JasonF

This is a couple of months old, but I just stumbled across this band and ... wow. There's an article about them here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/ar...rubi.html?_r=1

But the short version is that three brothers in Detroit in the early 70s formed a band called "Death" but never managed to get signed. They did release a single on a small label (500 copies were pressed), but that was it. More than thirty years later, the single has become a holy grail of punk collectors and the son of one of the band members somehow hears this single. He recognizes his father's voice, and asks him about it. It turns out, he's still got the masters in his basement, so they dig them out, word gets around, and now the album that was never released back in 1975 has been released. And it's amazing stuff.

The New York Times sums it up best when they describe these guys as the missing link between the Detroit sound of the MC5 and the Stooges and the punk explosion of the mid-to-late 70s. Amazing stuff. If you like punk, protopunk, or garage rock, check this out:

Rypro 525

good find. although honestly i clicked on the thread expecting it to be about the metal band

LickTheABCs

^ me too. I miss Chuck Schuldiner.

woofman

What a neat story, funny how things come full circle like that. I must admit at first I was thinking "Death" the metal band too. I really liked that song posted, really showcased the energy and rawness of that era.

JasonF

Sorry. I didn't mean to mislead anyone -- I had no idea there was a metal band called "Death" when I posted this. What can I say -- I was never into metal.

wishbone

Nice song -- I have wondered too about great music hidden away that may or may not be released to the masses.

Like the others I thought the same thing and wondered why JasonF had created a thread about Death.

whaaat

I remember hearing about this album on Julian Cope's blog. I'm not a huge fan of punk, but it's pretty good.

Poink

They're playing a few shows later this year:

9/25 Detroit - Magic Stick
9/26 Chicago - Empty Bottle
9/27 Cleveland - Beachland Ballroom

zombeaner

Good stuff.

edclem

me three. Oh well. Happy listening, anyway.

zombeaner

Having listened to it a couple of times, I think that labeling it ahead of its time is not entirely accurate. It doesn't sounds like what "punk" ultimately sounded like, it seems to have its roots in the late 60's psychedelic garage "Nuggets" style. It is still really good, but I think that perhaps the idea that it is punk before there was punk is a bit sketchy.

islandclaws

Chuck Schuldiner for li... oh, wait. Sorry. I got excited as well thinking this was about the legendary metal band.

Maybe we need a Death appreciation thread?

dick_grayson

you are missing out

Giantrobo

Trailer for a Doc about "Death"

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R5Pf3MlUo7c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Throwing Copper

Wow. I love this album.

Imagine if these guys had gotten it released in 1975 and had gone to make more music.

islandclaws

Glad to see this got a bump. I listened to the album a week ago and it really caught me off guard. This is from '75? Amazing. I really enjoy it.

Paff

I'm bumping this again, because I recently found the "other" Death album called Spiritual, Mental, Physical. It's basically a collection of some of the stuff they taped in their rehearsal studio (which if anyone saw the movie, it's the upstairs of their mom's house). So it's pretty raw, but there's some great stuff on there. A couple of songs really sounded punk, even more than For The Whole World..., and there's also some riffing of The Beatles.

It's really a shame this band never took off at the time, because listening to this record it's obvious they were only just getting started. The 30-year hiatus and death of David really kinda stifled their output. If you've been following the Death story (and I'll fully admit I never heard of them till I saw the documentary), definitely get this album as well

RagingBull80

They also have a new album that came out relatively recently. It's a collection of older stuff, of course. I haven't listened to it yet so I can't comment on the album itself. Just letting others know of the release.

auto

Likely it's the album referenced one post above yours.

RagingBull80

Nope. Spiritual, Mental, Physical came out a few years ago. This new one, titled III I believe, just came out.

EDITED TO ADD: It looks like it is stuff recorded from '75-'92. It's called 'III' and came out a few months ago.

auto

Cool, wasn't aware of that one.

RagingBull80

mndtrp

That was a fantastic documentary, and the music is great. When I first went into the doc, I also thought it was about the metal band, but was pleasantly surprised.