Customer Reviews

Black Box - Wax Trax! Records: The First 13 Years

5 star:		(10)
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I dj'd at college radio stations for 5 years in the late '80s, and was always pleasantly excited when I found a Wax Trax! label in the New bin. (Unfortunately, I usually did my shows in the dark and thought the name was "Wax Traxi" for the longest time!) The label was a mainstay of industrial music, and founders Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher consistently managed to sign and produce the most exciting musicians of the time -- the many incarnations of dear troubled genius Al Jourgensen, The Young Gods, FLA, Coil, Controlled Bleeding, Doubting Thomas, A Split Second, Lead Into Gold, Psychic TV, Foetus -- they are all here on three great discs packed with music that makes you want to move and feel. Disc One, Track One: Trent Reznor covers Black Sabbath's 'Supernaut' with 1000 Homo DJs -- a version previously unreleased, and then you are zipping through Sister Machine Gun and The Young Gods and oh so many more seminal industrial bands. Divine puts the "fun" in funky with "The Name Game", the label's second release. I was also happy to hear a few groups that had somehow slipped past me the first time around, like Wreck. I had a great time listening to this collection and am still listening to it. You can put in any of the three discs and be happy for a long time.

The packaging is beautiful -- a heavyweight black box covered with hip lettering and disturbing images; three black CD cases containing labeled discs and a listing with artist, cut, time and version information; and a terrific booklet that relates the anecdotal history of Wax Trax! -- it's artistically interesting as well as substantive and entertaining.

If you enjoy industrial music, you cannot go wrong with this incredible collection of the music and people that started it all. And why not put a few bucks into the pockets of the guys who loved the music more than the profits?

If I could rate this compilation any higher I would instantly. There is nothing quite like popping in disc 1 and hearing Trent Reznor screaming his lungs out to a Black Sabbath song and knowing that there are 30 more songs after that one. Everything from the classically punk, Strike Under, to the ultimately twisted likes of Pig and Pankow. Not to mention that this compilation holds in it the very reason industrial music has made it as far as it has in the past years. If it wasn't for WaxTrax! and the Chi-town underground.. the only people trying to figure out what KMFDM (Kein Mehrheit Fur Die Mitleid) stands for would be a bunch of germans. Long live Alien Jourgensen, TKK, Sister Machine Gun (the list goes on), and finally...JIM AND DANNIE... may they be immortalised as music industry gods.

This Chicago-based record label compilation is an awesome chunk of the work done by most of the best industrial bands that came out of N. America and Europe in the 80s. Very interesting and innovative music- fans of industrial music or darker techno should like most of this stuff quite a bit.

... after the first printing of this collection, let me say LOUD and CLEAR that WaxTrax! (now TVT) Records NEEDS TO RE-RELEASE THIS COLLECTION OF CLASSICS!!! As it stands, Black Box is a hard to find collector's item, as the prices for used copies can attest (nobody's gonna have a new one available, kids, at least not for a reasonable price). You're lucky if you can find someone who kept immaculate, anal-retentive care of the discs. I was lucky to find a copy of this set at my local record shop, but the condition of the CDs would rate as GOOD, VERY GOOD at best. I'm just glad that after 13 years, they will still play in my CD player.

I'm not going to fire off a huge, elaborate critique of the set. If this kind of music from this time period pushes the dopamine receptors in your brain over the brink (and you know who you are), then this collection is for you. Yeah, it's primarily industrial in nature, but there are hints of techno, hard/goth rock, and dark experimental music. The 3-CD set clocking in at roughly 3 1/2 hours of music represents a nice, thick, bloody slice of a time and a place, and yes, it's just that damn good. Read the other reviews for point by point details. At worst, this one gets 4.5 stars. At best, it easily garners 5.

This 3 CD set offers an excellent overview of the artists that made WaxTrax! Records synonymous with beautiful, challenging music. Coil, Thrill Kill Kult, Meat Beat Manifesto, Ministry, KMFDM, Pig, RevCo, even some early Frontline Assembly is featured on this Box. And for you NIN fans, there's even the original version of 1,000 Homo DJs' 'Supernaut' with Trent Reznor on vox. The enclosed booklet encapsulates the WT! history, including the TVT buyout. Overall, a great mix of music and information about the early days in Chicago that is well worth the price.

My interest in industrial music and its history lead me down the path to this little almost forgetten jem at this point.
This is industrial music as its not made anymore, as industrial music since the death of this label has become even more of a minor niche market fading into the obscure. But this box set captures industrial's golden age. An interesting mix of styles and history, it actually prompted to go visit the orginal WaxTrax store in Denver while on vacation(ironicly seeing one of the artists on the boxset.KMFDM). With all the music revials going on, I wish someone would revive this kind of industrial music, before its completely forgotten. The track that is the most well known is probably the cover of "Supernaut" with the Trent Renzor vocals, but that is to over look alot of other amazing material. You can feel the energy, the thoughtfulness, and the pioneering spirit racing though every track. The only shortcoming i'd say would be that Front 242's material couldn't be included.
Music history buffs will also get a kick out of this, there is a little booklet helping outline the history of the label, and quite a history it is. I find it quite sad that there is no real written books about WaxTrax and the chicago industrial scene of the 80s like there is for punk,hardcore,indie and their counterparts.
I recommend this comp 100%, and hope that you can feel the same love for this music as I do.

I shucked out 70 bucks for the limited steel box edition of this set, only to have it stolen, and I promptly went right out and bought it again. If you like hearing the origins of industrial, techno, and oddly enough, the KLF, this would be a welcome addition to your collection. It has quite a few tracks that you won't find anywhere except a used record shop, and even then, you may not find what you want. With tracks ranging from Coil, to Ministry (in their pop-music phase), to the ever popular Divine, KMFDM, and various mutations of bands mixed with other bands, there is even a handy booklet with the history, pictures, and members of each incarnation of this great label. From their beginnings as a little store-front in Denver, to a full-fledged company in Chicago, this is an interesting piece of musical history.

If you have only recently discovered industrial, you need this cd. Take a listen to the masters! They just don't make music like this any more. Hear KMFDM and TKK at thier finest. A truely nessary addition to every collection!

If you like this type of music, this is a must have. I love being able to listen to Ministry go from 80's new wave to the hard core industrial of the 90s. If you want to know where the popular music of the 90s came from listen to what Wax Trax and SubPop were putting out in the 80s.

This is a timeless compilation of bands. WAX TRAX records really were the God-fathers of realing industrail music.