- Audio CD (2 April 2001)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Extra tracks
- Label: Diesel Motor Records
- ASIN: B0000258B0
- Other Editions: Audio CD
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 191,005 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Product details |
Product Description
Album Description
Sabotage/Live is the noisiest album of Cale's career, but there's more here than volume and feedback. Recorded live at punk mecca CBGB's, the 9 songs range from the howling "Mercenaries (Ready for War)" to the more reflective, dirge-like "Captain Hook," a sardonic epic meditation on British colonialism that's every bit as powerful as the louder, faster tracks. For completists, this version includes the 3 tracks (including from 1977's Animal Justice EP and the rare B-side "Rosegarden Funeral of Sores," later covered by Bauhaus.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
John Cale had previously contributed to some wild live albums (Batalan 72, the Nico live album with Kevin Ayers et al) and had begun pushing the idea of performance. One strange performance saw Cale and Brian Eno creating a soundscape in Berlin (which they thought would shatter the glass of the building they were playing in at the time)as Nico performed all the verses to Fascist anthem Deutschland Uber Alles. This was an era when alienating your audience seemed like a good idea- see such records as 23 Minutes Over Brussels (Suicide), Document and Eyewitness (Wire), Metal Machine Music (Lou Reed), Black Flag when they played jazz-instrumentals with long hair, Target (Husker Du), the career of Throbbing Gristle etc.
This issue of Sabotage, originally from 1979 comes replete with the 1977 e.p. Animal Justice- Cale recording these new songs at CBGBs, the then hip domain of such acts as Blondie, Ramones, Talking Heads & Television (& later Mars, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks and Glenn Branca- the latter is not unrelated to this). Cale decided to make a live album of new songs, which has only been done a few times (REM's New Adventures in Hi Fi, that Jackson Browne album, Miles Davis' Live Evil)- Cale demonstrating that forward-thinking notion still present on releases like 5 Tracks and Hobosapiens. Cale at the time was garbed up with an ice-hockey mask (preceding Friday the 13th's Jason), on a diet of brandy, coke & heroin and sometimes chopped chicken's heads off on stage Listening to this, one can only conclude: Marilyn Manson is a pussy!!!!
The ten-tracks of Sabotage are wild, the opening Mercernaries (Ready for War)both capturing the zeitgeist (Afghanistan, Cambodia, El Salvador, Iran, Vietnam: READY FOR WAR?????) and offering a song that sounds sadly apt in these days of conflict. The rest of the tracks are great, a take on Walkin' the Dog that continues what Cale did with Patti Smith (My Generation) & Nico et al (Heartbreak Hotel)- taking a standard rock & roll record and taking it somewhere extreme (see also Suicide's take on 96 Tears). Only Time Will Tell and Sabotage are equally brilliant.
The Animal Justice ep is as great- Memphis & Hedda Gabler and best of all, Rose Garden Funeral of Sores- later massacred by Bauhaus on Press Me the Eject & Give Me the Tape- which is as sinister as records such as Flowers of Romance, Children of God and Spiderland.
Sabotage/Animal Justice is one of the great Cale-offerings in a brilliant career and ought to be considered as classic as Paris 1919, Fear, Music for a New Society, Wrong Way Up and Hobosapiens...
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
18 reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Raw and Powerful
21 July 2000
Format:Audio CD
I saw one critic characterize this as a strange decade late response to Lou Reed's "Rock N Roll Animal". Interesting thought, but whereas Reed relied heavily on Velvet Underground classics and produced a record that sounds hopelessly dated, Cale produced a vibrant and timeless recording of all new material. (To my knowledge, no studio versions of these tracks exist.)
While "Rock N Roll Animal" is a highly polished generic 70's arena rock record, "Sabotage Live" is an honest one take, no overdub blast of sonic fury, gloriously sloppy. This is so raw that Cale stumbles over the spoken word intro to the first song, then blows out his voice screaming during its climax, but just keeps going. All the worts are left in place.
Cale's voice may be shot after that first song, but no matter. His band of young unknowns plays with tremendous energy and his voice, even hoarse, is fully emotive as he delivers his left-wing diatribes. My favorites here are the opening "Mercenaries (Ready for War)", and the slow moody "Captain Hook", a haunting story of the decline of British colonialism. Other highlights are the angry avant-garde title track and Deerfrance's vocal spotlight on "Only Time Will Tell".
