noise, otros de No-Wave y muchos de Industrial, el proyecto nos transporta por paisajes apocalípticos, sacados directamente de películas de terror. Esto queda evidenciado en el track “Hamburger Lady”, y “E. Coli”. Un indispensable de la música alternativa.
A+ for the band name A+ for the confusion in the ratings/reviews A+ for really being an original album that should be listened to A+ for being experimental AF A+ for insane level of influence Guys, I had a great time. Y'all can go listen to another Britpop album.
All hail Breyer P-Orridge!
Bloody hell what a strange one, so happy to come across it though…. Totally unlistenable though😂
As clearly as much of this isn't music, it performs the same function. The formal elements have clearly been picked up by the modern ambient community, sans much ugliness. As interesting is the motorik sometimes present: Throbbing Gristle didn't come from nowhere. Deranged, though.
Chaotic bunch of noise that rips through the norm. Not a comfortable listen but not all music needs to be. Bonus points for just how influential this is, even for the bands that have listened to Throbbing Gristle
Not normally my scene, but I get it. Pretty cool! B
I went into this on high alert. Then I started letting my guard down after the extremely fun sped up rendition of the single “United”. A question came up: “Why do I not actively hate this?” Then it dawned on me. Nothing really overstays its welcome. The krautrock influence is apparent but this is still something completely new and groundbreaking - especially for a ‘78 release! I was equally curious, horrified and alienated - just as I believe was intended.
Maybe I am a bit damaged, but I was expecting something truly awful and unlistenable here. Instead there is a huge variety on this groundbreaking record with the common theme being snapshots of industrial Britain in a time where the British music scene was trying to find its way in a tumultuous musical decade. The most difficult part of the record was the final two tracks 'Walls of Sound' and ' Blood on the Floor' which were both difficult but by no means horrible. The road leading to the closing tracks is however truly entertaining and diverse. From the rhythmic and enjoyable 'I.B.M.' the record visits a moody atmospheric (and sometimes scary) place on 'Valley of the Shadow of Death' and 'E-Coli'. On 'Hamburger Lady', Throbbing Gristle also gives their idea for the imaginary soundtrack to a spaghetti western set in a rundown factory in northern England. The band is also surprisingly groovy at times, especially when channeling their inner role as direct descendants of krautrock as is evident on the groovy 'AB/7A' and 'Dead on Arrival' - an awesome combination of space lasers and machine throttles. Further listens are of course warranted, but I imagine it is more likely to yield and extra star than make me think less of this record.
The song titles pretty much had me ready for something that was way off the beaten path and I wasn’t disappointed. The first time through I thought I might cut myself. The second time through I think I did. The second time through I decided to put it on while I was working. I sort of fell into a zen-like state while I was working and it served perfectly to keep things interested as I focused on my various tasks. It lended a sinister darkness to my workday which proved surprisingly productive. Somehow this horror show wormed its way into my heart. I really like this and at some point may love it.
The name "Throbbing Gristle" makes me recoil and shudder every single time I encounter it. I think that's what they were going for. Well done. This was not a popular morning drive accompaniment, and the passenger kept turning the volume down during the first two tracks. I sort of appreciate this more that it's from 1978. It seems a little more daring in that context than even if it was from 10 years later. Was this an enjoyable listen? No. But did I have genuine reactions? Yes. Each track was a different experience! It must have been a good day because I was intrigued and engaged all through. Wow.
Very influential album
Aan de hand van de reviews verwachtte ik vervelende drukke herrie (een soort Black Midi - Hellfire) en dat is het helemaal niet. Het is redelijk minimalistisch en rustig juist. Dit bevalt me onverwacht goed. De meeste nummers klinken alsof ze uit soundtracks komen van films/games die ik goed vind. Misschien dat het me daarom bevalt. "Hit by a Rock" past in de film 'The Sound of Metal'. "Dead on Arrival" past in 'Requiem for a Dream'. "Hometime" en "AB/7A" zouden zo toegevoegd kunnen worden aan 'The Fountain'. En "E-Coli" zou mooi passen bij 'The Last of Us'. Als het album was gestopt na track 11 had ik zelfs 5 sterren gegeven, maar de laatste twee nummers zijn kut, dus wordt het een 4.
I don't want to like this because I feel like only a pretentious music snob would like this just to prove they are smarter than everyone else. They "get it" and you don't. Well, I don't "get it" either, but somehow this "music" tickles my ADD infected brain just right. I listened to this 3 times, and it somehow got better each time. It somehow has a calming effect on me. I feel like I could sleep to this twisted shit. The only part I didn't like was when the kid yells "mama." That's probably just because I have PTSD from having a toddler. I don't know if or when I'll listen to this again, but I liked it. 7.5/10
Fax noises at first but improves to something interesting
Disturbing and strangely soothing at the same time. Those looking for songs will be disappointed but as a collection of industrial atmospheres, this does the job really well.
makes me feel sick in the head, i like it ### interesting listen! i can really see how this would've been a big inspiration for industrial and noise, it remind me of a lot of more modern stuff i've heard
Fantastic sound, love the noise.
