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Rating: A partial disappointment this remastered version of "Only Theatre of Pain," the cornerstone album of all American death rock and one of the most significant gothic works ever. Birth act of the original Christian Death, confessional and purgatory for the tormented soul of young Rozz Williams, an excellent training ground for the highly talented Rikk Agnew, the album is so important and well-crafted that you can find dozens of excellent reviews of it everywhere online. The more or less botched remasters of subsequent titles, curated by Valor, date back to a few years earlier: that of "Catastrophe Ballet," for instance, is from 2007, with terrible things like a demo pompously presented as "unreleased Rozz Williams track" added at the beginning and mixed with the first original song, thus losing all the magic and suggestion provided by the opening of that album. It was fair to expect a more accurate job for the Christian Death masterpiece, which, moreover, is the only one in which Valor, having nothing to do with it, couldn't have a say. And after such a long wait, here it is, released in late spring 2011, with the purported artwork by Rozz Williams restored on the cover.
Of course, the tracklist has been respected, and this is something, although it may seem little, given that Valor's blunders are far from common in record reissues. The remastering work is certainly good, with a noticeable increase in dynamics for an album that already enjoyed it initially thanks to the exquisite production by Thom Wilson. What is perhaps missing is a more incisive work on the sounds... it's well known, for instance, that the introductory bell in the first Cavity - First Communion distorts (i.e., saturates, loses definition) on the third strike, and here it continues to distort beautifully. Additionally, the hiss of the original '82 tapes here is even increased, possibly due to probable re-equalization not subjected to filters or Dolby. There's also a defect verified with many other cd buyers: an almost inaudible moment of "audio blackness", perceived more as a drop in sound rather than true silence, at 2'41" of the tenth track, Resurrection - Sixth Communion. Finally, the work done on the EP "Deathwish" is not very understandable, here added at the end of the album as in the standard cd edition: certainly the one most in need of improvements, yet the sound doesn't seem to be drawn from the original tapes but from a good vinyl recording, with related background noise, although reduced and almost imperceptible. Finally, are we sure the cover represents Rozz's original work? It rather seems a graphic reworking, complete with a title change from the previous "theatre" to the American form "theater" (note that the primitive English form is preserved on the spine of the cd).
In short, for one of the dirtiest and most decadent albums of the '80s, no one wanted a polished and refined cleaning of the sounds, their pasteurization to the point of making them uniform and innocuous, but within the scope of a work that has nevertheless led to a general improvement, one might have expected more. A missed opportunity? Or should "Only Theatre of Pain" be listened to more distorted and mashed than it could ever be? Well, maybe yes ;)
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Figurative Theatre (02:44)
In the shallow holes of a thousand eyes
in the knee-deep graves of future survivors
The fleshless guests live off children of the past
Their aging fingers cast the Shadow of Death
Their razor sharp tongues invite to relax
as they slip the skin of your eyelids back
invasive spectators get into the act
with roses and candles
silver knives and spoons
persona read women dance with priests on a side road
your vision perspectives are turning to stone
cabaret slide show starts shooting their loads
Act one is the end, the show
now begins...
Their razor sharp tongues invite to relax
as they slip the skin of your eyelids back
invasive spectators get into the act
with roses and candles
silver knives and spoons
Breath ballet prancers spin on porcelain backbones
a child's muddled cry turns into hilarity
ungracious freeloaders leave their dead on a doorstep
Flowers of doom bloom in prosperity
luxuries of past days are
luxuries of our days
luxuries of past days
luxuries of our days
04 Mysterium Iniquitatis (02:48)
Sevlesmeth pleh ohw esoth spleh dog
Sevlesmeth pleh ohw esoth spleh dog
Dog!
Ereth si on ytic fo dog
Ereth si on ytic fo dog
Ytic fo dog
It's only theatre of pain
It's only theatre of pain
It's only theatre of pain
It's only theatre of pain
Only theatre of pain
Only theatre of pain
Only theatre of pain
Surrogate mother
Surrogate father
Uoy era ym olich
Uoy ma I
Uoy era em
Uoy era em
It's only theatre of pain
It's only theatre of pain
Only theatre of pain
Only theatre of pain
Peru resh!
Peru resh!
Peru resh!
Peru resh!
Peru resh!
Peru resh!
Peru resh!
Peru resh!
Ahis zyxur li peru resh
Ahis zyxur li peru resh
Ahis zyxur li peru resh
Ahis zyxur li
Reficul!
07 Spiritual Cramp (02:58)
Incurable disease on the day of rest
I'm walking on water in a sea of incest
I've got the image of Jesus embedded in my chest
I can't leave home without my bullet proof vest
Killing myself for the perfect honeymoon
Fighting with scorpions tied 'round my neck
I hear the pitter patter of a killer on the loose
Children use their fingers instead of words
Crosses burn our temples on slaughter avenue
It takes too much time for me to say I refuse
Time is digging graves for the chosen few
Children dig the graves of me and you
Describe the illness, I'll prescribe the cure
start your two day life on a two day vacation... (x2)
Spiritual cramp going for my ribs
Those gangsters toting guns are shooting spikes through my wrist
Children use their fingers instead of words
Fingers bury children under the boards
I can die a thousand times, But I'll always be here
With the powder skull secrets of forgotten years
The hangman noose is drenched with bloodstained tears
My hands are the killers that confirm my fears
Jesus wont you touch me, come into my heart
Where the Hell are you, when the fire starts?
I'm using my fingers instead of words... (x2)
On a mission of the father to reduce the gates of hell
The ivory bone eyed mother's flesh is starting to swell
I'm setting twenty-two tables for the funeral feast
Satan is by far the kindest beast...
08 Romeo's Distress (03:17)
ROMEO'S DISTRESS (Rozz / Rikk)
Burning crosses
on a nigger's lawn
burning dollars
what's a house without a home?
dance in your white sheet glory
dance in your passion
talk about sugar on the six fingered beast
conversation about the holes in your hands
walk through the garden
of men's desires
conversation about
the kingdom of fire
What's that moving in the basement?
What's that moving in the attic
Who's that walking in the shadow
Who's that walking in the streets
(chorus)
Kiss on my hand
After dark
hand for a kiss
a dark inside my hand
Kiss on my hand
After dark
Kiss on my hand
Romance in sequence
Harmful to the blind
Burning hearts
through the top of your skull
Dance in your white sheet glory
Dance in your passion
your days are numbered
with creations in your pocket
Your days are numbered with the love in your eyes
Love?
What's that moving in the basement?
What's that moving in the attic?
Who's that lying on the altar?
Who's that lying in the streets?
(chorus)
Pull down the Sheets
Take off your clothes
Get out of bed
I'm so tired
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Other reviews
By Fidia
The album’s title encapsulates what life probably was for its author, in a premonitory vision of the one he decided to end at just over thirty years old.
A concentration of dark-punk and gothic overtones of boundless pain where Williams’s majestic and excruciating voice stands out.
