Heathen Earth

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Heathen Earth
ThrobbingGristleHeathenEarthAlbumCover.jpg
Live album by
Throbbing Gristle
ReleasedJune 1980
Recorded16 February 1980
Genre Industrial
Label Industrial
Producer "Sinclair/Brooks"
Throbbing Gristle chronology
20 Jazz Funk Greats
(1979)
Heathen Earth
(1980)
Mission of Dead Souls
(1981)

Heathen Earth is a live album by the English industrial band Throbbing Gristle, released in 1980 through Industrial Records.

Contents

Background

Tracks 1–8 document a performance on 16 February 1980 at the Industrial Records studio for a small, invited audience. The audience are all credited by name on the album, including Jonas Almquist of the Leather Nun, Monte Cazazza (who shot the video of the performance), Geoff Rushton and Jon Savage. Also included on the CD editions are bonus tracks taken from their 1980 7" singles "Adrenalin" and "Subhuman".

Release

Heathen Earth was originally released in 1980 on the band's label Industrial Records. The first pressing was limited to 785 copies on blue vinyl. The second pressing was on black vinyl. The first CD release was in 1991. Along with the rest of their albums, it was remastered by Chris Carter and re-released as a two-CD set in 2011. This edition divided the album into nine tracks instead of eight (track six was split in two) and listed official titles for the first time. The second CD consists of live recordings and single tracks.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Pitchfork Media (8.0/10) [2]
The Quietus favourable [3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]

Pitchfork called Heathen Earth "slightly stiff relative to the unhinged and abrasive live sound captured on the TG24 boxset, which archives their scalding live gigs before frequently hostile crowds with less fidelity but more heart. [...] But it's a testimony to their precision that, for all their influence, nobody quite sounds like them when they are truly on blast, as they are here." [2] The Quietus called it "more cohesive and marshalled" than any of Throbbing Gristle's other live albums and "a brilliantly weird album." [3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Throbbing Gristle (Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, Chris Carter)

Side A
No.TitleLength
1.Untitled26:33
Side B
No.TitleLength
1.Untitled21:32
1991 CD edition
No.TitleLength
1.Untitled4:38
2.Untitled6:39
3.Untitled7:17
4.Untitled7:46
5.Untitled7:44
6.Untitled4:56
7.Untitled7:33
8.Untitled1:05
9."Adrenalin"3:59
10."Subhuman"2:53
2011 CD edition - original album
No.TitleLength
1."Cornet"4:39
2."The Old Man Smiled"6:41
3."Improvisation"7:23
4."The World is a War Film"7:42
5."Something Came Over Me"7:49
6."Still Talking"3:16
7."Bass"1:38
8."Don't Do as You're Told, Do as You Think"7:38
9."Painless Childbirth"1:03
2011 CD edition - bonus disc
No.TitleLength
1."Introduction (Sheffield University, 1980)"0:35
2."Trained Condition of Obedience (SO36 Club, Berlin, 1980)"3:30
3."Heathen Earth (Sheffield University, 1980)"6:07
4."An Old Man Smiled (SO36 Club, Berlin, 1980)"5:32
5."Auschwitz (Rafters, Manchester, 1980)"5:19
6."Devil's Gateway (Rafters, Manchester, 1980)"3:58
7."Punished (Sheffield University, 1980)"5:53
8."Tortured Smiles (Sheffield University, 1980)"2:51
9."We Said No (Sheffield University, 1980)"5:29
10."Subhuman"2:57
11."Adrenalin"3:55

Personnel

Throbbing Gristle
Technical

Charts

Chart (1980)Peak
position
UK Indie Chart [5] 10

Related Research Articles

Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initially a blend of avant-garde electronics experiments and punk provocation". The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by members of Throbbing Gristle and Monte Cazazza. While the genre name originated with Throbbing Gristle's emergence in the United Kingdom, artists and labels vital to the genre also emerged in the United States and other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Throbbing Gristle</span> English band

Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti, later joined by Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson and Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pioneers of industrial music. Evolving from the experimental performance art group COUM Transmissions, Throbbing Gristle made their public debut in October 1976 in the COUM exhibition Prostitution, and released their debut single "United/Zyklon B Zombie" and debut album The Second Annual Report the following year. P-Orridge's lyrics mainly revolved around mysticism, extremist political ideologies, sexuality, dark or underground aspects of society, and idiosyncratic manipulation of language inspired by the techniques of William S. Burroughs.

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References

  1. Boisen, Myles. "Heathen Earth: The Live Sound of Throbbing Gristle – Throbbing Gristle : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  2. 1 2 Daniel, Drew (7 December 2011). "Throbbing Gristle: Second Annual Report / D.o.A. / 20 Jazz Funk Greats / Heathen Earth / Greatest Hits | Album Reviews | Pitchfork". Pitchfork . Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  3. 1 2 Doran, John (8 December 2011). "The Quietus | Features | Before Cease to Exist: Throbbing Gristle's Reissues Examined". The Quietus . Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  4. Cross, Charles R. (2004). "Throbbing Gristle". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp.  814. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.
  5. Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1989. Cherry Red Books. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2014.