4.2 - I'm a young boy again, laying in bed, feeling my eyes get heavy with sleep. My window is open and I can hear the cool summer breeze rushing through the trees, as well as the occasional car creeping by on the street. In the next room I hear the sound of a sitcom playing on the television, characters talking unintelligibly over a laugh-track. I'm hyper-aware of my surroundings and I haven't yet learned how to tune things out so I'm dazzled by how the strange, disparate sounds create a messy symphony in mind. That's sort of how I feel listening to this record.
i rather enjoyed this. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, what with the industrial label being attached to these blokes and whatnot. I was startled by how varied the whole affair was, and yet there was definitely an overall aesthetic at work. Some of the tunes reminded me of Pere Ubu. Some sounded like "Revolution 9" meets Eraserhead. More surprising still, I found myself nodding along with some of these tracks. In fact, I was openly singing Blood On the Floor for several minutes after the song was over. I say, bravo, Throbbing Gristle!
I’m perplexed how this album is currently the second lowest ranked on the whole list. I get that industrial is not for everyone, and I’ve never considered myself a fan, nor do I now, but this thing is actually just a captivating listen. Throughout D.O.A. the band creates so many moods ranging from confusion to discomfort to tranquil to overwhelming, and each is executed really quite well. I may not come back to listen a second time but I’m damn sure happy to have heard this album at least once. 7/10
It kinda made my head hurt, but like, in a good way? There were only two tracks I could do without (Valley of the Shadow of the Death and Dead On Arrival). The rest of the album was interesting, and I’d happily listen to it a few more times.
I'm surprised at the sound of this album. For an Industrial album, I expected something loud, abrasive and noisy. And while there are moments like that, such as in the tracks Hit by a Rock and Walls of Sound, what underpins this album is an understated, unsettling ambience. Opener I.B.M is a great introduction, setting the tone with lots of random noises building tension around an underpinning signal. Weeping starts oddly serene with an echoing guitar, before quickly turning to that muted sinister sound. Most understated sounding song goes to Hamburger Lady, which somehow is the most famous song from this album as the lyrics are gruesome. It's this variety of sound that makes this album influential. I get flashbacks to Boards of Canada in Hometime, with its explicitly homely, childlike veneer over something dark, as well as Kraftwerk in AB/7A with its simultaneous chirpy and cold sound. And Steve Albini must've surely listened to those chainsaw guitars on Dead on Arrival. It's that focus on almost homely horror, instead of the baroque operatic shocking the genre would (d)evolve to in the 90s, that makes this album great and probably made Throbbing Gristle hit too close to home for all the conservative haters calling in in Death Threats. (Still, it still feels that with the original album art (and that includes more than the cover) it does cross a line like those acts in the 90s did. And a cursory Wikipedia read about it's members is... not reassuring) Light 4
These are they types of weird experimental albums I hope to find once and a while. I haven’t heard this one yet, but I recognize some of the things that they do and wonder how much that influenced bands that I’ve listened to.
interesting experimental sounds - I liked better than I thought.
Well... that was a thing. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but I don't know if I want to listen again. It was probably innovative and unique at the time, but it's a bit dull to listen to now. I've just listened to their modern work, and found it much more interesting. It's still borderline art/bullshit, mind.
Its basically impossible to rate. Where do I even start? As art house albums go, its both amazing and shite.
I like me some experimental nonsense, so I found this an engaging enough listen, but nothing really wowed me. Fave track - "We Hate You (Little Girls)" is delightfully deranged!
"Not as unlistenable as I had expected!" —Cover quote I think track 5, "Dead on Arrival", is the one that really solidifies what this album is trying to do. This is when the previously-ungraspable mixing board of sounds coalesces into something melodic, in its own way. The difficulty is, sitting at nearly ten minutes in, it's all too easy to have already checked out by the time it starts up. Yeah, weird one to rate. I didn't hate it. But if I wanted to listen to music, I'd still go with any of the albums I one-starred before I opted for this.
Interesting as an art piece, but as an album I'd ever return to? Nah. The sound design is pretty insane though so I'm giving it points for that.
Very strange. I like odd recordings like this, though I don't know this is one I would listen to often. I read that one of the band members went on to form Psychic TV, which makes a lot of sense. Knowing that, I really want to give a second listen in a much quieter environment; probably lots of hidden aural treats.
