WHAT?!
Philip M. Grayum | Houston, TX United States | 06/17/2005
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Well, here it is folks, Negative Approach cashes in. What you have here is a so-called collection of barely listenable demos and bad live recordings. I must say, I was very excited to get this CD. I loved the studio recordings on Total Recall and felt that this release would provide what Total Recall lacked - good live recordings of the band as well as alternative studio recordings and unreleased early NA songs.
This was not so.
The first "demo" is actualy a bad tape recording of an early Negative Approach in the basement. I am pretty sure they used a radio shack tape deck to record it and, believe me, it sounds that way. 5 unreleased songs here, but the recording is so bad that you can barely make out what is going on.
Next up is a less than medicre recording of a live show.
After that are the demos for "Tied Down". Some of the versions sound just like the LP but with less sound quality (why even listen when you can get the original), the others were raw and stripped down - which are actually pretty decent.
Last on the CD is the biggest slap in the face - a live recording that is magnetized! You see kids, back in the day when we used to listen to cassettes, they could become magnetized by heat, age or whatever. Once the cassette became magnetized, you would play it and the sound would constantly fade in and out and become very muffled. What was once a great sounding live recording of Negative Approach is now a warped mess that they decided to put on the cd and sell to you.
Shame on Negative Approach for releasing this on their unsuspecting fans as "an addition to their collection". With the quality of these recordings it REALLY makes me wonder about their motivation.
I give it one star for the artwork.
I want my money back."
50 tracks for $15? (...)
JRM | Corvallis, OR USA | 04/20/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Negative Approach were/are the much lauded kings of american hardcore punk music. Sure sure, we all know that. No need to babble here...
For starters, if you own "Total Recall" this is mostly comprised of 3-4 versions of each of those songs. 2 demos and 2 live shows.
The demos are what you'd expect, raw raging versions of songs you've already heard. Sure, there are 5 new songs here and they're undoubtedly good, not exactly standouts like "Sick Of Talk", "Lead Song" and "Nothing".. but good stuff from a great band.
The first live show is A LOT better than the crap they tagged onto the end of "Total Recall". The second live show(recorded 2 years later)is phenominal and the only recorded Negative Approach show worth a listen.
I didn't give this 5 stars because: This is for collectors only. I'm not sure too many casual Negative Approach/Hardcore Punk listeners can sit through 4 recordings, 50 tracks, and about 4-5 versions of EACH song. After I bought this I made a burnt cd of each of the 4 recordings, made my life easier and saved my finger the strain of hitting the "skip track" button on my stereo.
That said... This kicks ass! (...). Get into hardcore punk music: SSD, Slapshot, Negative FX, Attitude Adjustment, Bad Brains, Battalion Of Saints, Dead Stop, Career Suicide, Creep Division, Jerry's Kids, Knife Fight, Kill Your Idols, Poison Idea, Necros, Septic Death, State Of Alert (SOA), Youth Brigade, Minor Threat, Verbal Abuse, Violent Minds, Agnostic Front, Uniform Choice, Black Flag, D.R.I., Crumbsuckers, Spudmonsters, Cryptic Slaughter, Wehrmacht. Do it now!"
Track Listings (50) - Disc #1