5 comments about Mission of Dead Souls.

1. This CD is a recording of the final live performance of Throbbing Gristle in San Francisco, 1981. Source was likely a fan's audio cassette. However sound quality here is very acceptable. Best described as mutated industrial. Tunes here I thought carried their own were "Guts On The Floor", "Looking For The Oto", the out-there "Persuasion U.S.A." and "Discipline". Fans of Chrome, Helios Creed, Front 242 and Suicide should really love this archive release. Recommended.



2. Not "the last" , as TG have recently reformed for live and studio work, but definately the end of an era. The best - and most subversive - thing about this decidedly lo-fi recording is the fact that audience members can be clearly heard talking during the quieter moments, and you'd be surprised ( or maybe not ) at some of the things they say. Vocalist Genesis P-Orridge sounds somewhat tired, almost defeated, on some tracks - maybe he knew it was the end of the road for TG - but the sound of the band is as powerful as you would expect. Not the first live TG to buy ( get the "live-in-the-studio" Heathen Earth instead ) but a worthy addition to round out your collection.



3. This album gets a fair share of attention because it's the live recording of the final TG performance. It has some great tracks on it, and being recorded by monte Cazazza gives it a nice novelty feel. Something Came Over Me is my favorite track on this, and this alone makes the album worth buying.



4. Dark, fierce , paranoid and extremely scary. If this doesn't sound like the album for you then continue elsewhere . If it is however you are in luck. This was to be the final concert that Throbbing Gristle would play under the moniker Throbbing Gristle before disbanding into Psychic TV, Coil and other such projects.

   The music here is blurred on first listen. This is due to the fact that the concert was recorded on tape and the sound resembles much more a chainsaw blurting it's terrible noise and Genesis P-Orridge's moaning drones and yelps make it seem like some guy's head has been decapitated. Unfriendly at best. What probably makes it even more bizarre is that you can hear what the crowd are saying. Now usually that's nothing more than chanting the band's name but TG go further. They make it sound like people have come to the slaughterhouse to see who the next victim is. And they talk about their daily routines as well. I think if I had have been there I might have just stumbled outside for a minute just to regain some sort of consciousness out of this nausea.

   Now that I've given it repeated listens it's easier to hear the music and it's almost numbed out the paranoid feelings I had about this album. But I have to admit for a band like TG to make me feel so paranoid as that and make me envision music that extreme is something unique. This album is not for everyone, easily so, but those who like their music extreme and freakish will definitely enjoy this album




5. This is the final 'official' release by Throbbing Gristle, originally only included as part of a 5-LP boxed set released in the early 80s. Later, this 'limited' release saw reissue as a single LP. At this point in TG's work, the fun was all over except for the last noise as required by contract, and that's pretty much what's going on here. Recorded in the audience at their final concert in San Francisco, the audio quality of this album is rather dodgy, as is some of the material. However, there are moments of wild brilliance, notably 'Spirits Flying' and the closer, 'Discipline'. But this isn't even up to the par of some of their other 'bootleg' concert recordings. One for completists.

No comments about Live in Japan.

3 comments about 10/28/00 - San Bernardino, California.

1. I bought this concert because I was there that night. I'm glad PJ made the show available to us fans. It was a super cold night and it wasn't their best performance but I'd rather have this then a crappy tshirt!



2. Disclaimer: Owner of all 72 official PJ bootlegs. This San Bernardino bootleg is one of the low points in the third leg of the massive 2000 tour. Granted, at 66th out of 72 shows, the band was understandably very tired. This show and the next one in Sacramento show clearly how tired the band was, before they got a last rush of adrenaline to finish the final four or five shows with a bang. In a very unusual move, the band starts tonight's show with "Rearviewmirror," which was almost always used to close the first or second set. Surprisingly, opening the show with this rave-up actually works, instrumental jam session and all. Unfortunately, after a pretty good start, this performance starts to drag with sluggish tempos and many musical errors. Things bottom out in the encore, with horrendous takes on "Insignificance" and "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter..." which are full of bum notes and forgotten lyrics. The band does manage to perk up a little before the end of the show though, with strong takes on "Crazy Mary" and the cool B-side "U." Watch for Eddie's chant of "let's hear it for LOVE!" during the jam in "Daughter," which is about as cheesy as Robert Plant's plea for people to remember laughter in classic live recordings of "Stairway to Heaven." One interesting aspect of this bootleg is the presence of one very loud-mouthed fellow near the soundboard, who manages to say the F-word many times on tape. Good for him.



3. I'm surprised no one has reviewed this album yet. I just purchased it, and absolutely enjoy it. It was a good set, great music. Not one bad song on the album. There probably are better tour bootlegs availible, but this is a good one, despite the lack of the symbol in the corner that marks the "best" albums.

