Great collection of a little-known band
Craig Clarke | New England | 11/22/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Tracked in reverse chronological order, a new anthology from K Records featuring The Blackouts -- aptly titled History in Reverse -- is an ideal portrait of the career of this 1980s band featuring Erich Werner on vocals and guitar, Roland Barker on synthesizer and saxophone, Bill Rieflin on drums, and Mike Davidson on bass.
Originally based in Seattle, they shared the stage with The Beakers and XTC. One live reviewer even suggested that, had the Beakers evolved into XTC, the Blackouts would have been an intermediate stage. The band itself eventually folded most of itself into industrial rock icons Ministry. That band's leader Al Jourgensen's presence is felt in his production of History in Reverse's opening -- and the band's late-period -- tracks.
Being more drawn to lighter than darker material, I prefer the Blackouts' earlier work (although "Happy Hunting Ground" is nicely reminiscent of Oingo-Boingo and "Idiot" is my favorite song on the album -- in both the regular and "pre-version" forms -- especially the pinging guitar), in particular the cuts from their debut single. In general, the further along in the track listing a song appears, the more I like it.
They have a definite sense of melodic structure, but unfortunately, Werner's sometimes-histrionic vocal style can break the spell ("Being Be" and "Probability"), often ruining the effect of the song, depending on one's mood. The only track on which this is not a likelihood is "Five is 5," a bouncy instrumental. "Chipped Beef" shows an influence on Soundgarder (Kim Thayil even offers a reminiscence in the promotional materials).
If the bass were tuned any lower on "Writhing" (another favorite due to that and the repetition of the title), there wouldn't be enough tension left for it to perform successfully as an instrument and "Young Man" finds saxophonist Barker taking a jazzier approach. "Dead Man's Curve" is not a cover of the famous Jan and Dean death rock song. It's actually one of the more fun tracks, with a near-novelty feel.
It is often more fascinating to program History in Reverse in reverse. When playing the songs in their proper chronological order, the listener gets a sense of the development (rather than devolution) of the Blackouts from a simple art rock band ("The Underpass" and "Make No Mistake" from the aforementioned single) to a band who members would later blend right into the fold of one of the hardest and darkest bands in popular music."
Best Seattle Band E V E R !!!
Seattle Beard | Seattle, WA USA | 05/15/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Everything I read in the other reviews is true. I saw them several times, so I know. This was without a doubt the best live band to come out of Seattle.
This band had the greatest drummer I ever saw, Bill Rieflin, now with R.E.M. The rest of them were amazing too.
I only wish Amazon would give you the chance to listen to samples of this cd. I would have you listen to Erich Werner wail in the song Writhing. You would drop what you are doing and buy this cd. I know it.
A technical note:
This compilation isn't exactly a collection of all The Blackouts recordings. There is a much longer version of Everglades we used to play at KAOS Radio. You can find it on the EP called "Lost Soul's Club" (Wax Trax 006). It's only on vinyl, but if you like the song, you'll want to hear the full 12:25 minute version. I even have a studio tape of out-takes that is brilliant, but alas, that didn't make it on this cd either."
Track Listings (16) - Disc #1