D.O.A. the Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle

i'm scared!!!

Nope. 👎👎

Really incredibly bad. Strong contender for worst of the list.

I do not get this list sometimes. This is absolute shit. Didn't finish it even.

Well. That happened. I am going to give a positive first. If ayahuasca had a soundtrack, this would be it! The album emoted feels of my own mortality within an urban environment with questions of my own existential purpose being challenged in its final moments before blackout. That said, I can’t say I enjoyed it, not felt particularly enlightened by it. I was fortunate enough to, unlike the 12-24 hour period of ayahuasca, this only lasted 41 minutes, but I would like that time back please. I actually did hear some influence of later industrial bands like Ministry and Fear Factory. It still wasn’t enough for me to become an authentic appreciator. For me, this Gristle shall throb no more.

Random thoughts: * WTF was that? * Apparently they are pioneers of industrial music. Which makes John Lennon and Yoko Ono also pioneers of industrial music with Revolution 9. * With bangers like Hamburger Lady and E-Coli how could you resist this? * I kind of get what they are up to here with making music out of sounds/words heard everywhere. They did accomplish that at times and I found myself kind of tranced out on the sounds. * This is definitely only for the hardcore industrial historians, otherwise you should probably just skip.

Garbage!

Way better than most of the other reviews led me to believe. I don't know that I'd listen to it all the time but I generally liked it.

Is it good? No, of course it isn't good, it's not trying to be good. Is it the worst album on this list? Not even close. Throbbing Gristle know exactly what they are doing, Kid Rock has no idea what he's doing. And for that I have to give this album 2 stars

Only one song resembled music. I appreciate the experimentation, but it was like listening to someone noodle on a synth while watching old movies in the background. Giving it two stars because at least it was better than that Brian Eno airport album.

Hm, I did the same recording when I was a child and got my first cassette player with a micro...

The people who enjoy this are the people who romanticize being unhappy.

I had a hard time listening to it. It isn't for me but I can see the appeal and the artistic value

I wish I could rate this as a 0

wow starts slow and turns into a gnarly cacophany with legitimately fascinating sounds

Strange and noisy, 2 stars for me, AB/7A was the best track IMO

I don't hate this album. I don't even necessarily dislike this album. But I don't love this album. 2.7 stars rounded up.

As of this writing (August 2026), this is the lowest-rated of all 1,089 albums on this site, and it's not hard to see why - it's difficult, obscure, essentially antagonistic electronic music that is definitely not for everyone, with elements of noise, collage, and (I guess most prominently) industrial. If I had to summarize the primary sonic effect it seems to be aiming for in a single word, it would be "ominous." For my own part, despite some reservations, I can see how this is way ahead of its time for 1978, and I can appreciate some aspects of it, particularly the marginally more tuneful tracks. The myriad proliferating subgenres of electronic music are not really my bag, but if I were working on a syllabus for myself to understand electronic music better, it would be fascinating to compare this album with, e.g., Kraftwerk's The Man-Machine and YMO's self-titled debut, all from the same year, to get a sense of some of the directions it would take after disco's sharp decline.

This was pretty good, actually…

Everybody reviewing these albums wants to fawn over the 78 David Bowie albums. But as soon as something like this comes on, oh my God turn it off, it's terrible, I can't stand it, my ears are bleeding. You should really get out and enjoy life more and quit being so miserable and insufferable

Throbbing is what my head was doing while listening to this album.

New record for the quickest I’ve noped an album in this list.

Probably my fault for assuming all 1001 "albums" would be music. THIS WAS NOT MUSIC. This was random noises for 41 minutes. Cool band name though.

.75 - Boooo. Some of it just sounds like a hidden microphone picked up muffled conversation in a room.

I can absolutely see how this would be the baby steps that would lead to industrial/noise/electronic hectic art that would be something I would love. That doesnt mean this is something I would want to listen to more than once. I wish 2.5 was an option as 2 would imply its bad and 3 would mean its good. This is neither.

You can generously say they're trying something. Some of it is pretty awful, but Weeping has some interesting moments, AB/7A is good, and some of the sound colleges are creative. It's not necessarily an easy listen, but better than some of the bland bands on the list?

that was something resembling effort but falling short of anything worth expending effort to experience.

These are all definitely sounds, and someone clearly made an effort to order and mix them together. Sometimes they resemble music; most often they sound like recordings of industrial machinery and/or the keyboard room in a music store with a bunch of random sequencers going off at once, along with distorted, not-quite-audible voices muttering in the background. I cannot for the life of me figure out why someone would create or enjoy this, but if you do, good for you. I do not.

No.

A fascinating and challenging listen, but the album cover is revolting.

This is music? No. Noise, yes.

Being the lowest rated album of the project, I actually expected this to be worse.. and in a weird way I was kinda into it. Maybe it was the perfect day to get this one but it certainly wasn’t my most hated. Could have sworn I had this one earlier, but who knows… Not super entertaining but glad it’s here

I was waiting for this “album” the whole time and it did not disappoint The only nice thing I can say, and I mean only, is that it does a pretty good job of unsettling you; it does have a very strong, ominous vibe that continually evolves over the course of the “album”. The only “song” that I don’t think is an active detriment on this “album” is AB/7A, not particularly exciting but it feels modern and it’s a much needed breath of fresh air from all the sewage on either side I just refuse to call this music, even more than other “albums” we’ve had that really stretch the boundary. It’s soooo edgyyy, where the whole point of this “album” is to upset the listener rather than actively communicating messages. They throw in every trick in the book, from harsh digitized sounds in the first “track” to awful, awful British droning “vocals” with zero talent on display, screaming and crying children, and other just random gibberish sound intentionally designed to clash with itself. I know the “band” probably thought what they were doing was so damn cool but it really does feel like they were giggling to themselves saying “oh everyone’s going to HATE this.” My personal pick for worst “song” on this “album” is Weeping, only because right before that “song” I thought to myself “well at least the vocals don’t make the ‘tracks’ worse, there are none” and then being met with vocals apparently performed by someone straining themselves on the toilet. I remember when listening to our first truly bad album, Rock Bottom, thinking that it really can’t get much worse than that, but this list has proved me wrong over and over again. I still think Trout Mask Replica just edges this one out as the worst “album” I’ve ever listened to because A) it’s twice the length and B) the truly annoying parts of this are fleeting, which was not the case for Captain Beefheart. Regardless, this is absolutely an abhorrent “album” and well deserved it’s placement at the very very bottom of the 1089 on this list

You know that episode of spongebob where hes in sandys dome and hes dehydrated and he looks absolutely awful? that was me listening to this. genuinely thought there was going to a jumpscare hidden in this album. there's a conversation to be had about art being challenging and how that gives it value but man. im going to say it. if i shat on your floor it would be challenging too.

Some of what Throbbing Gristle offers up falls under the category of music, but the majority of the material on Third Report does not as they are engaging in sound art rather than songwriting. As sound art it is somewhat interesting, but as an album of music it is lacking many of the features you should judge when writing an album review (melody, rhythm, etc.) They successfully create an uncomfortable and uncompromising atmosphere which I will not be returning to. I find the life story and personality of Genesis P-Orridge much more interesting than the output of Throbbing Gristle itself.

