cardboard adolescent |
08-03-2006 11:31 PM |
Here's a review of Anarchy in Paris that I copied from allmusic, which, if your tastes are anywhere near mine, will make you cream yourself:
"Anarchy in Paris! is a compilation of the essential 1970s material by France's only punk band to get it -- and perhaps the only real French punk band ever. Metal Urbain were the forerunners of post-punk with their nut-job blend of blasting guitars, an over-torqued synth made to sound like a drum machine, and screaming, cheap synth lines marrying everything from the Stooges to Metal Machine Music to early Roxy Music to Eno's "Baby's on Fire" to Suicide's rock craziness. The Jesus and Mary Chain claimed them as an influence, and so did Steve Albini, and Rough Trade launched its label with a Metal Urbain single, yet they remain a myth, and a little-known one at that. Little may be changed by the issue of their complete output on one CD -- with lots of unreleased and alternate tracks -- but the quality is here. This is still noisy, messed-up, angular, in-your-face blasting, visceral punk -- and in French! There are 24 tracks here containing the singles and the band's single long-player. None of the Metal Boys or Doctor Mix & the Remix material is here, as it came after the demise of Metal Urbain. There is little to say about this music except that unlike a lot of their contemporaries, Metal Urbain sound positively timely in the 21st century and just plain timeless, period. There is no nostalgia in their sound; they come across as righteously angry and blisteringly rock & roll, while pointing the way for the bands that came after them more so than just about anybody else. Awesome and exhaustive liner notes by Franco-punk historian Jacques Amsellam are provided, with lots of cool pictures, as well as complete lineup and discographical information. Fans of Wire's Pink Flag will dig this. Fans of the Stooges and 1970s Lou Reed or the Normal will, too. Actually, anybody who claims to like punk rock, historic or current, should appreciate this, not as an historical document, but as something dangerous, beautiful, vile, and necessary."
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