The Day The Earth Met The...

Rocket From The Tombs | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 1, 2002)
• Original Release Date: February 1, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Morphius Records
• ASIN: B0000636UJ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #194,165 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Sometimes, obscure history is important enough to study and can even provide entertainment. Such is the case with the early '70s Cleveland aggregation known as Rocket from the Tombs. Seemingly out of nowhere in the Midwest, they were able to create their own little punk community even before any such New York or London band was on any writer's radar. Like the original Modern Lovers, their material never came out while they were together--a few bootlegs and a limited-edition album were their only recorded legacy. Singer David Thomas and guitarist Peter Laughner would later form Pere Ubu, while guitarist Gene O'Connor (Cheetah Chrome) and drummer Johnny Madansky (Johnny Blitz) would form the Dead Boys, with each of these bands taking Rocket songs with them. In addition, everyone from Mission of Burma to Guns n' Roses to Wilco would cover their songs. Though the CD lacks Laughner's inspirational speeches, it contains the Rocket's loft tapes and live shows in their ragged glory. On some songs Rocket wear their influences (the Velvets on "Foggy Notion" and the Stooges on "Raw Power" and "Search & Destroy") on their sleeves; on others they explore teen angst in savage, seething workouts like "So Co ld," "What Love Is," "Sonic Reducer" (later a Dead Boys staple), and "Final Solution" (later an Ubu staple). In all, a wonderful piece of garage-land, pre-punk history with matching audio. --Jason Gross

Product Description

Cleveland's only legitimate claim to house the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame is a band that will never be inducted there. In fact, it is more than 25 years after the group broke up that a legitimate album of their material is now available on Smog Veil. This was Rocket From The Tombs--the mutant daddy to Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys. Originally, singer David Thomas started the band in May 1974 as a kind of vaudeville act, though later the group would have a good grasp of theatrics. A gifted guitarist/writer named Peter Laughner showed up at some of the farce-filled gigs, jammed with the band and joined soon after. Thomas and Laughner would make a new more musical lineup that included Gene O'Connor (Cheetah Chrome), Greg Bell, and Johnny Madansky (Johnny Blitz). Somehow this disparate crew got opening gigs ranging from Iron Butterfly to Captain Beefheart to Television (who Laughner joined briefly). Without Rocket From The Tombs, the world may have never heard "30 Seconds Over Tokyo", "Final Solution", "Ain't It Fun", "Sonic Reducer", and "Down In Flames"--all Rocket's originals, and all contained on this release, along with 14 other tracks culled from archival live recordings, some of which have never previously been bootlegged. Comprehensive Liner Notes and never before seen photos are jam-packed in this complete retrospective that showcases the true inception of the Cleveland underground sound.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rocket Rules, July 25, 2002

By 

daibhidh "daibhidh" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Day The Earth Met The... (Audio CD)

At last the "lost" tapes of the Rocket from the Tombs (RFTT) are available. The source band for Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys is awesomely brought back from the dead with this compilation. Both successor bands are good, but with all of the links in place as RFTT, they are fantastic.

These aren't studio-quality tapes, so there is fuzz and pinning on them -- they ride in the red a lot. But it is well worth it. RFTT combine the lyrical weirdness and noise rock of Pere Ubu with the power-chording intensity of the Dead Boys in one killer package. If only they'd stayed together long enough to do an album!

Still, at 74 minutes, this more than satisfies, and puts RFTT in their rightful place in the punk rock pantheon. The Stooges' covers ("Raw Power" and "Search & Destroy") are great, but they pale before the AWESOME power of "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" which is blistering and dwarfs the cleaner, more sterile Ubu version, with cascading, shrieking feedback and insane intensity.

The RFTT "Sonic Reducer" swings in a way that the Dead Boys' version doesn't, and it makes it far better.

Other Ubu-associated tracks like "Life Stinks" and "Final Solution" get a total makeover; the former incorporating a psychotic 60s-style keyboard assault, while the latter becomes this apocalyptic masterpiece with a pounding, relentless rhythm attack. Songs like "Muckraker", the slow, sad "Amphetamine", and the peppy, exuberant "Foggy Notion" add depth to the overall collection. "Ain't It Fun" is positively haunting in this clearer rendering. "Read It & Weep" calls to mind 70s-era Rolling Stone riffs to my ear, but it's cool and expressive.

The audio quality varies depending on the session. Tracks 1-9 are the rawest and most powerful, while tracks 17-19 are the weakest, in terms of raw power, with 10-16 somewhere in the middle -- clean, but powerful. If you're a stickler for clean audio, avoid this; but if you like intensity, go for it. It is here.

What a cool band, and anybody wanting something awesome should get this, if only for "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" -- that alone is worth it. You'll never listen to Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys the same way again, or ANY music (esp. punk), for that matter. This compilation matters, and if you love music, you should get it.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compulsory music for the agitated listener, February 21, 2002

By 

David Hayden (London, .. United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Day The Earth Met The... (Audio CD)

Rocket from the Tombs belongs in that glittering group of aurally-challenging pre-punk bands that continues to attract the listener who refuses to believe that music equals sedation (Velvets, Stooges, MC5 - countless messed-up garage bands like The Misunderstood - I'm sure you have your own list). I'm not plugging the same ticket as those middle-aged punks who suffocate this music in the deathly embrace of a new canon. I'm not bothered about the rankings - all I care about is: does this music sound good now?

Well, there are no doubts with this disc. Listening to Rocket from the Tombs makes you feel alive in - and outside - your own skin. The music is loose, lived-in, deranged and dynamic - utterly compulsive.

Rock music may have mostly descended into a deoxygenated puddle of not-very-compelling simulations, but there's plenty of music that hasn't exhausted itself over time, that sounds like it speaks from someone's life to yours and that can still make your hair stand on end. This disc has some of that music and no doubt someone somewhere is about to do something just as good. Good luck people, wherever you are.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Punk existed before they had a name for it, October 16, 2005

By 

TimothyFarrell22 (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Day The Earth Met The... (Audio CD)

Did the Ramones invent punk rock? No, they just prompted some critics to give the scene a name, and they really brought all the influences together. However, the aesthetics and concept of punk rock were around long before. Simple chords, shocking stage shows, nothing but pure and fast rock 'n' roll that would rather sound like "Nuggets" than "Sgt. Peppers". Iggy & the Stooges, the MC5, the Velvet Underground, the Dictators, New York Dolls, heck even the Seeds or the Sonics had the punk rock thing down long before the Sex Pistols or the Clash had ever picked up a guitar (nothing makes me angrier than when someone tries to tell me that the British invented punk - probably some moronic Crass fan). However the two pre-Ramones bands that sound the most blatantly punk are the Electric Eels and Rocket From the Tombs, both hailing from Cleavland. Rocket From the Tombs played the most nihilistic rock 'n' roll anyone could imagine at the time. Of course they had absolutely no chance of hitting the mainstream - they were too good for it. I mean would a song like "Ain't It Fun" ever be played alongside crap like the Eagles or James Taylor? The answer is NO. No one sounded like this in 1974. When the band broke up, members formed two of the greatest punk bands ever, the Dead Boys and Pere Ubu. If you like this album, be sure to pick up an Electric Eels disc. This is essential, and should be heard by anyone interested in proto-punk (hell, punk all together).