D.O.A. the Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle Throbbing Gristle 1978 Genres: Rock Styles: Art Rock, Experimental, Industrial, Post Punk 1. I.B.M. (★☆☆☆☆) -Context: Construida a partir de una cinta encontrada que Mark Eyles envió a Throbbing Gristle. No cuenta una historia convencional: convierte sonidos de cinta, interferencias, pitidos y ruido electrónico en una especie de retrato sonoro de la tecnología y la comunicación mecanizada. 2. Hit By a Rock (★☆☆☆☆) -Context: Grabada en directo en el Highbury Roundhouse en 1977. Es una pieza agresiva y repetitiva, centrada en la violencia y la sensación física de ser golpeado, con la voz y el instrumental funcionando más como una descarga que como una canción de rock tradicional. 3. United (★☆☆☆☆) -Context: Una versión extremadamente comprimida de la canción más accesible que Throbbing Gristle había grabado hasta entonces: dura apenas 16 segundos. Funciona casi como una burla al formato de single pop, destruyendo deliberadamente cualquier expectativa de una canción convencional. 4. Valley of the Shadow of Death (★☆☆☆☆) -Context: Pieza compuesta y grabada por Peter Christopherson, basada en electrónica, cintas y voces procesadas. El título alude al valle de sombra de muerte bíblico y la música crea una atmósfera de amenaza, aislamiento y desorientación, más cercana a una escena sonora que a una canción. 5. Dead on Arrival (★☆☆☆☆) -Context: Grabada en directo en Goldsmiths College en 1978. Es uno de los momentos más rítmicos del disco: un pulso repetitivo, feedback y ruido construyen una sensación física de decadencia y energía descontrolada. El propio título, "muerto al llegar", resume la obsesión del álbum con la muerte y la alienación. 6. Weeping (★☆☆☆☆) -Context: Compuesta por Genesis P-Orridge y Ewa Zajac, con cuatro tipos de violín acústico procesados mediante eco. Es una de las piezas más melancólicas del disco y utiliza el llanto y la tristeza como materia sonora, aunque la interpretación permanece distante y extrañamente fría. 7. Hamburger Lady (★☆☆☆☆) -Context: Inspirada en una carta del médico y artista de correo Al Ackerman que describía a una mujer con quemaduras extremas. Genesis convirtió parte de aquella descripción en una recitación casi clínica, acompañada por una electrónica disonante y angustiante. La canción trata sobre el sufrimiento físico extremo, el cuerpo reducido a carne y la supervivencia médica en condiciones inhumanas. 8. Hometime (★☆☆☆☆) -Context: Pieza compuesta, grabada y arreglada por Cosey Fanni Tutti. Incorpora sonidos y voces infantiles dentro de una atmósfera doméstica aparentemente tranquila. Lo cotidiano se vuelve inquietante: la canción explora la intimidad, el hogar y la extrañeza que puede esconderse detrás de una escena familiar aparentemente normal. 9. AB/7A (★☆☆☆☆) -Context: Composición de Chris Carter y uno de los experimentos más cercanos a una pieza electrónica convencional del álbum. Utiliza sintetizadores, ritmo y una estructura mucho más reconocible que el resto. Más que contar una historia concreta, funciona como una exploración de la música electrónica y de las posibilidades de la tecnología como instrumento. 10. E-Coli (★☆☆☆☆) -Context: Una pieza enigmática construida a partir de sonidos y material grabado, cuyo título hace referencia a la bacteria Escherichia coli. Evoca contaminación, enfermedad y amenazas invisibles al cuerpo humano. Como buena parte del álbum, transforma algo cotidiano y aparentemente neutral en una fuente de inquietud. 11. Death Threats (★☆☆☆☆) -Context: No es una recreación artística: la grabación fue tomada sin modificar del contestador automático de Throbbing Gristle. Son amenazas de muerte reales dirigidas al grupo. La pieza elimina completamente la frontera entre música y realidad y convierte una situación de hostigamiento en parte del álbum. 12. Walls of Sound (★☆☆☆☆) -Context: Grabada en directo en cinco lugares diferentes durante el año anterior a la edición del disco. Es esencialmente una masa de ruido, feedback y sonido saturado que funciona como una barrera física. El título describe literalmente la experiencia: el sonido deja de ser acompañamiento y se convierte en una pared que ocupa todo el espacio. 13. Blood on the Floor (★☆☆☆☆) -Context: Grabada en directo en el Highbury Roundhouse en septiembre de 1977. Es una pieza breve, violenta y física que vuelve a la sangre y al cuerpo como imágenes centrales. Después de toda la abstracción y la electrónica del álbum, el disco termina con una imagen extremadamente material de violencia y muerte. -TOTAL = ★☆☆☆☆ (1)

Can’t deny the influence. We wouldn’t have industrial music today without them. Just for that I’ll give an extra star than planned because at least it’s not another fuckass Brit pop group or The Who.

this shit sounds like some anxiety inducing fears to fathom background music that you would hear when being chased to your DEATH.

what is this

Nope

Some pretty cool sounds on this which would sound cooler in a better setting than my apartment in the afternoon. So lends itself to some relaxing night tripping or good for a movie sound track.

This album is strangely enchanting and, at the same time, disgusting. But, overall, since it begins, it somehow traps you and does not let you go until it's over. It could be the best example on the industrial genre, and, sure, an album I can see many influences around on later projects by other even more mainstream artists. But it is much more than industrial, it is also very ambient in a claustrophobic way. The first thing you notice in this album is that, amongst all the chaotic elements around here, there are also a lot of cold and mechanical sounds. It almost feels there is a direction in the songs, that there is movement, a rhythm. But, cynically, this rhythm is oppressive and even becomes irritating. Added to field recordings and distorted voices, it channels so well both, a very inhuman way of facing violence (the police in "Valley of the Shadow of Death" or the hospitals in "Hamburger Lady") and the chaotic way of living through it, the psychological effects and how disturbing life is in an environment like this. It faces those feelings and topics in a very direct, confronting way. And, when it becomes too horrible, a breath of life comes as an anaesthesia in "Hometime", without losing a disconcerting aura, but focusing on the family aspect and hope, and the most accessible one, "AB/7A", which works as a way of vanishing those issues... at least until the repetition of the song becomes suffocating and methodical, at an extent it even seems like an antidote, something build to opaque all the violence. In some way, it serves the group to make a statement on how sometimes mainstream culture is used as a way to distract people from certain issues. And, then, the album continues with no compassion through medical and violence topics again, constituting an oppressive record that talks more about the nature of internalised dehumanisation and the seek of having a voice in an oppressive world rather than just focusing on the shock and horror factors. And, in some way, that voice comes from channeling the horror oneself lives and showing a completely alienating environment in which death and violence are treated both, in very careless and morbid ways. Overall, this album works pretty well, it is very solid as a statement, not against, but about an alienating reality. And it also feels very nihilistic, but with a voice that truly tries to resonate inside the listeners rather than just pushing certain ideas. It even becomes obscurely theatrical, it almost feels performative. And it has some great musical ideas, being a very unique and original album. Certainly something very different than a lot of other music. It does not seek any formula, it feels very fresh and even improvised. But, in this sound, it also feels very constructed and polished. It is both, a very thought album with a very thought sound and, still, one that has no boundaries, taking both, a very methodical aspect and a violent and disturbed side. It does not work as anaesthesia, it makes you face a feeling, and, through that it makes you question what you feel and what you hear. That is why it feels very performative, it is a very opened album, even just by looking at its cover before listening to it. And, sonically, it is a very enveloping album, one that truly evolves, but slowly, and that makes you flow with it. It strangely creates a very dark and unpleasant atmosphere that, yet, catches your ear. And that is a very difficult task. But, maybe, it is because, production-wise, it is exquisite. How everything combines so well, how the even friendly and ethereal "Hometime" flows so well and mixes so nicely the field recordings of the child and the instruments of the band, that even have a certain psychedelic sound, and the medical, and how disturbed sounds of "Hamburger Lady" almost get you inside some patient's mind and confusion... is something fantastically achieved. This album truly is surprising. It is one that feels as repulsive as wonderful. Not in a beautiful way, but in a way it sticks inside of you. And, even while listening to it, it is such an immersive and enjoyable experience that flows really well.

I feel like I've heard all that I've needed to hear in terms of industrial music after 900 or so albums here. Which one of them is truly essential? Like, there were moments later on in the album that I would've expected to hear coming into an industrial album, sure, but things are occasionally broken up by, what I can only consider, "non-music" pieces. I'm also confused as to why the group's supposedly first single "United" is sped up to 16 seconds here. I guess it's "experimental" to do so. By most accounts, it seems that this group was among the pioneers of industrial music. Not sure whether to thank them or shame them, though.