   The show begins with a lively song, and doesn't slow down until Wishlist, and picks itself back up. While the band was obviously tired from the tour during this show, the music was great. The album features a notable performance of Do The Evolution (featured on the Touring Band Video) and a lot of interesting comments by Eddie. The vocals sound a little muffled on the first song, but they seems to clear up as the CD goes on. If you want to have a piece of a concert, these CDs are great, and this one is very good.

1 comments about Sessions at West 54th.

1. For anyone (like myself) who live in the Heartland/"Red State" America and may not get an opportunity to see Suzanne in concert, listening to this CD is probably the next best thing. Thanks to PBS shows like Sessions at West 54th (which is no longer on the air), alternative artists like Suzanne have a venue to showcase their musical talents. As for the CD, Suzanne's voice in this acoustic setting hits all the right notes as her performance is flawless. I hope that more performances like this are forthcoming in the future.

5 comments about Real Live Sound.

1. I saw Agent Orange about 3-4 times in 1986-87, and while this is more power pop than what I remember...IT DOES still have the feeling/guitar sound of what I recall. It does sound like there might be audience track here-but who cares. The band sounds great. Compare with Bloostained Hitz-much more pure Agent Orange. I'd love to see Mike release a live recording from The Music Machine in that later 80's period---Gibson SG and Marshall amps!!!!!!



2. I'll have to agree with the previous reviewer. I'm not intimately familiar with Agent Orange, but this is anything but "Real Live Sound". From the faked roadie intro to the added screaming to the studio recorded between song banter, this is a prime example of how major record labels manipulate perfectly good bands. Given that is was recorded in 1991, during the heyday of the cocaine and glam fueled pop metal era (in L.A., no less) it's a wonder that it isn't worse. Some of the songs are good, however, but to put them into rotation on my pirate radio station I had to do some pretty heavy editing. Is Restless Records still in business? They shouldn't be.



3. OK, yes this album is raw and yes Mike's vocals are a little harsh in some places, but it is a great live album for the diehard fan of old school punk. In fact, a lot of the songs are different versions then the studio ones, and sound very cool. For you old schoolers out there Social Distortions Mommy's Little Monster was not that great a recording and Ness was a sloppy guitar player back then, but the album is a punk rock classic. I'm not saying this is a classic but it IS an album to be appreciated and well worth four stars.



4. Agent Orange's only live album "Real Live Sound" is a sign of the times it was recorded in. 1990. L.A. The Roxy....The first thing that came to my mind just by looking at the cover and liner notes was the pop sound of the moment in 1990...pop heavy metal. And guess what? This is Agent Orange doing its best impersonation of a pop metal act.
   All the classic elements are here. A Drum solo. Cheerleading by Mike Palm. Half-assed guitar playing. What seems to be lots of fake sounding female screams. And an intro by a deep-voiced roadie. As a former recovering metal junkie...I was thinkin' gawd I'm not listening to W.A.S.P. Live in the Raw..Am I? But as I listened more and more I could tell that this was not the band that laid down one of the best albums I have ever heard at the beginning of the 80s. This was something KISS would do...lie down some tracks live and polish them up. The first studio album with warts and all was more "live" than this mess.



5. Agent Orange's only live album "Real Live Sound" is a sign of the times it was recorded in. 1990. L.A. The Roxy....The first thing that came to my mind just by looking at the cover and liner notes was the pop sound of the moment in 1990...pop heavy metal. And guess what? This is Agent Orange doing its best impersonation of a pop metal act.
   All the classic elements are here. A Drum solo. Cheerleading by Mike Palm. Half-... guitar playing. What seems to be lots of fake sounding female screams. And an intro by a deep-voiced roadie. As a former recovering metal junkie...I was thinkin' gawd I'm not listening to W.A.S.P. Live in the Raw..Am I? But as I listened more and more I could tell that this was not the band that laid down one of the best albums I have ever heard at the beginning of the 80s. This was something KISS would do...lie down some tracks live and polish them up. The first studio album with warts and all was more "live" than this mess.

1 comments about Screamin' Bloody Live.

1. Antiseen have been around for twenty years yet I only found them and there music in the last year. I love PRO-WRESTLING and its obvious Antiseen does to, with songs about Funk, Sabu and Cactus Jack (all legends of wrestling) If youre looking to check out the band this is a good place to start as it spans alot of there cds.

No comments about The Vicious White Kids: Live in Concert.

No comments about Complete BBC Recordings 1971-1975.

1 comments about Psalm 69/ Just Another Fix.

1. Essentially Psalm69 Album with some additional live stuff. You can throw away the live versions of TVSong and Hero, but buy it for Scarecrow. Live Scarecrow is awesome with some amazing harmonica sampled in, sounds like Scarecrow ran headfirst into Zepplin's When the Levee Breaks, sounds wierd but its a great effect.

No comments about Live on the Drive.