Customer Reviews

Industrial Strength Machine Music: 1978-1995

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This is a great, great compilation of industrial music and the perfect place to start if you are interested in the genre. I salute Alternative Press and Rhino. This album shows the progression of industrial and includes many of the great artists that have contributed to the genre throughout the years, as well as an informative essay on the genres evolution by Jason Pettigrew of Alternative Press.

Every song is great on here. Throbbing Gristle's "Hamburger Lady" is truly disturbing; you won't be the same after hearing it. "Nag Nag Nag" from Cabaret Voltaire shows how ahead of their time the band truly was. Non, the mighty Coil, and Test Dept. contributions are superb. The monumental Einsturzende Neubauten contributes a great song as well, "Yu Gung (Futter Mein Ego)".

The best song might be "Anything (Viva!)" from Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel, one of JG Thirwell's many Foetus variants. Interesting lyrics and amazing music. Of course "Dig It" by the wildly influential Skinny Puppy is great. Front 242, Clock DVA, and Meat Beat Manifesto's contributions are more techno-sounding, but just as good as the others. The legendary Ministry contribute "Stigmata." KMFDM show the uniting of brutal guitars with industrial music on "Godlike - Doglike." My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult's satanic sonics and the Revolting Cocks dirty industrial round out the set, which ends with an incendiary live performance of "Gave Up" by nine inch nails.

In short, ISMM is a great compilation that I think everyone should go pick up.

Rhino has followed a chronological approach to the phenom of industrial music. In fact, they even go so far as to call this stuff "machine music."

Take about hitting the nail on the head.

Moving from the corpsegrinder vibe of Hamburger Lady and the drum machine rattle of Nag Nag Nag to the hiccuping Dig It and chainsaw riffs of Stigmata, we encounter a tense ten years of goth/indie commotion.

Rhino has selected important examples, and the cross-section of artists presented shows some genuine thoughtfulness. The insert is informative: it's just a great compilation.

If you were buying this by the song, you'd pay a whole lot more than what you see here.

I've not had much exposure to industrial music, so I bought this CD hoping to get an overview of the genre. I've certainly never heard anything like "Hamburger Lady". It still sends chills down my spine. Overall, I was enthralled by the sounds here. This is a challenging listen (I mean that in a good way.)

From a historical perspective, this is a good compilation but, from a listening perspective, not that great. Go with "Industrial Madness" or "Industrial Revolution" 2nd & 3rd edition. Trust me, you will play this, then it will get pushed to the back of your collection. It's also hard to get this at a decent price where as the "Industrial Revolution" discs can be had at bargain prices.