Repugnante de diversas maneiras, mas simultaneamente, fascinante. A primeira coisa que eu notei ao gerar o álbum foi sua capa, na qual eu estava prestes a elogiar por ser bem bonita até que notei que no canto dela há uma criança em uma posição um pouco sugestiva. Como havia dito, repugnante. Sonoridade extremamente abrasiva e repelente. Sons mecânicos e frios, gélidos e opressores. Tudo contribui para uma ambientação extremamente hostil, desde a primeira até a última faixa. É fácil entender a inclusão de um disco dessa natureza em uma lista como essa, onde o intuito é de realmente fazer o leitor explorar seus horizontes musicais e sua concepção do que é possível ser feito através desse meio. Muita experimentação interessante. Hamburger Lady, por exemplo, é uma faixa muito interessante e marcante, bem memorável e não à toa a mais famosa do álbum. E aquela AB/7A? Parece Aphex Twin, só que 20 anos antes! Eu gosto demais quando a lista me apresenta algo verdadeiramente diferente, e é chocante que este é o pior álbum avaliado de todo o site. Eu sinceramente preferiria ouvir este disco 100 vezes seguidas do que ouvir aquele do Kid Rock ou Highway to Hell sequer uma vez de capa a capa. Juro! Ótima aventura em meio ao arame farpado musical. Ouvirei mais vezes, por incrível que pareça. Será que só estou sendo edgy, querendo pagar de contrário, o diferentão? Possivelmente. Mas pouco importa, gostei do disco e pronto. 4/5

TL; DR: A sonic kick in the balls. If you don't like this, you're a fucking coward. BEFORE: Yes! I've been looking forward to this one. I know it's the lowest rated album in the entire list despite the presence of Kid Rock and other indefensible dross. As a fan of industrial music, I've listened to it before and enjoyed it, although Hamburger Lady is a challenging listen - possibly the most unsettling track I've ever heard. AFTER: I like industrial and I like noise. For me, this is a classic. Obviously, it isn't for everyone but if you like transgressive, confronting music this is right up there. HIGHLIGHTS: IBM's electronic feedback, Valley of the Shadow of Death's sound collage voyeurism, the malfunctioning droid funk of Dead on Arrival, Weeping's creepy spoken word and rusty swingset noises. Hometime predicts Board of Canada's dreamy / creepy soundscapes. AB/7A is disarmingly pretty, almost conventional and a welcome break from the madness. Walls of Sound is accurately named. LOWLIGHTS: It's very effective, but Hamburger Lady is still a bit much for me - it is somehow even worse in the context of the album. I haven't marked the album down for it but I don't need to hear it again for a good while. VERDICT: 5 stars. Put it in my veins. Not you, Hamburger Lady.

Gee, really horrible.

Many of the reviews for this album indicated that you have to spend time with it to appreciate it and no thank you

This has to be one of the worst albums on this list so far. I wish I able to give it zero stars.

I liked the out there experiment with different sounds. It definitely suits the name throbbing gristle ngl. But way too screechy for me unfortunately.

Remember when you were a kid and you used to walk around with a cassette and microphone recording random noise? This is a much more expensive extension of that, but it's still noise. Some of it was ok as a one-off, and It's probably very arty and influential, but I won't be listening again It's been fun discovering some of Cosey Fanni Tutti's earlier work though.

Almost 800 albums in, one of these had to be the absolute worst. Here it is!

Hell yeah

An important work. Hard to listen to, but important.

I understand how influential this was for industrial, but, yeeeah

Vakkert! Nydelig stemme, catchy refreng!

Pass

Silly

Better than expected? Occasionally groovy, not unpleasant, very unusual

(2/7) it's not the worst thing in the world. I just don't understand when anyone would listen to this. In the car? On a run? Please let me know

Surprising. Haunting and liminal

Dear fucking lord this is awful

Massively important and influential early industrial music. Played some of it on my radio show, haven't listened to them in decades.

que álbum irritante, tá me dando dor de dente de tão incômodo.

1.5

Didn’t enjoy.

This whole album just has creepy vibes, but not good creepy. Like I'm listening to something I'm not supposed to

полная хуйня

Kinda hard to rate this one, I love TG, one of the most ahead of its time records. Genesis p orridge is one of the coolest people in music. It's just hard to rate because as much as I love this band, I can really only listen to a full album like once a year cause they're tough. That doesn't stop me from Dj-ing Ab/7a whenever I can, very cool tune. This ain't no 20 jazz greats though I will say

Dope. Fav tracks: blood on the floor, AB/7A, hit by a rock

Pretty fucking insane that this dropped in 1978. What even is that wild distorted shit? It’s always exciting to hear something where you can’t quite figure out what the hell is going on. A challenging listen no doubt that I’m not sure I’ll return to, but there’s some inspiration in here and I will be checking out some of their other records for sure

Is the artist trying to convey a message here? Or is it just a bunch of random noises slapped together in the studio while the producer and the band were high? It’s hard to say. It’s hard to listen to. It’s hard to believe that this got made in the first place. Extremely disturbing in some parts (Hamburger Lady, for example). All I can do is shake my head (to try to get this album out of it). 1.5 stars (half a star for making me think about music in a different way)

Its selections like this that make me question this entire thing. This is quite literally not even music like wtf is this doing here

I’m not sure I truly believe this is a 1 Star record. People use words like “unlistenable”, but I struggle to fully understand that because half of this record isn’t even music! “Uninteresting” perhaps, but it’s not as aggressively obnoxious as The Residents or Lightning Bolt. In my rating system, 3 Stars is the baseline, 2 Stars are albums I thought were bad/boring/not worth talking about, and 1 Star is for ‘notably bad’ records - records that are bad enough that they’re actually worth talking about. This is very barely the latter category. If other people didn’t have strong feelings about this, I don’t know that I’d think it worth talking about either… but here we are.

This made me gag...

Throbbing Gristle? No thanks. I'm so full. Couldn't eat another bite.

Knowing this is currently the lowest rated album in the project, I went in with an open mind but still had low expectations. This did not exceed those expectations. Maybe things could’ve been different if it felt like there was actual music in here somewhere. AB/7A had promise but it didn’t go anywhere. At least now it’s over.

I am open-minded but skeptical.

2.6/5

1027 - "Here's your juice box and orange slice. Thanks for coming." (DOA is right, and please DNR)

Well I was checking out the lowest rated albums just yesterday and saw this. Now I’ve pulled it today unfortunately. Gone in with an open mind as always, but not getting it. Maybe I’m just not edgy or artsy enough to understand.

The overall creepy atmosphere much of the album paints was perfect for my morning drive through the fog. For a noise album, this one oddly has a lot of quiet moments. Typically, unless you’re John cage doing “4’33””, noise music is very maximalist. Designed to overwhelm and hyper stimulate the ears, noise and harsh noise is usually presented as an uncompromising wall of sound. I tolerate noise better than most I think, because I find that after listening to it for about five minutes that my brain stops its pattern recognition and rhythm or melody seeking and just lets the randomness wash over me. I come out of that feeling refreshed and able to think clearly. It really feels like a reset button on the brain. This album, unlike much noise music, is uncharacteristically rhythmic and even melodic at times. For that, I think it’s lacking. Noise should be atonal, dissonant, and harsh. This is noise on easy mode. Real ball knowers know that Japanese artist Merzbow is the progenitor and master of noise. Go listen to Pulse Demon (1996) instead. ⭐️⭐️

A bizarre listening experience. Lost of talking and dissonant sounds.

Why the fuck did I have to listen to this before I died

For me this was a bad album, it feels like the perfect example of taking being experimental way too far to the point where it’s impossible to listen to

Definitely challenging, but definitely rewarding. And a little maddening by times. Not putting this on for my next garden party, but maybe when I need to have a good think.

I can appreciate the artistic angle and all but like the title of the 6th track this album was Dead on Arrival for me. Could not finish.

Unlistenable.

lol. The experience is almost worth it for high of AB/7A.

There are some interesting spacey/industrial sounds. I give them credit for exploring this space kind of early (1978). I imagine they may have influenced artists like Trent Reznor. But this album is just too artsy/abstract and annoying to listen to. There are tracks that sound like the tape recorder was accidentally left on and recorded a conversation but it's all remote and muffled (Valley of the Shadow of the Death). And other tracks are annoying in their own unique ways.

There are a number of songs on this album that are basically a dial up modem with someone mumbling over it, that only deserve 1 star. But occasionally, this come together in a way where I’d be tempted to give it a 2 or 4 star rating… but not 3 stars, because nothing here is milquetoast enough to get 3 stars. Ultimately, there I’m not a fan, but would prefer more albums like this to the unending parade of Cross, Stills, Nash and Young or 90s Brit rock this list loves to wallow in.

