Throbbing Gristle's Greatest Hits

Performer: Throbbing Gristle
Distributor: Caroline Distribution

Notes: Liner Note Author: Claude Bessy. Unknown Contributor Role: Throbbing Gristle. Subtitled "Entertainment Through Pain," 1980's GREATEST HITS is only half-ironic. While it's true that the group only once troubled any sort of chart, with 1978's subversive underground synth-throb hit "United," this is nonetheless an accurate representation of the group's best studio work. Largely drawn from singles like "Adrenalin" and "Subhuman" as well as the band's two most accessible (a highly subjective term) albums, D.O.A. and 20 JAZZ FUNK GREATS, GREATEST HITS is the foursome's most direct, and therefore effective, work. Although reissued by Mute in a less-censorious era, this edition retains one oddity from the original: "Slug Bait," the lyrics of which are fashioned from the confessions of sex murderers, is rendered backwards, as "Tiab Guls." That it's at least as potent in this guise is a remarkable feat. This is easily the best starting point for the Gristle novice, and frankly, the timid might want to end here as well.

Q (9/91) - 3 Stars - Good "..it's certain that Depeche Mode, Cabaret Voltaire and the Mute label itself wouldn't have flourished if [Throbbing Gristle] hadn't been there first.."

Throbbing Gristle combined primitive electronics, tape loops, avant-garde techniques, and post-punk energy to create a dark, experimental sound that was a tremendous influence on industrial and electronic music from the 1980s on. They evolved from a mid-'70s London performance-art group, but by 1977 they were committing acts of sonic terrorism on vinyl. After disbanding in the early '80s, they splintered off into Psychic TV and Chris And Cosey, but reunited for a 2004 festival that was put together to pay tribute to Throbbing Gristle's long-lasting influence.

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