Fuckshitupism deluxe.
THE MAD- The 1978 EP 12″ (Brain Transplant, USA, 1999)
This 12″ containing THE MAD’s 1978 demo tape was released in a very limited edition a couple years ago (a 7″ with additional material was released simultaneously). Both came out on Roger Mah’s “Brain Transplant” label. If you wanna find out more about the band, check this blog or go over to Peter’s KBD site, where the ex-guitarist Julien has left some comments too.
What’s especially nice about this 12″ is the booklet, containing extensive liner notes and photos and of course it’s nice to have the additional songs. What I don’t like is the poor editing job made on the sound recordings. Take “I hate Music”: They just turned down the volume between the guitar intro stakkato, probably in order to get rid of what the producers thought of as “background noise” (my guess). “We love noise”, eh – guess somebody else didn’t. Then they must have made usage of some kind of a noise gate, totally destroying the sound dynamics, resulting in a very flat, kinda powerless wanna-be CD sound. Bad, bad job, I’m sorry to say. Never heard that japanese CD, but my guess would be it sounds just as weak. Just compare this version of “I hate Music” to the one on the original 7″ – it’s sad. One more point to bitch about: It’s quite hard to believe that his was the 1978 demo. The “We love Noize” mix is obviously some rather dull fucking around with some of the original recording tracks, totally pointless, at least to me.
One can only hope this material will see the light of day again, maybe a little bit less in “limited edition” and more in sound quality. Anyway, maybe you’ll like this better than I, so here we go with another exhumation.
I hate Music.mp3
Eyeball.mp3
We love Noize (Special Johnny 19 Mix).mp3
The Mad Theme.mp3
The Hand.mp3
Anti-Real.mp3
And here’s my own “I hate Music” version (sorry, couldn’t resist altering the intro a bit):
I hate Music (Mongomix).mp3
Sean Hogan wrote:
Erich, I have the cd…the sound is AMAZING…to the point where I couldn’t believe how EXCEPTIONAL the transfer job was on reels that were close to 30 years old!
[Reply]
Posted on 17-Mar-08 at 3:21 pm | Permalink
johnny t. wrote:
well I have the CD too and I think the sound ain’t so great. never seen this ep before. sound is really weak compared to the original vinyl but thanks anyway.
[Reply]
Posted on 18-Mar-08 at 12:51 am | Permalink
edu wrote:
hi erich,
i hate music is a brutal classic! thanks for the other mad songs as well.
been following your blog since quite time ago -and downloading almost anything on it!- and it is simply amazing. congratulations for your beautiful job.
btw, i always was intrigued to know how that carillo single sounded, because wasn’t able to download it
take care,
edu
[Reply]
Posted on 18-Mar-08 at 4:08 am | Permalink
stinky82 wrote:
the best NY band in pre-HC era. For me
[Reply]
Posted on 18-Mar-08 at 6:39 am | Permalink
smodeski wrote:
good evening erich,
i’ve just heard of ola brunkert’s passing. i imagine you’ll be occupied for some time consoling agnetha, so be sure to give her our regards. however, when you return, would you consider posting fear of god’s cover of ‘gimme gimme gimme’ as a tribute?
thanks,
-smo
[Reply]
Posted on 18-Mar-08 at 10:14 am | Permalink
Admin wrote:
Hey – No jokes about Agnetha here!
[Reply]
Posted on 18-Mar-08 at 11:29 am | Permalink
Severin wrote:
So great finally hearing this. Tried to track down the 12″ for a while but it’s pretty hard to come by. I hate music sounds a bit strange here you’re right about it. But still MAD rule!
[Reply]
Posted on 18-Mar-08 at 12:41 pm | Permalink
dave wrote:
“I Hate Music” is a cult classic. First track on the first installment of the Killed By Death series. Totally wicked!
[Reply]
Posted on 18-Mar-08 at 4:17 pm | Permalink
Admin wrote:
To me, it was the first song on the “New York T(h)rash” cassette. Will never forget when I first heard it, how blown away I was.
[Reply]
Posted on 19-Mar-08 at 12:22 am | Permalink
stinky82 wrote:
Erich,
for me it is “social reason” by UNDEAD
[Reply]
Posted on 19-Mar-08 at 3:12 am | Permalink
andrew wrote:
yes!! thanks so much…i was in love with the mad the second i popped ny thrash into my tape deck so many years ago.
[Reply]
Posted on 23-Mar-08 at 10:29 am | Permalink
Admin wrote:
Thought I had to share this with you: On the log, I saw that some guy from the United Arab Emirates landed here, after a msn research for “bad effects of music”. He stayed 2:19 min and downloaded “I hate Music”. Hahahaha
[Reply]
Posted on 24-Mar-08 at 1:38 am | Permalink
Peter - KBD Records wrote:
HA HA HA LOL
. I’ve seen some of the middle eastern searching for “fuck my ass” and landed on the KBD blog. Or “Piss and shit”.
[Reply]
Posted on 24-Mar-08 at 7:21 am | Permalink
audiohead wrote:
Are any of you actually engineers??????
[Reply]
Posted on 18-May-09 at 12:30 am | Permalink