More noise than music. Gives soundtrack, found footage feel at times that's at least interesting and different. Will I revisit this? No. Am I sorry to get exposed to this? Also no.

I guess it’s my time. Initial thoughts going into I.B.M. Ow, my ears. I didn’t realize I’d listened until the 4th track already because my brain literally started to block it. 5 tracks in and Dead on Arrival finally has some sounds resembling music. Weeping sounded exactly like the sound of someone weeping without the actual weeping noises. Just the sad gasps of breath between bouts of pain. What was hamburger lady. It was genuinely one of the weirdest things I’ve heard. Hometime: there are few things I can’t stand in this world, but extended recordings of children I don’t know talking is one of them. The baby cries make it worse. The fact that the kid sounds like me when I was that age also makes it worse. AB/7A was actually pretty good. I don’t know if it’s because it is actually good, or if it’s just so much better than the rest. Walls of sound sounded very unfortunately like its name. Ending off with the rest of the album, overall there were bits that weren’t bad, or even had decent ideas, it was just that it was buried under so much ear damaging noise. 2/5 ⭐️ 214/1089

... really really weird, but in a way, GENIUS! SUPER WEIRD but cool. Hard to listen to at the same time but its like listen to it yk?

I’d rather have died than listen to this.

When I first heard this album several years ago, I felt the same way many of the people on this site do. It genuinely horrified and sickened me, like I was hearing the closest thing to an aural snuff film that I could possibly imagine. It didn't come across as music. Over the years, however, I have realized that this is one of industrial music's forever masterpieces. It is supposed to be horrifying, discomforting, arresting and you are supposed to be challenged by it, and it deserves your respect. 20 Jazz Funk Greats is my favorite TG record (and honestly, a more fitting album for this list as I do think it's where the fusion of industrial with other genres began), but this one is almost as essential. A 5 out of spite and a 5 for genuine interest.

377/1089 4 tracks down and it feels like nothing happened… i get the feeling that i’ll be able to appreciate how the ideas here have influenced music i love but i won’t necessarily love this music itself and yeah that feeling was right… this was a weird experience, the album ended and started again without me realising. The songs kinda flew by at the end. i’ve given it a 2 star purely for the fact that it is unique and i like the attempt and intention. the execution just didn’t hit/interest me 21/100

I enjoyed this. Felt like I could here the influences on or artists I really like in this kind of ambient/experimental genre. Bits of boards of Canada in particular. Not sure if I’ll come back to it again. Might have to revisit the review.

At least it’s interesting so better than some of the stuff on the list.

I mean...not sure this is really music, at least most of it. More like a collection of sounds (maybe thats music? Talk amongst yourselves..). But most of it wasnt that bad. Maybe I just knew this album was coming. But theres stuff on this list ive liked less.

Meu deus do céu que enrolação, tá pedindo pra levar 1 estrela. Tá de sacanagem esse álbum. Pra ser conceitual primeiro tu tem que fazer a primeira camada boa, depois vai pra baixo. Foda-se. Vão tomar no cu.

5/10

Disco doido. Num tem nem música. Só ruídos

Utter trash!

There were moments of palatability

4★/5 07.26.2026

They say great art is often unappreciated in its time. Well unfortunately bad art is often appreciated in its time

super weird and esoteric. I can actually understand it being on this list even though i didn't particularly like it because it definitely is the first album that i've ever heard to push this far into the weirdness of ambient and drone music. Hamburger Lady is quite the terrifying song. I still think about it sometimes and it really creeps me out. Perhaps this album is cursed lol!

Recording ambient noise and calling it art is like when they filmed that empty plastic bag flying around in American Beauty

2.0 I dont know if it really works as just a musical album but if it was part of an A/V art installation or at a gallery, you could probably get more buy-in from the 1001 album generator community. AB/7a is probably the closest to a "song" as you are going to get on the album. Ecoli was interesting enough to make me get through the last half of the album. It definitely made me step back and take it in, but not something I could regularly listen to.

Yes this album is unpleasant but in like a cool horror kind of way!!! This was not abrasive in the way I thought it was going to be at all and it's very very good art

This doesn’t deserve a 1. Only the first song is actively annoying. The rest of it just sounds like fairly normal music? Hamburger Woman is horrific but in an interesting way

type of album that that beckons The Flesh That Hates. Some tracks I did not care for but it was a morbid ride. 4.

hey, you all made me think this was going to be way more abrasive than it actually was! there are still some horrific, evocative sound collages on here. i won't be forgetting about hamburger lady any time soon.

Я такое могу послушать мне в целом норм Давно хотел с ними ознакомиться

I feel like these would be sounds accompanying a weird modern art installation. It's not really music, and I don't really get it. Not sure if I needed to hear this before I die.

Uh, um, I don't know what to say about this. It was so weird. So unbelievable that it was created in the mid 70s. Some of the tracks were a little much but cool to hear.

I took the time to listen to "the lowest ranked album" on this list. And, correct, it's virtually unlistenable. Trent Reznor may have found a silver lining in this noise. While NIN truly turned industrial music into true art, this is the cave drawings to Reznor's Sistine Chapel. Sure, let's not erase them. But my kids could put together better industrial music today.

Kan hier niks mee

6/10

Experimental is the name of the game. Abrasive? Yep. Repetitive? Yep. Repetitive? Yep. But also shockingly groovy and an interesting dive into sound systems. You won’t hear anything else like it on this list, at least from what ive heard so far.

Pretentious bollocks!

Didn't enjoy it.

This is a challenging listen but I suppose ultimately that's a big part of why I'm here. Eat yer greens, kids. Top marks for queasy-and-uneasy disconcerting strangeness; real punk shit. Though I'll probably never listen to it in full again, I was not bored. Textured. Quite krautrock in parts, and presumably was a big influence on Scanner?

an industrial album from an english arts group. despite what the title seems to imply here, this is neither their third album, nor their last album. everything from this album's sound and its packaging was manufactured to be mysterious, hostile, like something you almost shouldn't be owning physically... and wouldn't you know, this is another album in this list that's rated the worst. lots of one-stars on the 1001 platform. listener's discretion is strongly advised here, because this album is NOT at all easy to listen to. with every album i listen to, i approach each record with open ears and an open mind, and i'm going to attempt this strongly with this one in particular.... yeah. this one is a lot. it's disorienting, it's nauseating, some of it is pretty graphic. the way that this album sounds and the way this album looks too? i don't know, i got bad bad energy from it. this shit gives me "deep web" vibes. like an album that would be traded on there. it's ahead of its time, sure. i listened to it. i guess i understand why it's influential. i REALLY don't ever need to hear it again.

Noisy and unnecessary

twilight zone music. abrasive, but coherent. really surprised to find out that throbbing gristle is a collective, and not a solo project.

It does not feel like those artists copied Throbbing Gristle’s sound. It feels more like Throbbing Gristle gave them permission to experiment and push music into strange new places. I cannot believe this came out in 1978. I probably would not listen to this particular album again, but I am interested enough to listen to some of their other albums.

Not for me.

If you like listening to dial up moderns, pocket dialing, and someone trying out all the presets in their new keyboard, this is the album for you. Absolutely awful.

Your link was very easy to guess hahaha. Hope you enjoy this album

Sounds like a horror soundtrack. Like conjuring music. Well done for what it is but not for me. Spotify radio is pretty good though. 4/5.

