Helter Stupid

Negativland

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 1, 1991)
• Original Release Date: 1989
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sst Records
• ASIN: B000000M5X
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #76,036 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Helter Stupid Prologue

2. Helter Stupid

3. Perfect Cut (Canned Music)

4. Perfect Body (Rooty Poops)

5. Perfect Cut (Good as Gold)

6. Perfect Cut (Piece of Meat)

7. Perfect Cut (White Rabbit and a Dog Named Gidget)

8. Perfect Cut (11 Minutes)

9. Perfect Cut (48 Hours)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars We Need More Negativlands!, September 9, 2004

By	tgfabthunderbird (York, PA United States) - See all my reviews

I was intro'd to Negativland through a friend of my girlfriend at the time (circa 1989). This person was in an industrial group of his own (Bovine Ignition Systems. Sadofsky, where are you?) and Negativland was very much an influence and inspiration.

"Escape From Noise" was the most diabolical recording I'd ever heard. I loved hearing the bizarre overdubs, rip jobs on religion and other incisive commentaries that abounded on it.

When "Helter Stupid" came out, I grabbed it immediately. Now, I was disappointed by the tape's side two (Perfect Cut). It is not even worth mentioning.

But side one: 22+ minutes of an expose on the media, how incompetant they were then (and even more so now) and how they ran with a story, without checking their sources, without doing any real followup, and just assuming that David Brom murdered his whole family after hearing the track "Christianity Is Stupid."

The track is an amazing piece of TV newscasters who think they've got the story that'll get 'em to the network (WRONG), cuts from John Lennon and Charles Manson, and the effort by some shadowy figure trying to wring out a confession from the band (NOW IT BEGINS!).

To put a fine point on my title, I wish Negativland would do more of this on our alleged media today. Michael Moore has the inside track on it now, but the guys from San Fran. would be equally effective.

PS: This is also the band that Bono sued over, demanding they destroy all their copies of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." I heard a bootleg of their cover...yes, it was a slash and burn job, but His Pretentiousness needed to be brought down a peg around that time.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helter Fantastic, October 26, 2002

By	Farrell Mc Nulty (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

Actually two mini-albums in one, two masterpieces, Negativland socks it to the media with a one-two punch. Beautifully edited, well-informed and hysterically funny, particularly sections of THE PERFECT CUT. I especially appreciated the samples of Chicago radio, having heard those exact same jingles as a Chicago kid back in the 70's. I listen to the whole piece and can just SEE the badly feathered hair, the bad form-fitting clothes and the 8-track players.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pop Goes the Media-Industrial Complex, May 17, 1998

By A Customer

This disc really contains two albums. The first is a long exploration of the media's laziness and susceptibility to fraud, following the story of Negativland's murder-connection hoax of 1988 in their familiar nonlinear style. The second is a collection of rapid-fire samples of 70's music and radio business tapes never meant for airplay. Funny, overwhelming, confusing, and enlightening.