Customer Reviews

First & The Last

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As I've known about this CD release for awhile now,I certainly didn't expect it to be THIS good.My stereo was giving me problems,so I stuck this CD in to see if my player could work properly,as I just planned to play the first song or two.Needless to say,'The First...' just yanked my full attention right out of me.Very impressive for a one-time project.As 'The First...' was recorded on the band's one and only brief tour of Australia in 1981.New Race was made up of ex-MC 5 drummer Dennis Thompson,ex-Stooge guitarist Ron Asheton and three former members of Radio Birdman.As for the tunes,I thoroughly dug "Haunted Road","Sad TV",the Stooges "Loose",their tribute to JFK "November 22,1963" and the MC 5's "Looking At You".Just well played down to earth Aussie American hard rock.As I realize this MAY be a strange comparison,but in several ways,'The First And The Last' sort of reminds me of that one-time lp by the Billion Dollar Babies(you know,the three former members of the original Alice Cooper Group?)See my review of their 'Battle Axe Complete' 3-CD release.

Impossible to find on vinyl -- now on CD!

This is a well-recorded, live document of a never-to-repeated Australian tour. The shows featured a Detroit-rock supergroup with a line-up including original Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton (burning!), MC5 drummer Dennis Thompson (in top form!), Radio Birdman guitarist/songwriter (and ex-Detroiter) Deniz Tek, and Birdman vocalist Rob Younger. Among the tracks you will find the definitive recording of the never-officially-released Destroy All Monsters composition "Nov. 22" (a furious evocation of the Kennedy asssasination), with Younger's vocals leaving Cary Loren and Niagara in the dust, as well as smokin' versions of the Stooges' "Loose" and the MC5's "Looking at You" (the A-Side of the first-ever MC5 single on A-Square records). I saw this LP exactly once on vinyl (as an Australian import) about twenty years ago, snapped it up, and played it to death. The time to obtain a clean CD copy is NOW!

This album is my all time favorite. There are very few bands that fit into the supergroup catagory, but these guys are it. Radio Birdman, The Stooges and MC5, what a combo. Rob Youngers vocals, in my opinion even surpass the legendary Iggy Pop, Ron Ashetons lead breaks are on fire and combined with Deniz Tek make a sound that sends tingles down my spine. Warwick Gilberts bass just smokes and Dennis Thompson is possibly the best drummer ever. Put these 5 guys together and you have New Race, the best live album I have ever heard. If you dont own it, buy it immediately.

To be honest punk is not a genre for great live albums mainly because punk shows are hard to record. There are a handful of exceptions: MC5's "Jams", Viletones' "Saturday Night Sunday Morning", Chords' "No One's Listening Anymore",Pork Duke's "Squeel Meat Again", "Iggy Live At the Channel" and this. The New Race were a short lived "supergroup" consisting of former members of Radio Birdman, the Stooges and MC5. The well recorded songs are mostly unused Birdman songs. Best moments: "crying sun", "haunted road", "breaks my heart", "sad TV", "Nov. 22, 1963" and the cover of Iggy's "loose".

The short-lived proto-punk supergroup was based out of Australia and featured former members of Radio Birdman (guitarist Deniz Tek, vocalist Rob Younger, bassist Warwick Gilbert), The Stooges (guitarist Ron Asheton) and MC5 (drummer Dennis Thompson).

The tracks were recorded during the one-off 1981 tour of Australia and provided Asheton with an incredible venue for a sonic blitzkreig of solos on material that not only sweeps through the history of each band - with one new number, "Columbia" - but is a massive uppercut to the jaw of a music industry that was surfing the new wave, while tossing punk into cut-out bins.

A powerful political statement is heard on "November 22, 1963," as Younger and Asheton propel each other through the message of Camelot dying through the shadowy manipulation of a patsy. "Columbia" points to the potential of the band if a recording contract was in the final mix. There are overdubs which make several cuts live/studio hybrids, but it is just a sign of the times, no matter the musical genre. The essay by Tek does an outstanding job in capturing the vibe surrounding the project.

The album title says it all, but the raw power will always breathe fire for future generations of listeners.