Bit unusual this one, can’t say I’d play it again but it’s still better than anything that C**t kendrick lamar has done

Well I made it to the end- I certainly won’t make it back to the start. A quick google tells me the act sold 200k albums… I bet of those nobody listened to the album twice! Worst album so far on this journey and I can’t imagine one been this bad again. 0/10

Throbbing Gristle Nothing like what I had anticipated. Challenging? Yes. But always engaging, each track coming from a different angle, and, at times, very beautiful, very musical, and always surprising. There is a run of tracks that starts with Hamburger Lady that stopped me from doing what I was and really made me listen. Before kicking you in the face again with Wall of Sound 😁 So glad music like this is created by people that truly believe in their art. Why the hell not? Albums don't have to be note perfect, shiny bollocks. There's enough of that on this list that just washes over me and is completely pointless. Best Track - AB/7A or Hometime. Hard to pick but we'll go with the latter. Worst Track - United. Speeding up your 'hit' so it lasts a mere 16 seconds is cute but..... 8.5/10

Having been into industrial music since my teenage years, I'm well aware of this album, and own it. And TG is where industrial started, with their highly controversial, highly abrasive, and highly experimental musical output. While this is a highly influential album that helped form a whole genre, as an album itself, it's a bit of a mixed bag even for myself who is into this stuff. Songs like "Hamburger Lady", "E-Coli", and "AB/7A" are very listenable and my faves, while others like "I.B.M." and the troll tracks of "United" and "Death Threats" are totally skippable. Most of the others are good, but not great tracks. I probably would have used their album "20 Jazz Funk Greats" in this list rather than this one, as its still prime TG, but a bit more listenable and consistent. This album provides a nice sample of the variety of their sounds, but its unevenness makes me give it a 3.3/5.

I like hamburger Mary a bit.

I was already familiar with Throbbing Gristle and was looking forward to this notorious album, but it surprised me more than I expected. Given its one-star rating, I was bracing for something worse. The truth is that this album is clearly a performance art piece. It's not particularly entertaining, but not all entertainment is art and not all art is entertainment. So I can see why a lot of people don't like this - They want to be entertained, not thrown into a disturbing and dissonant soundscape, and that's valid. Throbbing Gristle aren't trying to be for everyone. So, I think it's important to engage with this album on what it's trying to do, and given how low people rate it, I'd argue they succeeded. Their only "hit," "United," is on this record, but it's sped up to be 16 seconds long... why? To troll, basically. Not every track operates on that level, though. "Hamburger Lady" is a horrifying track, not because it's strange and dissonant, but because it uses processed vocals based on real letters from a severely burned patient. It's that context which makes the it more grounded and disturbing. But away from the noise and despair I found "AB/7A" and "Dead on Arrival" to be enjoyable. Overall I found this album interesting, which is more than I can say about some other things on this list. Rating it on what it's trying to be, and not what people want it to be, I give it 4/5.

Every single track is a banger. If you think I'm joking, I'm not. It may make you feel alienated, but it makes me feel like home.

I’m sure I’m not the only person to think the same way 1.3 out of 5

It is certainly understandable why this is the lowest rated album on the site, but I didn't hate it. It was interesting, and spooky, but not something I enjoyed very much. Still, there's certainly worse out there.

I get it whatever you all hate this because it's tape music and not rock n roll, whatever. I'm willing to stand behind this as the high art it is, give me your criticism, I have a bs 4 year degree in studying experimental electronic music and I will not be silenced. So incredibly put together, so against the norms of the era, it sounds so good, the spatialization is top tier, just everything everyone in the electro-acoustic sphere has been trying to make ever since Wendy Carlos stepped up to the synth. This is a very easy comparison to something like Jackson Pollock or any other art where you go "this is nothing I could make this". And maybe you could, but you didn't! And this is so much more intentional and well written than what you're imagining you could make, heaven forbid you actually go and try to write it. It's all amazing but AB/7A Is my standout, the granular synthesis on here would make Xenakis lose his marbles. I don't know, it feels contrarian as hell to rate the lowest rated album on the list a five but I love this shit, I'm sorry. My senior capstone project was a direct study creating melodic ambient music disintegrating into Merzbow-esque harsh noise over 20 minutes. This is real, this is me, I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be (gonna let the light shine on me).

Nope. Shite.

Listened before?: no I.B.M. - 3/5 Hit by a Rock - 2/5 United - no rating Valley of the Shadow of Death - 1/5 Dead on Arrival - 3/5 Weeping - 2/5 Hamburger Lady - 4/5 Hometime - 2/5 AB/7A - 4/5 E-Coli - 2/5 Death Threats - no rating Walls of Sound - 2/5 Blood on the Floor - no rating Average score: 2.5/5 ⭐️⭐️ i really had little expectations for what kind of music would come from a group called Throbbing Gristle. i figured it would be something pretty damn strange or challenging to listen to if it's ended up being the lowest-rated album on this site after giving it a spin, i still don't know what to think of it. i was shocked to hear that it wasn't as challenging to sit through as some other albums i've heard. at times it's creepy and unsettling (Hamburger Lady - the best track in my opinion). other times i found it a little dull (Valley of the Shadow..., Hometime, pretty much all the tracks with people just talking over distorted guitars and bleep-bloops) i can understand some of the negative reviews here, as the album is anything but conventional. do i think it deserves the lowest rating here? nah

Hit by a rock. Blood and brains on my marmalade. They just don't write songs like this anymore! There's lots of experimentation here. Some of its ok.

Deeply unsettling horror-like ambient. Glad I listened to it. It will not become my favourite, but I didn't hate it.

genuinely not as bad as people make it out to be. is it particularly listenable? not really. is it off-putting? maybe a little. is it something I'm going to put on again? no. but I kind of had a decent time with it while I did. a lot of its musique concrete vibes reminded me of the beatles' 'revolution 9' - an often misunderstood and often mis-maligned song in itself. it is noise, it is a little baffling, but I do think it's ultimately an interesting piece of music

This album is very different and quite unsettling. While listening I felt a constant sense of creepiness, anxiety, and low-level terror running through it. It somehow reminded me of Stiv Bators’ dark, unhinged energy at times. The band is really good at what they’re trying to do here. It’s not just noisy for the sake of noise, and it never becomes boring. Instead, it creates this cold, disturbing, and strangely compelling atmosphere with weird textures, distorted voices, and experimental electronics. Some parts feel almost like a nightmare soundtrack, while others are strangely rhythmic and hypnotic. It’s disturbing, confrontational, and fascinating all at once. Definitely not an easy listen, but if you’re in the mood for something dark and intense, D.O.A delivers exactly what it promises. A very strong and unique record in their discography.

NUR GERÄUSCHE TF

This one is weird!

This sounds like something that Maude Lebowski would listen to.

Okay there's some bits of music contained in there, but absolutely none of it was songs.

muy conceptual

Literally just noises.

Nope

super distinct industrial sound from the late 70s, but i struggle to find any enjoyment from it.

Professionelles Akustikkppeln ohne den Hauch von Musik. Schrecklich.

I had to see what all the hubbub was about. First off, don't like the album cover. First track- "okay weird intro" Seond track- "Double intro?" Fourth track- "Finally, music!...?" and then I skimmed through the rest of it... what the fuck is this? Apparently as long as you were a group of blokes in the 70s this fool thinks it's worth a listen?

This made me feel the same way the movie Eraserhead did. I hated everything about it and my life is now forever worse for letting it into my brain.

Oh, I get it. This is an album the same way a blank canvas with one red circle is a painting. This is the sort of “art” pretentious ass holes claim to love just because all us stupid normal people don’t get it. Shove your noisy piece of shit album back up your ass, Throbbing Gristle. 0⭐️

I'm quite surprised this is tagged as Industrial....seems more experimental avant garde ambient. Yea we're 400 albums in - I can invent genres. It's fucking out there....but not unlistenable to me. Definitely see the inclusion of this one before a second album by the Verve or an eighth album by Elvis Costello. Not dying to spin this again, but glad to at least experience it.

This album was disturbing on so many levels, creepy, and just plain ew. There is something very wrong with this. Never had a band terrify me with their music. Gross! Never again. Zero stars

Felt like I'd been butt-dialed by a tumble drier. Atonal noise with barely audible mumbling over the background, feels like an awful art gallery piece. Not sure who this had an influence on but will avoid their stuff

Based on the album cover and the reading I have done on the insert in the album, I am not listening to this. It’s all well and good to be bad boy rebels until children are victimized. Fuck this.

You're in a contemporary art museum, and you come across a bit of experimental visual art from the 1970s or 1980s. Perhaps it's projected on a small silver screen; maybe it's on a loop on an old console television, or maybe a wall of picture-tube TVs; or maybe you enter a room with visuals splashed on all four walls, something immersive. Nearly every track on this album sounds like it would be what you'd hear as an aural accompaniment to that art. Occasionally, a track like "AB/7A" sounds like it could be on the soundtrack for an Errol Morris documentary. And some tracks sound like the audio from an experimental short film by David Lynch. It's weird and odd and not really music per se, but it did manage to hold my interest. And it's preferable to listening to anything by Eagles. 2.45 stars

Nope. Noise to me.

