Search - Negativland :: These Guys Are from England and Who Gives a Shit

Flying beyond the industry's radar

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 02/16/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"What started as a 1989 radio collage of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and obscenity-laced outtakes from Casey Kasem's "American Top-40," took on greater proportions with its 1991 commercial release. The cover art, featuring a prominent "U2" graphic at a time when the Irish band's new LP was due in stores, prompted a lawsuit from Island Records, and drew additional fire from both Casey Kasem and Negativland's own label, SST. The resulting conflagration quickly became Negativland's raison d'être, providing grist for the subsequent CD/book "The Letter U and the Numeral 2," and its expanded reissue "Fair Use."Over the last decade, the original pair of tracks, yanked from distribution shortly after their release, have been available only through the collector's market and underground trading. This maybe-it's-a-bootleg-maybe-it's-not release augments the original studio work with four live versions, including two 1993 post-lawsuit editions taped at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall. Four additional tracks from the band's post-apocalypse "Music For Lawyers Tour" examine the original controversy with a blenderization of the original participants. The disc wraps with a sound-effect bleeped-for-radio-play edit of the original, unairably profane, "Special Edit Radio Mix."Available in surprisingly wide distribution, collectors who missed out on the original are advised to grab a copy while it's still beyond the industry's radar."

The continuing legend of the letter 2 and the numeral U

S. A DUNN | Chehalis, WA United States | 05/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The ultimate underdogs of this plastic culture have done it again! Negativland naturally draws out lawyers like s--- draws flies, so if you are a fan, you better get this album before it once again rains lawsuits! Not only do they re-release the two legendary "banned" tracks that started the whole sordid legal hassle, they also include many "live" versions, complete with all the "Weatherman's" wheezings, obscure phraises about his cat, formula 409, doorbell transformers, and his very nasal lampooning of the band U2's juvenile lyrics!Warning: Do not listen to on headphones and fall asleep while doing so, you will be rudely awaken after the end song. Nine minutes after that "sanitized" song "ends," the silence is broken by a collage of Casey Kasem's potty mouth spewing a plethora of foul words!"

I Have Found What I'm Looking For

S. A DUNN | 10/15/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Resurrected at last, this release contains the infamous Negativland co-opting of U2 and Casey Casem's expletive filled rantings about the Irish band and a dead dog. Absolute entertainment, and better yet, this rerelease contains live versions, as well as some history of the U2 plane and copyright infringement law. May not be to everyone's cup of tea, but it is very very funny to hear the voice of America's Top 40 totally lose it."