Birthday Party Live 1981-82 CD

The Birthday Party's LIVE 1981-82 is a vicious and incendiary assault on the nature of traditional both rock music and its various offspring. Words like "intense" are consistently overused when describing rock bands, but the Birthday Party worked overtime to make sure that they fully deserved them.

Digitally remastered by Dave Macquarie (1999, Studios 301).

Recorded at three European concerts-- in London, in Bremen, and in Athens--this album displays a rock band caught in the act of simultaneous exorcism and self-destruction. Standouts include a high-speed swipe at "A Dead Song" that outstrips the studio version in nearly every respect; the tricked-out rockabilly of "Release the Bats," a song which probably did more for the then nascent Goth movement than anything since Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead"; "Dead Joe," built on searing guitar feedback and accelerated drumming from Phil Calvert; and an eight-and-a-half minute cover of the Stooges "Funhouse," featuring each member of the band apparently attempting to perform head-on musical collisions with Tracy Pew's bass guitar line, otherwise the only thing keeping the song in line. LIVE 1981-82 is a worthy addition to the Birthday Party's influential legacy.

Personnel: Nick Cave (vocals); Mick Harvey (guitar, percussion); Rowland Howard (guitar); J.G. Thirlwell (saxophone); Phill Calvert (drums).

Audio Mixers: Mick Harvey; Lindsay Gravina; Rowland Howard.

Recording information: Athens, Greece (1981-1982); Bremen, Germany (1981-1982); Venue, London, England (1981-1982).

Photographer: Bleddyn Butcher.

Unknown Contributor Roles: Mick Harvey; Nick Cave; Rowland Howard.

The Birthday Party: Nick Cave (vocals); Mick Harvey (guitar, percussion); Roland S. Howard (guitar); Tracy Pew (bass); Phil Calvert (drums).

Additional personnel: Jim Thirwell (saxophone); Mick Harvey (drums).

Alternative Press (11/99, p.88) - 4 out of 5 - "...a testament to the expatriate Australian quintet's frenzied and parched form of desert jazz and drunken lounge music....exemplifies the band's love of the sound of malfunction..."
The Wire (7/99, p.52) - "...[In] the volume and presence of these recordings...familiar songs are bruised, blackened and distended to the point where they split open....the songs emerge raw, livid and schockingly tender..."