Perhaps their Magnum Opus
Written: Apr 20 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: New tracks are more developed, old ones are given new life.
Cons: No amount of catchiness or artfulness will change your mind if you don't like Crass.
The Bottom Line: Whether you love Crass or merely "appreciate" them but think them one-dimensional, give Christ a chance.
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| ultramouse's Full Review: Christ: The Album/Well Forked-But Not Dead by Cras... |
By the time Christ the Album made its way into stores, the Falklands War had started, thus giving Crass impetus to go back into the studio for Yes Sir, I Will., the album that is most often cited by both fans and critics of the band/collective's uncompromising sound. Christ, a frightening dark and widely varied double album, gives a number of clues of what is to come.
Penny Rimbaud often cited the Beatles as his key influence, and while that might be hard to spot sometimes, pop listeners who have little experience with found sounds and musique concrete will have no trouble referencing "Revolution 9" in much of the album. Side 1's tracks are tied together by mock radio tuning and other sound bites, while familiar favorites on the live 2nd disc (titled "Well Forked, But Not Dead") are warped and manipulated in the studio by Rimbaud & co. to near unrecognizability sometimes, other times used simply as found sounds themselves in another context. This makes a live album perfectly sensical, even to a band who abhorred redundancy and rock cliches.
As for the new material on the first disc, the name is explained instantly on the opener "Have a Nice Day" (Ladies and Gentlemen, it's Christ! No, it's Crass!), and the band launches into a nearly catchy jangle-punk number about how they're not going away. The band's rarely-seen sense of humor makes what might be its first-ever appearance in a first track. From there, the Crass sound really ensues, but in a more well-developed, carefully-crafted fashion than ever before. Penny Rimbaud's marching beat is in full effect, but his production makes them sound fuller. Instrumentation is varied (including "normal" punk no-nos synthesizers), and for the first time (though they'd been highly musical before), they seem to be thinking about being musicians as much as evangelists.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ultramouse
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Reviews written: 13
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