If you are looking for music, keep looking. But as soundscapes, ambience, experiments, there is something here for you.

Terrible at the start, but it was ok in the middle.

Nope

Dislike.

I don’t know who is more ridiculous and pretentious: the “artist” themselves thinking this was actually of quality, or the fool(s) on this selection board who actually green lit this shit.

This is probably the worst thing I’ve listened to. We had some crap on this list but might be the first time I would’ve given something a 0.0. Turrible, turrible, knucklehead, turrible.

I counted exactly one song I thought was somewhat tolerable. I’m down with some out there music, but can’t get behind random annoying sounds. Nothing about this is interesting. 0/5

Obviously it’s a strange album. Slightly unsettling at times. I like experimental synth stuff, but this goes beyond that. Strangely it feels before its time. 3.3/5.0

I’ve heard about this, but I’ve never listened. This was really good. I’ll listen again.

What even was this? Not good.

Literally just noise. I can't imagine anyone actually enjoying this.

Oh great. I finally get the worst rated album on this site. That means nothing gets worse than this. That cover is something else completely, I don't even want to get started on that.

I mean this is garbage but then again there are many equivalent on this list.

Nearest i can come to a positive is that ‘weeping’ at least has the constituent parts of a song. Not a good song but beggers cant be choosers on this album. ‘Ab/7A’ also has potential to be considered actual music. Abysmal.

It felt like I had been kidnapped by aliens.

I knew going into this, that this was the lowest scoring album globally, so I sort of expected to hate it. And... I don't? I mean it's not something I particularly want to listen to, and honestly probably about 50% of it isn't really music so much as clips of people talking bollocks over droning, but it's less offensive than a number of other albums this generator made me listen to. I still hate that Liars album with a fiery passion, but this cannot inspire that much anger in me. I am never, ever, ever going to listen to it again but, you know, I sort of understand why some people might? 1/5 (but it genuinely might have got a 1.5 out of me if the option were available)

6/26/26. Not for me. Noticed a lot of sampling used and understand that it helped establish industrial as a genre, but thought it was largely un-listenable. Maybe my opinion will change down the road!

Come back to this probably.

I gave this a fair shot. I did. But it's more like a Throbbing Headache if you ask me. It's just noise, man.. and not even the good kind that grows on you. Feels like listening to a bunch of arguments happening at once. Spins: 1 Playlist Additions - AB/7A

People will listen to jazz and say it is art, then listen to this and give it 1 star. Those people are wrong.

I hate this.

I'm not an industrial music fan. This isn't really for me. A lot of it I just find unpleasant to listen to. There's a run of tracks (Hometime, AB/7A, E-Coli) that I thought were pretty decent. Reminded me of experimental bands like Set Fire to Flames or Thee Silver Mt. Zion, but then it becomes to cacophonous.

Haha! China aussi ne comprend pas le concept pseudo-pédophile du cover. Moi aussi. Tout le monde je pense.

Vraiment pas la pire affaire qu'on a eu à date. La musique concrète ça me parle quand même et l'industriel aussi. Mais la démarche artistique mortifère me rebute. On en a déjà assez de vivre dans une société qui cherche chaque jour à plus mourir, pas besoin de ça. J'aime beaucoup la pochette par contre, même si j'ai pas trop compris le concept pseudo-pédophile avec la photo de kid en bas à droite, et qu'ils vendaient ça dans des cartes?

This feels like more art than music if that makes any sense. I get that it’s not easy listening, and it’s not going in almost anyone’s heavy rotation, but this was really cool to experience at least once.

This is not music

This was a relaxing listen and somewhat interesting with those unusual sound effects. Worth checking out some of their other stuff.

Fell asleep and it gave me weird dreams

wow

Sorry, no

aqueles albuns que te fazem questionar o que é ou não é música... muito foda.

Performance art is always divisive - just look at the vitriol heaped on Yoko Ono (usually with some nasty misogyny and racism thrown in) by people who wouldn’t know a piece of art if it slapped them in the face with a wet halibut. This album traces a direct line from the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music, as well as John and Yoko’s primal screams, through punk, experimental electronica and beyond. It’s not an easy listen, and is highly disturbing in places, with some very dark themes and distorted sounds and cut-up sound clips. The surreal and nightmarish soundscapes are deliberately crafted to produce a visceral reaction. On other tracks, the electronica comes to the fore with prototypical beats that you could almost dance to, pointing the way to bands like Cabaret Voltaire and the Fall. Is this good music? That’s for you to decide. Is it art? Most definitely. Marmalade-in-your-face-tastic!

There's a fine line between music, creativity and pointless noise. This seems to an album of interludes.

I mean, should it really be on the list?

I tried.... but no. +1 for being pioneering....

i don’t even know if this is music for real.

não é minha vibe, experimental ate demais

That was pretty out there, but I've definitely heard worse things.

Insert "This is noise" meme

Just too experimental for my taste. However, I do acknowledge that this may have been ahead of its time, and while nowadays these sounds would be easy to make, back in the day this may have been among the first ones of these kinds of albums.

I usually give albums I’m relatively unfamiliar with a couple of listens to get a true feel for the album. Didn’t need to listen twice to this one. Not my thing

Well, the day has come for me. Today, I got the lowest-rated album of the generator at the time of this recording. I'm not surprised with how it got here. Throbbing Gristle are considered pioneers of industrial music, which by its nature is very unconventional in the use of tape editing, distorted loops, and homemade instruments instead of the typical guitar, bass, and drums. In fact, Throbbing Gristle were very much opposed to the traditional rock music structures, as they sought to challenge their audience to explore the darker side of humanity rather than make attractive music to placate the masses. In a way, I respect their intentions, and I don't expect the music to immediately connect with me like what I usually listen to. With all that in mind, I gave D.o.A: The Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle a listen, and it took me a bit to acclimate to their style, but I got there eventually. There's an almost ambient quality at times with the group's approach to combining tape loops, spoken word, oscillating synthesizers, and other such atypical electronic effects. Whether it's taking their previous single "United" and speeding it up to only 16 seconds long, reconstructing a conversation heard in passing with background noise on "Valley Through the Shadow of Death", or the filtered vocals over the electronic whirs on "Hamburger Lady", there's quite a variety in song deconstructions on this record. I found myself intrigued with some of the spoken word pieces like "Weeping" and "Hometime", leaving me curious as to why these particular tapes are arranged over such strange soundscapes. Of course, my personal favorites were the few tracks that feature steady clanking beats, like on "Dead on Arrival" with the buzzing and squelching noise effects, "AB/7A" with the grandiose synth flourishes, and the absolutely pummeling dirge that is "Walls of Sound". I personally don't consider every experiment to be worthwhile, particularly some of the shortened tracks like "Death Threats" and "Blood on the Floor". But more often than not, I was engaged with this album. Again, I don't typically listen to this kind of music. Even compared to later offshoots like industrial rock and industrial metal that return to more conventional song structures while still embracing the distortion and tape manipulation, what Throbbing Gristle did on D.o.A: The Third and Final Report sounds foreign by comparison, and I think that's the point. It was a respectable challenge that certainly got me to appreciate the overall genre more with its abrasive DIY approach.

Critics who made this list seem to like dissonance and noise. This album had some great use of effects, but otherwise I didn't find much I would want to hear a second time.

Truly just an awful waste of vinyl that this crap was even printed. I cannot even imagine thinking this was worth listening to in a drug induced haze of my college youth. Total crap, and if given the choice I would probably prefer a 5th Radiohead album on the list. :)

I was in the perfect head space for this. 4/10 ….. it sucked but had moments where I could almost hear “the other”- the music in my mind that goes over the top of it.

It’s finally my turn to trash on the worst reviewed album on the website 🥹. Yeah it’s bad. I don’t mean this in a reductive way or something, but most of this isn’t really music. It’s just noises. It’s not pleasant noises either. It sounds like it was engineered to be unsettling and disturbing and annoying. So maybe it’s redeemable as an art project of sorts. But as music? Not really.