HAAaamMBUUURrgerr LAAAaaddyYy Dark but playful soundscapes that I had fun picking through Reminds me of a New Wave film but in an album Weeping is really sad but pretty AB/7A has unsung lyrics but don't look them up unless you want to ruin your day I think outsider art is interesting in general Probably won’t listen to it again any time soon
It was very ok
Es muy oscuro y ruidoso, no es una escucha agradable, es muy pero que muy interesante pero hasta ahí. Se escuchan ruidos de fondo, sinteticos, gritos y muchas otras cosas extrañas. Grabaciones de voces se ponen encima de otros ruidos y eso es una canción. Es impresionante que esto halla salido antes del 80, ya había escuchado un disco de ellos pero pienso que era un poco más, musical, esto es pura experimentación. Me recuerda a la música concreta. Como album no me gusta, como experimento musical y revolución, es de lo más único que he escuchado. Es bizarro distorcionado e industrial. En conclusión, un disco raro y muy adelantado a su epoca Canciones Favoritas: (A medias) - Dead On Arrival - AB/7A - Blood on The Floor ⭐ - E- Coli 3/5 Nunca escuchen música industrial antes de 1980
I think this album broke me similar to how "Everywhere At the End of Time" did. I think it's akin to watching a horror movie on acid. I'm not going to pretend I enjoyed it, or even liked it, but it made me feeling something. Mounting dread. Horror. But that's what it's going for, isn't it? Favorite(?) track: "E-Coli"
Wow. Proto-industrial and I liked it a lot more than I thought that I would. That said, the bar was pretty low.
Maybe being 525 albums in has prepped me for this kind of thing. Maybe it has made be grateful for it not being late 60s/early 70s rock. Either way, I kind of got into it.
Throbbing Gristle is funny as hell. Oooo look at this ART. Do you see how ARTSY we are? Let's mumble incoherent nonsense over a track of somebody having sex with a tuning fork - truly the MODERN Mona Lisa. Let's dedicate a track to a young kid speaking about god knows what for 4 minutes because that's what BEETHOVEN did. Man, fuck these guys. ... Strong 3/5. Has some cool ideas, I'll definitely return to this one in the future.
This has its moments I guess
I prefer '20 Jazz Funk Greats' for its humor and diversity, but a Throbbing Gristle record is always a dark cacophony. Favorite track: 'E-Coli'
Some cuts on this record are quite enjoyable, but some others are almost unlistenable for me. I feel I didn't completly get this thing, but on the other hand I didn't dislike it at all.
Je sais pas quoi en penser. Intriguant comme noise, clairement avant-gardiste, mais trop purement noise pour mon goût, manquait de musicalité.
Hamburger Lady is a true masterpiece. I appreciate this as an art piece, but not really a regular listening kind of thing.
I dig it. this speaks to the robot in me.
Hard to rate this one... It's for sure music for an art installation at a modern art museum. A dark room, weird video, crazy dancing, or maybe a mechanical clock shortly turning as someone fixes a lift. +1 for the band name.
Interesting early instrumental/electronic album
Experimental
Cool for what it is, a la Suicide, and I'll probably never listen to it again
Highlights: "Walls of Sound," "Weeping" There's a fair amount of range, more than you'd expect of a group that calls itself 'experimental' or 'avant garde'. We definitely hear some of Eno here with the gliss touches and sour ambience. 1978 is probably the earliest we're going to get for this use of rhythmic noise, or at least the use of this timbral palette to express this morbid and devastated mood. This was not what people like Daphne Oram or Tom Dissevelt were going for. It is truly and deeply edgy. The purest musical and sociopolitical expression of someone climbing up the walls and snapping their fingernails off in the bricks to fall back to the bottom. And now what. Musically, I'd prefer the people they influenced, Depeche Mode or NIN or even Xiu Xiu, ten times out of ten.
Not very easy listening, but enjoyable.
It will never become my favourite album, but I don't have these feelings of hatred this seems to flame in some others in the reviews here. In the afterwaves of Punk, several new forms of music emerged. In Britain it was mostly the post-punk and in the US it was the art-rock that came about. But from around the years between 77 and 82 the whole music scene around the world found new ways to express itself. Restless, experimental, searching for new boundaries. And Throbbing Gristle is no exception. It really feels these are visual artists that try and put their ideas to music. Disturbing, bleak ideas. With imagery to match. And inadvertently lay the foundation that would later become a million selling music-style dubbed Industrial, named after Throbbing Gristle's own record label. A highly influential album, and something that's not supposed to be pretty, but made to disturb you. And that's probably why this is never going to be anything other than divisive. My wife on the other hand was physically relieved when I turned the album off though.
I found this to be a challenging listen, but I also found it to be rewarding and very interesting.
Horrible to listen to, but historically interesting. I don't even really know how to properly rate this.