Heathen Earth

Heathen Earth is a live album by the English industrial band Throbbing Gristle, released in 1980 through Industrial Records.

Heathen Earth
Live album by
Throbbing Gristle
ReleasedJune 1980
Recorded16 February 1980
GenreIndustrial
LabelIndustrial
Producer"Sinclair/Brooks"
Throbbing Gristle chronology
20 Jazz Funk Greats
(1979)		 Heathen Earth
(1980)		 Mission of Dead Souls
(1981)

Background

Tracks 1–8 document their performance 16 February 1980 at the Industrial Records studio in front of a small, invited audience. The audience are all credited by name on the album, including Jonas Almquist of the Leather Nun, Monte Cazazza (who shot the video of the performance), Geoff Rushton and Jon Savage. Included on the CD editions are bonus tracks taken from their 1980 7" singles "Adrenalin" and "Subhuman."

Release

Heathen Earth was originally released in 1980 on the band's label Industrial Records. The first pressing was limited to 785 copies on blue vinyl. The second pressing was on black vinyl. The first CD release was in 1991. Along with the rest of their albums, it was remastered by Chris Carter and re-released as a two-CD set in 2011. This edition divided the album into nine tracks instead of eight (track 6 was split in two) and listed official titles for the first time. The second CD consists of live recordings and single tracks.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Pitchfork Media(8.0/10)[2]
The Quietusfavourable[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[4]

Pitchfork gave it an 8.0/10 grade, commenting that the album "[sounds] slightly stiff relative to the unhinged and abrasive live sound captured on the TG24 boxset, which archives their scalding live gigs before frequently hostile crowds with less fidelity but more heart. [...] But it's a testimony to their precision that, for all their influence, nobody quite sounds like them when they are truly on blast, as they are here."[2] The Quietus called it "more cohesive and marshalled" than any of Throbbing Gristle's other live records, finishing that "it remains a brilliantly weird album."[3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Throbbing Gristle (Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, Chris Carter)

Side A
No.TitleLength
1.Untitled26:33
Side B
No.TitleLength
1.Untitled21:32
1991 CD edition
No.TitleLength
1.Untitled4:38
2.Untitled6:39
3.Untitled7:17
4.Untitled7:46
5.Untitled7:44
6.Untitled4:56
7.Untitled7:33
8.Untitled1:05
9."Adrenalin"3:59
10."Subhuman"2:53
2011 CD edition - original album
No.TitleLength
1."Cornet"4:39
2."The Old Man Smiled"6:41
3."Improvisation"7:23
4."The World is a War Film"7:42
5."Something Came Over Me"7:49
6."Still Talking"3:16
7."Bass"1:38
8."Don't Do as You're Told, Do as You Think"7:38
9."Painless Childbirth"1:03
2011 CD edition - bonus disc
No.TitleLength
1."Introduction (Sheffield University, 1980)"0:35
2."Trained Condition of Obedience (SO36 Club, Berlin, 1980)"3:30
3."Heathen Earth (Sheffield University, 1980)"6:07
4."An Old Man Smiled (SO36 Club, Berlin, 1980)"5:32
5."Auschwitz (Rafters, Manchester, 1980)"5:19
6."Devil's Gateway (Rafters, Manchester, 1980)"3:58
7."Punished (Sheffield University, 1980)"5:53
8."Tortured Smiles (Sheffield University, 1980)"2:51
9."We Said No (Sheffield University, 1980)"5:29
10."Subhuman"2:57
11."Adrenalin"3:55

Personnel
Throbbing Gristle
Technical

Charts
Chart (1980) Peak
position
UK Indie Chart[5] 10

References
  1. Boisen, Myles. "Heathen Earth: The Live Sound of Throbbing Gristle – Throbbing Gristle : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  2. Daniel, Drew (7 December 2011). "Throbbing Gristle: Second Annual Report / D.o.A. / 20 Jazz Funk Greats / Heathen Earth / Greatest Hits | Album Reviews | Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  3. Doran, John (8 December 2011). "The Quietus | Features | Before Cease to Exist: Throbbing Gristle's Reissues Examined". The Quietus. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  4. Cross, Charles R. (2004). "Throbbing Gristle". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 814. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  5. Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1989. Cherry Red Books. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
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