Yea, fuck that, nah

Electronic/avant garde music. I was expecting the worst here, but it really wasn’t all that bad. Kinda eerie, kinda interesting. A few rough spots, but not terrible to have on in the background.

Look, I have to go 1 on this one. The music is just bad. But I agree this is a good addition to the list. It is something I’m glad to hear once before I leave this plane of existence. The noise and dissonance ideas here will eventually be used by Radiohead, Flaming Lips and Wilco to create Kid A, Soft Bulletin and YHF. I enjoyed it much more than other albums I voted 1.

I am utterly beplexed and perwildered. Wrf did i actually just listen to and why do i kinda like it? Is there even an it there? I don't know!

At moments, it was unsettling to listen to.

This piqued my interest pretty well to begin with. I quite enjoyed the journey, but it got a bit old towards the end. Reading up on them, they seem a very interesting bunch of performance artists (if that’s what they are?) albeit on the extreme/uncomfortable side. I’d probably listen to more, but from what I’ve read on their live performances, they’re too much.

I couldn't. I just couldn't

loco no todo sonido es musica. me quiero matar. Ab7A me gusto un poco el inicio. siento que es buena musica para una peli en el espacio que estan flotando

This is why I'm doing this ridiculous 1001 record thing. Dire Straits followed by Throbbing Gristle. As pleasant and innocuous as the first DS record is, that is exactly how unpleasant and jarring the TG record sounds. Featuring the wonderful and enigmatic Genesis P. Orridge, this record defies description, convention, taste, whatever. Is it good? Is it even supposed to be “good”? It is fascinating and utterly unique, and yeah a few tracks are pretty good. Others are just noise, not noisy music, actual noise. I'll likely never listen again but the world needs Throbbing Gristle just as much, perhaps more, as it needs Dire Straits

I sat on a train in the morning on the way to the city tired as fuck and listened to this pretentious industrial crap. I really do not care for this at all.

the worst thing I've ever listened to. wish I could give it 0 stars.

Eh. I love musique concrete but not this industrial music. Nothing id enjoy

Wouldn’t listen again, interesting but a tough listen.

I can see this used as a soundtrack in some contemporary art museum for some conceptual art that looks interesting but does not fully make sense. It would fit there just perfectly. However, when talking about the actual music to listen to, I want a real fucking burger, not this pretentious nonsense that is making fun of the listener.

There it is, the lowest rated album. I actually liked a couple songs on here. I like Negativland and the Books and this is a less listenable version of those things. I would rather listen to an album like this than the 4th album of a Britpop one hit wonder band that the author insists is a hidden gem.

These aren't songs they are tracks and all of these tracks suck ass. I'm all for experimental but this is just a waste of time. This is the kind of crap that pretentious people say "this is genius!" . It's not. It's really, really, really not good. I don't think they'll let you do 0 stars here so I guess it gets 1

I have no idea what the hell I just listened to. Pre-Avalanches executed horribly. “They should have left it at 1000 albums…” 1

A challenging album but not difficult to listen to I think people who rate this low just read the wiki page and hear the first couple of songs and give up. This is truly a reason to be doing the project to hear albums that you wouldn’t routinely listen to. The real inventors of industrial music. I enjoyed it. I’m not saying I would listen to it regularly. I’m just saying that it’s a decent album that beats listening to something that I have heard a hundred times.

There are a lot of different types of music fans. Some switch off when something new challenges them too much, but when I am faced with a challenge, I am going to make sure it’s not my lack of effort that is the problem. To be perfectly honest though, this approach has seen me through so many wild and wonderful avenues that, The Third Annual Report has never been that big of a challenge. I’m old, but I was waaaay too young at the time to have been able to experience this with any kind of context. Consequently, I feel I am more capable of extracting fun from my listens. There is obviously a lot of serious issues being dealt with here and the output is more art than it is music (intentionally or not) but I generally enjoy this album as an interesting aural experience… …I just deleted a part of this review: I was going to make a point about this album; that as an aural piece of art it could be better. I was only going to give it 3* but I’ve changed my mind… A few reasons: -If I hear an album that, despite not trying to appeal to my entrenched ideals on songwriting, melody, rhythm etc. yet still keeps me captivated across its entirety, they have clearly done something right. And I WAS captivated throughout, and I genuinely had fun listening to it. -If they can make a record that poses enough questions that we are still talking about it almost 50 years later, then good questions have been raised. What have any of us in this project done that will be getting talked about in 50 years? If you think you have, then be proud right now! (and also please share, we’d love to hear more about our members!) - Even if they were phonies (which I don’t think they were) the thoroughnesses of the delivery of their conceit is unquestionable. I am happy to be improving the overall score of this album (even a tiny bit) with my vote, because records like this need to be made and the world we currently live in makes it less and less likely that anything this radical being made nowadays will be heard/talked about at all, never mind being talked about even 10 years from now. You could say it belongs in “1001 Pieces of Art you must experience before you Die” but it’s available on a piece of vinyl and afaik, a book with that title doesn’t exist yet. As far as it goes right now it feels like, the more listeners that would be prepared to just have fun listening to some crazy shit without an expectation of it being PinkFuckingFloyd, the better.

This album sucks, just a bunch of random electronica noises highly distorted or like dual British television segments playing in the background to some static type shit, Hank Hill said it best: "oh god! Its all toilet noises!"

Interesting in a what is music way. What is art? Is it music, are apparent sounds, recordings of happenings music? They are obviously structured and titled but With very little in the way of note or chord progression. When it did what is considered musical, ABA7 it didn’t exactly stretch the basics of known music. It's more of the installation art than anything else field, the pile of bricks of this list. Is it pushing boundary and advent garde vs is it simply a promotion excercise by supposed artists and/or the Emperors new clothes. In the end, it wasn’t as taxing or hard a listen as the average score on here had me believe. All a bit creepy down to the cover.But on singularly music experience I still have to give it 1 Star

historically significant and hard to listen to

Upon listening to this album, I'm legitimately convinced whoever created this list had a mission to get people to hate music

Certainly an album, hard to say it was an album of music. Going to be a very edgy contrarian and give this a 3, meeting it on its terms as opposed to expecting such things as songwriting and chords, and appreciating it for the total creepiness of Hamburger Lady and the bizarre aura it lent to breakfast. I will NOT be returning

Not actually music A collections of noises to irritate someone 1

Schizo breakdown the album. I was going to give it 2 stars for having the niche use of a midnight scary album to spook you a bit, but i played this in the car in the middle of the day and some of the sfx made me think my car was breaking, so nah screw this thing.

Does it come with the calendar?

This shit felt like a lame ass prank and I promise we are not laughing.

I had a copy of this album when it was first released. It's been such a treat to hear it again now. Sinister, enthralling, wonderful.

A deliberately uneven record that has a handful of captivating moments but doesn’t do enough to reward the effort it demands.

Wish I could rate negative numbers. This isn't even music. What record producer thought, hey this is worth putting money out to produce and sell? Worse thing ever.

I didn’t hate it. I was expecting this to be way worse than it actually was and was really surprised that I found myself enjoying some of the moments (but also being incredibly unsettled by others). Actually very impressive to make a noise album that actually kept my attention and was surprisingly dynamic. Yes it was a challenging listen and not something that I would put on to relax to but it made me really question the intent of music and what the goals of an album like this are (enjoyment or a purely artistic expression of the musicians). I think I would enjoy this a lot more as a film score or level design in a game that wanted me to feel a certain way. Definitely an album to play to test your friend who loves all music and doesn’t care what you put on in the car

Desde que la primera canción fuera el ruido de cuando uno se conectaba a Internet por el teléfono fijo por casi 3 minutos, sabía que esto iba a ser otro álbum pretencioso. Infumable, inescuchable, no loterimné y con razón es el peor calificado de los 1001

