Clubbed To Death (The Stranglers album)
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Although the very notion of 'The Stranglers' hulk-like, near-Septuagenarian drummer Jet Black "'avin' it large" to some "bangin' choons" seems too terrifying to contemplate. Clubbed To Death successfully suggests otherwise. Remixed in unceremoniously deconstructionist style by X-ERT Production's writer / technician Mike Bennett, who, aside from working with The Fall, Ian Brown, Kim Fowley and Utah Saints, was the dance boffin behind the unlikely critical success of Wishbone Ash's drum & bass Trance Visionary. Clubbed To Death garrottes 10 Stranglers' songs (all of them performances by the Mark Two, post Hugh Cornwell line-up) and revives them in a pulsating assortment of hardcore dance styles. Leather-jacketed hardliners may be appalled but others--those who have come grown accustomed to The Stranglers' career-long bloody-minded intransigence--will find subversive appeal in the pacey house-ska of "Nice n Sleazy" (which successfully boots its bass-line filching techno-punk imposter "Mad Dog" by Elastica in the groin) and an urgent interpretation of "No More Heroes" (Slain Mix) which wisely desists from tampering with the corrosive vibe of the original.
Even if many of the familiar melodies rarely filter through, "Golden Brown" remains practically intact whilst the tune to the "Duchess" (Art-E-Tart Mix) is as evident as an accusation flung in the direction of the Manic Street Preachers. Remarkably, "The Beast" (Capricornucopia Mix) originally an unreleased Jean Jacques Burnel instrumental demo from 1984's Aural Sculpture sessions and otherwise known as "Un Jour Parfait" morphs into an energetic 4/4 Eurodance anthem which could have clubbers in the Balearics waving their arms in the air. And, who knows, maybe even Jet Black. Give this album a very wide berth.
[edit] Track Listing
- Mr Big (Plutonium Mix)
- All Day & All Of The Night (Industrial Knights Mix)
- Golden Brown (Foiled Dragon Mix)
- Duchess (Art-E-Tart Mix)
- No More Heroes (Slain Mix)
- Beast/Euphoric Delerium (Capricornucopia Mix)
- Nice And Sleazy (Iniquity Mix)
- European Female (Central Ethereal Mix)
- I'll Be Seeing You (Pensive Mix)
- Golden Boy (Loaded By Midnight Mix)
- Golden Brown (Simon Guilfoyle's Salacious Encounter Mix)
- All Day And All Of The Night (Impetigo Knight Mix)
