Artist: THROBBING GRISTLE
Album: RAFTERS RE-ISSUE (CD)

Year: 1982/ 2012
Media type: CD

Throbbing Gristle evolved from the performance art group COUM Transmissions, which was formed in Kingston Upon Hull, England, by a group of performers centered on Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti. The final performance of COUM Transmissions in 1976 was the debut of Throbbing Gristle. Throbbing Gristle's confrontational live performances and use of often disturbing imagery, including pornography and photographs of Nazi concentration camps, gave the group a notorious reputation. However the group always maintained that their mission was to challenge and explore the darker and obsessive sides of the human condition rather than to make attractive music. Throbbing Gristle made extensive use of pre-recorded tape-based 'samples' and special effects to produce a distinctive, highly distorted background, usually accompanied by lyrics or spoken-word performances by Cosey Fanni Tutti or Genesis P-Orridge. Though they asserted they wanted to provoke their audience into thinking for themselves rather than pushing any specific agenda (as evidenced by the song "Don't Do As You're Told, Do As You Think" on Heathen Earth), Throbbing Gristle also frequently associated with the anarchist punk scene. They even appeared on the infamous Crass pamphlet Toxic Grafity, with a condensation of their own propaganda parody series, Industrial News.

In 1977, they released their debut single United/Zyklon B Zombie, followed by an album, Second Annual Report. Although pressed in a limited initial run of 786 copies on the band's own Industrial Records label, it was later re-released due to high demand on Mute records, however this later release was reversed with all tracks playing backwards and in reverse order. This was followed by a series of albums, singles and live performances over a four year period.

On 29 May 1981, Throbbing Gristle performed at the Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco, California, USA. This concert marked the end of the group and its mission. As Cosey succinctly put it, "TG broke up because me and Gen broke up".

TRACKLIST:

1. Illuminated 666
2. Betrayed
3. Womb of Corruption
4. Very Friendly
5. Something Come Over Me
6. Playground
7. Playground (Reprise)
8. Auschwitz
9. Devil's Gateway
10. Hastings
11. Discipline