Customer Reviews

Deaf

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have a few of the later albums by JG Thirlwell, but this may be my favorite so far, it's a hybrid of experimental, industrial and new-wave music, even old-school rap. It's reminiscent of older, "hard core" Devo with its synthesized basslines, robotic beats and sarcastic lyrics (most of which are perhaps tame by today's standards, but I can't imagine any pop radio station or MTV would've wanted to play the funky and catchy "Today I Started Slogging Again," a rap about sadomasochism, back in 1982). Not necessarily a perfect album -- it's hard to be with its many samples and odd interludes -- but its weakness are as interesting and amusing as its strengths and particularly unique in context -- definitely worth checking out, whether or not you're familiar with Foetus.

I've heard all of Foetus' works, with this being the latest I've heard. I notice that when an artist does their earliest stuff, it often seems to not necessarily be their best, but more so their most raw and reckless stuff. Having heard all of his latter recklessness, I was still captivated by DEAF!. It is an absolutely eclectic album, full of the maniacal creativity of our favorite studio hermit who at this point, finally was able to gather enough money to do a full length album by himself. This is a perfect example of why categories are only used for treating music as a file cabinet. If this is industrial, then everything is industrial. This is has such a diverse source of interest that you can hear the spines of almost every structured style of music fused into madness. What's particularly interesting is the way such complex lyrics have been molded into such a challenging structure. Particularly withthe songs that have elements of disco, early hip hop, rock, and video game carnival music. These are strong melodies for people who don't like dance music, but know how to get down. Boogie on.

Foetus is crazy. This music is sort of noisy & abrasive in a very unusual way -- not by being noisy so much as WEIRD. The electronic sounds are unique products of Jim Thirlwell's ever-avant-garde mind. You can also dance to them. You can definitely dance to this crazy cd. It's really fun, this debut album of Foetus when his art was as foetal as it is now, & sounded sooo different. With its samples & eccentricities, this was long before jazz had entered into his work, before the noisiness of Thaw, the darkness of Wiseblood, the strings of Nail, before he used anything like loud guitars. The cd ends with a very clearing thick drone-like thing that's a little painful sort of how Einstuerzende's Headcleaner from Tabula Rasa is. I hope this review has been helpful to you.

To me this album doesn't quite compare to his mid eighties releases. It definitely is a nice addition to my collection and a few songs are brilliant, but over all I thought the album had an undeveloped sound. The last song on the album "negative energy" has about 5 minutes of intentional static noise at the end that I could do without. I am sure some other fans will find his sheer energy and the rawness of the sound to be very appealing. I prefer the more perfected sound that you start hearing in Hole and is complete by the time he released Nail. If you are more of a fan of his new stuff like Love, this album is probably not going to suit your fancy.