The sound quality on my previous edition of this album was quite good, so I assume this version will sound at least as good. (Don't actually have this new edition.) Also, the last four tracks are new for this edition, so I cannot comment on them. (I am wondering if this is the same version of "Hedda Gabler" that turned up on "Seducing Down the Door". . .)
This is a must for any Cale fan's collection. I would also recommend it as a good first purchase for those wanting to explore. Cale has hit on too many different styles in his solo career to call any one album representative, so this is as good a place to start as any.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
From Psychosis to Fragile Beauty
27 July 2004
Format:Audio CD
Sabotage Live was my introduction to John Cale and the legacy of the Velvet Underground. When the album first came out, it was the rawest, most violent recording I'd ever heard. "Mercenaries" opens the album with a grinding romp through the mind of a nearly psychotic soldier of fortune. The album closes with the startlingly serene meditation that is "Chorale." The bonus tracks include the three tracks from the Animal Justice EP and "Rosegarden Funeral of Sores" which was the b-side to the "Mercenaries" single.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Rock that actually sounds threatening
12 Oct 2004
Format:Audio CD
From the opening chords of "Mercenaries (Ready for War)" it's obvious somebody's there to make a point. By the time Cale and his band get to the second piece ("Baby You Know") it's obvious they're not letting up (or letting anybody off the hook easily either--anyone at CBGB that night HAD to listen). Cale's band (Marc Aaron on lead guitar, Joe Bidwell on keyboards, George Scott on bass and Doug Browne on drums) are tight and play as if they're on fire. Cale sounds as if he's trying to devour the mike. His songs are cutting-edge material that explore things we don't like to think about. He doesn't paint pretty pictures but has a sense of humour, albeit a dark one ("my rifle is my friend"?). Not all of the songs are great. The title track is more of a rant with arpeggios than a song. "Dr. Mudd" and "Walkin' the Dog" aren't bad but don't stand well alongside the best works in the set. The best here more than makes up for the weaker spots though. "Mercenaries (Ready for War)" is a chilling and brilliant work. "Baby You Know" subtly suggests an understanding that things didn't have to be grim. The lovely ballad "Only Time Will Tell" is bittersweet and haunting. Deerfrance sings this one beautifully. Her voice isn't strong but it has a ethereal quality that suits the piece. Cale put a viola line into this one that he must have been playing with his heart. "Captain Hook" is a masterpiece on all levels. The song is brilliant piece of writing. The arrangement doesn't have a wasted note and the band executes it magnificently. The lead guitar line Marc Aaron came up with really sounds threatening and ominous. That doesn't happen often enough, at least not in this age of canned product. "Chorale" (intentionally or otherwise) comes off as a sort of a "wake" celebrating the evening. It's the perfect finish.
The extra tracks are a mixed bag that offers an insight into the different styles Cale delves into. Trying to judge any of them as "good" or "bad" is impossible (not many of us really have the vision to fathom all the places where a mind like Cale's will end up). Personally, I enjoyed "Hedda Gabler" and "Memphis", could have done without "Chickenshit" and am still trying to make up my mind about "Rosegarden Funeral of Sores". It has something about it that's intensely interesting.
This live set was a breath of fresh air in 1979 and it still is now. It was well recorded, well played and the material made you think. Its content is valid for all times because it's about things that keep happening. It's raw, raunchy and not always pretty but it's musically solid on all fronts. The sound quality on the reissue is just as good as was on the vinyl.
This is a must for anyone who likes their rock with a bite, a tender heart and a deep intelligence.
The extra tracks are a mixed bag that offers an insight into the different styles Cale delves into. Trying to judge any of them as "good" or "bad" is impossible (not many of us really have the vision to fathom all the places where a mind like Cale's will end up). Personally, I enjoyed "Hedda Gabler" and "Memphis", could have done without "Chickenshit" and am still trying to make up my mind about "Rosegarden Funeral of Sores". It has something about it that's intensely interesting.
This live set was a breath of fresh air in 1979 and it still is now. It was well recorded, well played and the material made you think. Its content is valid for all times because it's about things that keep happening. It's raw, raunchy and not always pretty but it's musically solid on all fronts. The sound quality on the reissue is just as good as was on the vinyl.
This is a must for anyone who likes their rock with a bite, a tender heart and a deep intelligence.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
