[AllHandsOnTheBigOne]

So I wanted to check out some Throbbing Gristle. What's their best album/what should I start with?

[Savage Clone]

20 Jazz Funk Greats is the most "listenable/accessible" one, but still great.
It was the first thing of theirs I heard, and I still love it.
My favorite is maybe Heathen Earth, with a gun to my head.
Their soundtrack for In The Valley Of The Sun is pretty gorgeous, and "Very Friendly" is a great example of their earliest work.

[atsonicpark]

Having listened to all of their major albums and a few hours of TG24, I can safely say you, uh, "can't go wrong" with any of them. They're all of about the same quality (or lack thereof) and you're going to walk away from hearing them going "Man, I heard a nice noise or two in that pot of muck." Sometimes frightening but usually just annoying. Basically, you can really just dive into to any of them and probably enjoy them. I'd go with second annual report, as to me it's the most listenable and interesting.

[batreleaser]

my favorite throbbing gristle records are in order as follows:

1. second annual report
2. third and final report
3. 20 jazz funk greats

i would stay away from their newer stuff, but those three are all brilliant, the first two being on the more extreme side, and 20 greats their most listenable, even though all of them are ridiculously extreme for when they came out.

if you really like this stuff, check out psychic tv, its absolutley NOTHING like throbbing gristle, its very danceable and sometime disco-influenced, but is great testament to how versatile and brilliant a musician geneis p-orridge is.

[dionysusundone]

I like Psychic TV way more...but my fav's 20 Jazz Funk Greats.

Am I the only person that likes the most recent album?

[Dead-Air]

Originally Posted by batreleaser

if you really like this stuff, check out psychic tv, its absolutley NOTHING like throbbing gristle, its very danceable and sometime disco-influenced, but is great testament to how versatile and brilliant a musician geneis p-orridge is.

Except that Psychic TV's best album is Dreams Less Sweet which is rather like some TG at times, and the rest of the time is more like Current 93 folk rock, with nary a dance beat on the whole brilliant record.

I think maybe 20 Jazz Funk Greats is my favorite TG, but the Annual Reports and Heathen Earth are all very close.

[Savage Clone]

I would think "Temporary Temple" or the Themes series would appeal to any TG fan, as would New York Scum. They didn't get dancey until 1987/88, and their best work is before then. They were intense.

[Everyneurotic]

the only one i didn't like at all when i first listened to it was 20 jazz funk greats.

other than that, everything i've heard from them is ace, a lot of it is not for very active listening but that's part of their appeal.

early psychic tv is amazing too, it's like tg but a lot more diverse. i haven't ventured to their dancey phase yet.

and coil are fantastic, my mom loves coil.

[batreleaser]

haha, ur mom likes a lot of rad music. the only thing i agree on with my mom is fleetwood mac. and twin peaks.

[jonathan]

I'm only familiar with their early work.

what atsonicpark said. it's all pretty good, just pick one and go with it.

[fugazifan]

i prefer heathen earth, though the 1st and 2nd annual reports are great

[Glice]

All of it, pretty much.

If anyone wants me to upload some of the live stuff from TG+, I can do. But you can fuck off if you want me to upload the whole of it.

1. RCD30: Live at Oundle Public School, UK, 16th March 1980.
2. IRCD33: Live at Sheffiled University, UK, 10th June 1980.
3. IRCD36: Live at SO36 Club, Berlin Germany, 7th Nov, 1980.
4. IRCD37: Live at SO36 Club, Berlin Germany, 8th Nov 1980.
5. IRCD38: Live at Kunsthofschule, Frankfurt Germany, 10th Nov 1980.
6. IRCD39: Live at Rafters Club, Manchester, 4th Dec 1981.
7. IRCD40: Live at Heaven, London, 23rd Dec 1981.
8. IRCD41: Live at Lyceum, London, 8th Feb 1981.
9. IRCD42: Live at Veterans Auditorium, Los Angeles USA, 22nd May 1981.
10. IRCD43: Live at Kezar Pavilion, San Francisco USA, 29th May 1981.

Take your pick.

[Savage Clone]

I do believe a member of this very nerd board was present at the recording of Heathen Earth.

[Florya]

D.O.A. is great, for 'Hamburger Lady' alone - one of the creepiest tracks I've ever heard.

For the live sound of TG I'd recommend 'Thee Psychick Sacrifice'

TG related - I'd really recommend 'Form Grows Rampant' by Sleazy's 'Threshold Houseboys Choir'. It's beautiful.

The latest album was great. It was almosy exactly as I was hoping it would be.

I can't wait to hear the completed 'Desertshore' album, but I think it's a long way off.

[PAULYBEE2656]

HAMBURGER LADY, AMAZING SONG..

GO WITH 20 JAZZ FUNK GREATS OR HEATHEN EARTH AND THEN LET YOUR NOSE FOLLOW.......

by the way and for the record, the last album was great too!

[Everyneurotic]

am i the only person on earth who thinks 20 jazz funk is horrid techno crap?

i listened to it once and it bored me to tears, i mean, actual boredom from one of history's best bands ever.

should i give it another chance?
does anybody agree with me?
will miley cyrus get a dui before posing for hustler?
is that smell something bad?

[Dead-Air]

Originally Posted by Everyneurotic

am i the only person on earth who thinks 20 jazz funk is horrid techno crap?

i listened to it once and it bored me to tears, i mean, actual boredom from one of history's best bands ever.

should i give it another chance?
does anybody agree with me?
will miley cyrus get a dui before posing for hustler?
is that smell something bad?

If you listened to an album by one of the great groups of all time once, and you now find what you thought conflicts with what many people who's tastes you at least respect think, then of course you should try again. Maybe if you have that issue of Vanity Fair in your left hand while you listen...

It may be their most accessible, but it ain't 90125.

[Everyneurotic]

that's why i was asking, or maybe it was a cry for help.

yeah, i haven't heard about thing about it, except the disc itself.

and yeah 90125 is horrid techno crap ("techno" as in "oversaturated, overproduced, technological recording"), even though i'm not as opposed to "owner of a lonely heart" as most people. in fact, i think this is second only to hannah montana when it comes to the oversaturated, overproduced department.

[Savage Clone]

I'd like to know how anyone could deny "Beachy Head" or "Six Six Sixties."

[Dead-Air]

Originally Posted by Savage Clone

I'd like to know how anyone could deny "Beachy Head" or "Six Six Sixties."

Damn it, get out of my head. Those are by far my favorite tracks on the album too.