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What
a find! One can only wonder if this album has been dug
out, how many more gems like this lie unearthed? As the
story goes, back in 1971 three African American brothers
from Motor City get together to bang out some funky soul
but are shaken to the core after attending a Stooges
show. The experience modifies their opinion of what rock
and roll is. Further incursions into the discographies
of The Who and Led Zeppelin convince the young bucks
that there is nothing more important than rock and
roll. To add shocking value, the trio adopts the most
radical moniker they could think of; Death.
Three years
later, Death cut a demo under the tutelage of Jim Vitti, who had
worked with Parliament/Funkadelic. The result is …For the Whole
World to See; a raw in your face and incendiary glorious piece
of proto punk. The band got label attention from Columbia
Records, there was only one demand; change the band name. The
band doesn’t cave, label interest wanes, Death moves to New
England, where the members become faithful Christians and start
creating Christian music under The 4th Movement name. Anyone
knows that band? Not me.
For us the
story stops before. …For the Whole World to See is an excellent
album. The reissue includes seven songs from an originally
planned 12-songer. It’s punk in a purist punk sense; seven songs
in under twenty-seven minutes. They are energetic and upbeat
with excellent guitar licks from David Hackney. There is some
funk to it. And some very inspired performance, David hackney
shifts from short riffs to quick solos with the ease of an ace.
David makes his axe wail.
I hear more
MC-5 than Stooges here. The songs are tight and concise and the
arrangements are compact and do not have the free flowing and
loose liberty of The Stooges'. Death had a great frontman no
doubt about it. Bassist/vocalist
Bobby was a man with a silky voice that’s as good when
smooth, like during the quiet moments of “Let the World Turn”,
as when obsessive, like during “Freaking Out”. Which proves that
he could have been as good of a frontoman in a punk band or in a
funk or a soul band.
The
album comes to a great end with “Politicians in My Eyes”, which
was their single in the 70’s, and its memorable end of saturated
fuzzy guitars.
The
surprising thing about Death and this recording is its fresh
feeling. Soundwise is totally relevant; 2009 or 1974, Death
sound like now.
Death Blog
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