Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unbearably brilliant. Absolutely classic., August 2, 2004
Godflesh, Streetcleaner (Roadrunner, 1991)
I cannot imagine what sheer and utter joy a select few had upon buying this album, slipping it into the CD player, and hearing it for the first time. I discovered Godflesh later (with the "Slavestate" single), and by the time I got around to buying a copy of Streetcleaner, I already knew Slavestate and Pure backwards and forwards. So I was ready for the opening bars of "Like Rats," and I knew what I was about to hear, more or less.
But oh, my, what it must have been to hear something so thoroughly brutal and unrestrained, with lyrics that wouldn't overly confuse a bright six-year-old and a repetitive drum line that sounds like it was created on a cruelly cheap Roland (mainly because it was), and yet at the same time have all that coalesce into the work of profound beauty that is Streetcleaner.
There is something about certain pop bands that defies all logic. Somehow, they take all that is worst about pop music, put it all together, and come up with pure delight. You know the feeling-- when a band you've always thought to be as talented as a terrarium full of sea slugs (say, Sneaker Pimps) comes up with something that you not only don't clutch your ears in pain when you hear it, but you actually want to listen to it again (say, "6 Underground," the Nellee Hooper mix). Godflesh are like that, but they managed to do it for two albums and a handful of singles. Every song. On every record. Think about it for a second. Either there was some sort of weird electromagnetic field surrounding them, or they were the luckiest band in existence. Of course, having friends like John Zorn, Bill Laswell, and Mick Harris (collectively, PainKiller, for whom the Godflesh boys recorded some tracks) probably helped as well.
One way or the other, though, Streetcleaner will melt your head. You've never heard anything like "Christbait Rising" before, and it's not terribly likely you ever will again. An essential album of the nineties. *****
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of a kind., April 10, 2005
There is no pretense on this album- no "look what I can do", no "look how many words I know"...just complete and utter oblivion. Majestically crushing, and unrepentantly dark and morose- this is a truly unique and self-dissolving piece of plastic. You completely lose yourself into it. Not to mention, it kicks an a$$ or two. Like Rats and Christbait Rising (a favorite- "don't hold me back/ this is my own hell") are immaculate. Really not recommended for people who don't appreciate crushing, dark music, but those who do will love it. I place it with Swans' Great Annihilator (that's more cereberal), Burzum's Hvist Lyset Tar Oss (that's more evil), and Ministry's Filthpig (that's sleazier), as the grand dukes of crushing spaciousness. This is more the "city" version of those, if that makes sense. If when someone says "Industrial", you think VNV Nation, and "Metal" you think "Iron Maiden", you'll hate this. This is completely it's own animal, and you will either hate it or love it. I love it, but these guys are despised by some people I play it for. It doesn't get much darker than this- there are hundreds of metal bands that could learn what real darkness sounds like from this cd. Not a cd for parties by a long shot, but somehow both aggressive and soothing at the same time, I usually listen to it when I'm by myself and either reading or screwing with photoshop. Buy it if you like looking the beast in the face, and tell him I said hi.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
BRUTAL!!!, August 8, 2002
Back in college I used to be a DJ at WKNC in Raleigh, NC. A place that specialized in metal and home of Corrosion of Conformity. I picked this CD up one day while browsing online and NOW I remember why I LOVED these guys. "Like Rats" is simply one of the most brutal songs I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. "Christbait Rising" is almost as brutal.
I saw these guys live back in "the day". Chaotic guitars, bass and a drum machine. They were booed off the stage of the local metalfest.
Now I listen and just dig this CD. It was about 8 years ahead of it's time. No, this is not the fastest band. No, it's not the most obscenely fast, gross or technical band.
Godflesh is just BRUTAL. Simplistic lyrics repeated over simplistic beats. And it hits you upside the head like a sledgehammer! Harsh guitars give way to an early 90's sounding drum machine. And it ROCKS!
"Breed, like rats". Repeated over and over.... it's brutal!!
Lyrics are just growled enough to understand and the beat is constant. Yeah, it's a drum machine but it is HEAVY! Syncopated rhythms that do not stop. They keep on hitting you upside the head. God, I LOVE this CD.
It's nothing that you have not heard before. Growling vocals, slamming guitars and a mediocre drum machine. However, this album continues to bludgeon you with it's intensity.
Not a feel-good CD. Just something to put on when you are (angry) at the world or just want to relive the "glory days" of youth. I swear, 10 years later, I still feel the heaviness of this CD reverberate deep within my bones....
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