Jaws of Life [Import]

Hunters & Collectors | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 18, 2003)
• Original Release Date: August 5, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Liberation Music Oz
• ASIN: B0000AQS56
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #391,262 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

2003 reissue of the Aussie alternative act's 1984 album. 15 Tracks. Liberation.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Album of All Time, January 12, 2005

By 

M. L. Johnson (Auburn, AL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jaws of Life (Audio CD)

I know that's a bold statement, especially since we music fans only usually consent to narrowing it down to our top 10, but, if the proverbial gun were held to my head, I'd have to pick this one. And that's the way it's been since I first bought this on cassette (released by Slash Records here in the U.S.) way back in 1984. A few years ago, I was able to obtain this version on CD via a website which specialized in importing hard-to-find music from Australia and New Zealand into the U.S., but I am happy to see it re-released here so that it may potentially infect a wider audience. A (hopefully not too boring) note on discography: The proper Jaws of Life album begins with "42 Wheels" and ends with "Little Chalkie"; the last 4 songs were originally released on the Payload EP in 1982 (and also appeared on the original A&M Records release of their eponymous debut album, along with "Talking to a Stranger"). These are also excellent tracks, but are more in the vein of funky (albeit disturbing) dance numbers and have a different feel from the rest of the songs. For maximum enjoyment, my suggestion is to play these first and then go back to the first track. This will put things in chronological order and leave "Little Chalkie" as the proper dramatic conclusion to the whole thing.

Now on to the music itself. I can only describe this as some kind of alien form of experimental punk rock - with a horn section! This has about the most sinister sound of any music I've ever heard, driven by unrelenting bass lines and tribal drum beats, and punctuated by a distorted, quasi-bluesy guitar and bizarre synthesizer intrusions. Horns would normally add some relief and lightness, but here they just add to the weirdness and are in no way similar to what you're used to hearing in, say, ska music and the like. Then, there's Mark Seymor's amazingly gritty voice! Early on, many critics suggested that he look into the potential benefits of throat lozenges (it does indeed sound like he gargles with nitric acid as part of his daily routine), but I think his raw vocal stylings fit the mood perfectly. Also, as much as I enjoy this, it's not a party record! The pictures it paints of alcoholism, failed love, revenge, life on the road, the hopelessness of life in a dead-end town, and general despair and anger are unflinching and harrowing. It seems to portray a pretty bleak view of life in small-town Australia; but, now that I think about it, perhaps not too much more bleak than life in small-town America. As an American, it's odd that I would consider this my favorite album, because I don't quite understand all of the slang used, but I somehow seem to get the gist anyway. For example, I don't exactly know what it means to be holding down a "D", but it sure doesn't sound pretty! It's not complete black-upon-black darkness as there are cracks in the clouds afforded by the brutal humor. It's not really uplifting either, unless you consider the occasional moment of clarity experienced by terminal drug addicts to be uplifting.

This thing's been with me for 20 odd (and I do mean ODD) years now, and it never fails to creep back into my CD player once a year or so; and it never fails to thrill me just like it did that first time I heard that diesel engine cranking. I will never fail to be haunted by "Hayley's Doorstep", I will never fail to empathize with the drunk in "Carry Me", I will never fail to bust a gut at the crazed sexual imagery of "Betty's Worry" or "Holding Down a D", I have felt the weight of the road in "42 Wheels" and "Red Lane", and I have had to deal with growing up in the claustrophobic, red-neck town of "The Way to Go Out" and "Little Chalkie". I will never be free of this music.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your Hunt is over. Collect it now..., February 21, 2002

By 

Gregory Teaderman (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jaws of Life (Audio CD)

Coming of age in the 80's ususally meant that if you loved music, you most likely started out the decade by collecting cassettes. I just found this cassette--- a forgotten treasure amongst the hundreds I have had in storage. And now I'm finally buying the CD.
Hunters and Collectors was an aquired taste at the time, and still is, but this album flat-out rocks. The music here stands outside of time, and sounds as though it could have been recorded (and released) yesterday. The intensity of it far outshines anything on current radio playlists, just as it did when it was released 18 years ago. Do yourself a favor and get this gritty album.
Your hunt is over. Collect it now...

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gnashing and tearing muscle from bone...., May 10, 2000

By 

Darren Lebisch (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jaws of Life (Audio CD)

I hope the following superlatives don't sound trite. Over the years many ponder what is the best pop/rock album of all time, guided by the likes of Rolling Stone magazine and MTV, and usually names like the Beatles or The Rolling Stones are thrown about. After a relatively short life, my choice for greatest album of all time is the unknown yet brilliant 'The Jaws of Life' by Hunters and Collectors.

Never before or since it's release have I heard music with such driven intensity and originality. The basslines are thumping, the guitars really crunch and the wall of sound is delivered with a `measured' frenzy somehow mixed with delicate hooks and melody. And the lyrics of Mark Seymour are just sublime - the man captures the heart and sweat of the hardened Australian existence, urban and regional, and does so with a crusty mannish realism mixed with surreal vision and warm humour.

In essence the Australian ethos/identity is wonderfully captured in an album that oozes with the blood of working and middle class existence. A document on a society; hard, lyrical, boisterous and funny, never expressed so poignantly before, not been overshadowed since. Plus some Ray Charles and a couple of drinking songs thrown in. Play loud but careful with the bass!