Throbbing Gristle – Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Chris Carter und Peter Christopherson, allesamt Engländer, entstanden aus der radikalen Performancekunstgruppe COUM Transmissions – veröffentlichten 1978 ihr zweites Studioalbum auf dem bandeigenen Label Industrial Records und lieferten damit ein Dokument, das bis heute schwer einzuordnen ist. Die Aufnahmen entstanden in den Industrial Records Studios in London, live im Highbury Roundhouse und am Goldsmiths College sowie an einer Reihe namenloser Orte, deren Roheit im Klang spürbar bleibt. Das Ergebnis ist kein Album im konventionellen Sinne, sondern eine Bestandsaufnahme: roh, präzise und ohne Zugeständnisse. Dreizehn Tracks, die kein einheitliches Stilkonzept verfolgen, sondern ein Prinzip: jede vertraute Form so weit dehnen, bis sie bricht. „I.B.M." eröffnet mit synthetischer Kälte, „Hit by a Rock" zerlegt Punkstruktur durch bloße Absicht, und „Dead on Arrival" entwirft einen Tanzgroove, für den es 1978 noch keine Tanzfläche gab. Im Zentrum steht „Hamburger Lady" – eine Komposition, die nicht begleitet, sondern einschließt: ein medizinisch distanziertes Textfragment über schwere Verbrennungen, unterlegt mit mäanderndem Synthesizer, brutal gerade durch seine Sachlichkeit. D.o.A. war nie darauf angelegt, gehört zu werden – es war darauf angelegt, zu bleiben. Throbbing Gristle schufen hier das Vokabular für etwas, das damals noch keinen Namen hatte, und zerlegten es im selben Atemzug. Wer nicht genau hinhört, hört Lärm; wer es tut, begreift die Kontrolle hinter der Störung: jede Dissonanz gesetzt, jede Pause kalkuliert, jeder Schockmoment konzeptuell verankert. Ein Album, das 1978 wie ein Einschlag wirkte – und bis heute nicht verhallt ist.

Not for me. 1/5

Somehow excels equally at being annoying and boring. That's a difficult and unforgiveable target to hit.

Horrible, it was just noise. Like, what?

Woke up with a massive headache today, this obviously made it worse. Also why is it the third and final report when this is only the second album....

Meh, I've explained my position these kinds of albums plenty of time, I don't need to do it again. But what intrigued me was seeing they had live albums. I wonder how that works.

Pretty much noise

Traumatising

Ok, look. If there was a zero rating, this would be it. It is thebworst thing I have had the displeasure of listening to and believe me when I tell you I have heard some shit in my day. Atrocious.

Sure it's terrible. It's a boring, not especially inventive, series of sound collages. But I would still prefer this over Napalm Death.

Weird. Extremely experimental. Not my cup of tea.

It's not that bad... At least it was ahead of its time and innovative. I think.

fuckin noise but at least it's better than 80% of the generic britpop slop

Sunku pasakyt kad patiko. Kelios dainos buvo raminančios, todėl duodu du.

Points for being wholly original and mostly disturbing, but I do question whether there's any talent actually present here. 2.5/5.0: Mixed

this pushes the boundaries of what could be considered music. its deserves its place on the list but it isnt something im keen to revisit

This was completely terrible. Like a pretentious student sound design project. Not a single track on there recognisable as a song. 1/5.

This feels like depression. Or alcoholism. Unnerving and disquieting. I will remember "Weeping". Alarmingly beautiful.

Here’s the thing: I don’t want to be like the rubes that say there’s nothing redeeming here. It’s an album full of interesting and even pioneering sounds. M Nor do I aim To be like the snobs that say this is high art—I thought the hipsters of the early 2010s were pretentious but y’all take the cake. That being said, this album presents a collection of tracks that are alternately extremely unpleasant, wildly confusing, and vaguely bearable. Being influential doesn’t make you good.

Nope.

1/5

I can't say that this album was good. There has to be an audience for this, given the amount of listens, but it was really not great at all. The first song was just noises and I guess they're maybe trying to show something, or it's a set of sounds that people can use in their low-budget films, but enjoyability-wise, this was awful.

After I surprised myself by liking the Liars album, I said this project was converting me to noise rock. It turns out I do still have limits though.

Ass

Barely qualifies as music. On multiple occasions I could not work out if I was hearing the album or random shit going on around me. Nonsense. 1/5

too many funny noises what is this

Wow. Can't believe they took the time to remaster this horrendous piece of music. Can't believe I sat through all 41 minutes at 52 seconds. Painful listen. 1/5

I bet ethel cain listened to this and was like damn they ate. and for that I appreciate throbbing gristle but other than that I do not appreciate throbbing gristle. not all bad but id just never ever ever listen to this.

How do I even rate this

Does this deserve to be the lowest rated album on this site? I don't think so. It's weird and experimental but that was the point. I guess you could argue, is it music? But that still makes it better than all the other middle of the road nonsense that's unoriginal on this list.

I expected worse since this is the single worst rated album on this site, but it was thankfully not that bad. It's just normal bad.

didn’t love it. Not my thing. But not, like, TERrible

Pas de quoi s’énerver : je trouve que c’est pousser l’expérimental trop loin et donc vraiment inintéressant mais pas plus agaçant que les gros prouveurs dans les reviews mondiales qui ont mis 5 pour prouver qu’ils sont différents

i like this album honestly. i think it's really creative. but HOLYYYYY listening to it in my dark room at 12:20 at night is a little scary. i think the album is really ambient and i'm into it. unlike some other albums on this list i find myself curious about what the next song will be like and im actually looking forward to it. some of the other albums can get a little bit predictable with the same sort of songs or albums that all have a predictable, marketable, cliche progression to their songs.

Like Uncut Gems, I'm unlikely to revisit this particular piece of art but I did enjoy it.

Interesting but won't be listening to it again. I guess it's a must listen even if it isn't your cup of team just to understand what was going on during this period. You can definitely hear the influence of this band in a lot of the newer industrial and noise artists.

No and never again. Someone was having a bad day, decided everyone else needed to have one too, and added it to this list. Was there a bet that they could get people to listen to this album?

I feel like Don Draper trying to listen to Tomorrow Never Knows. This isn’t an angry 1 but it’s a 1

I no longer have the patience, stamina, or desire to understand why the man recording the saw mill means fascism is coming to 1970s western Europe.

The two things I can really say about this are: 1) I was able to identify this as music, and 2) it wasn't the most irritating album I've listened to. (1.5)

wtf

What a divisive album. Understandably. Wasn't keen on this to begin with. Didn't do much for me on the first listen through. But once I listened a couple of times, I appreciated it a bit more. Definitely can see why people don't like it, but I can also appreciate those who love it. It's clearly influential for the time.

Inte genomgående totalt kasst musikaliskt men projektets kanske värsta artistnamn sänker det hela ett snäpp ytterligare.

41 minuter tech demo. Nej tack.

Inte njutbart alls

Jag trodde jag visste vad oljud var...

Absolute, unlistenable garbage

It’s not even music, it’s just noise

I've been looking forward to this one - the lowest rated album on the site. I guess I understand why, with its unsettling voice samples and noisy synth lines and guitars etc. There's a lot of genius here though - people shouldn't throw out the baby with the bathwater just because they feel a big challenged. This was 1978 ffs, no one had heard anything like this before. Its unsettling and dark and creepy, but far from just "random noise" - and some of the songs on here are genuinely great. If you listen, you can hear obvious influences on acts that would come later on. The guitar tone on Hometime and E-Coli sounds exactly like early Godspeed for ex. I also hear a lot of elements of synth pop like Gary Numan, and of course more modern industrial stuff like NIN. If no-one ever pushed the envelope like this over the years, we'd all still be listening to mild variations of classical, jazz and blues. Obviously not something I'd listen to every day, but I'm very glad it exists!

01) I.B.M. - 1,0 02) Hit by a Rock - 3,0 03) United - / 04) Valley of the Shadow of Death - 1,0 05) Dead on Arrival - 3,0 06) Weeping - 2,0 07) Hamburger Lady -2,0 08) Hometime - 1,0 09) AB/7A - 3,0 10) E-Coli - 1,5 11) Death Threats - / 12) Walls of Sound - 2,0 13) Blood on the Floor - 1,5 TOTAL: 1,91 (19/100) This is not music.

This was uncomfortable. I didnt listen as much as I was exposed to it and disturbed.

Stock music for an avant garde college student film. So if you're looking for that type of album before you die, here you go.

Interesting album. Early industrial vibes. A bit too atmospheric for my liking, however I appreciate the artistry.

Yikes. Starting with a bunch of feedback is a really tough intro. Can't believe it's the whole song?!

Makes EDM sound like Beethoven.

I could not finish this.