When it came to breaking socially-defined taboos and pioneering electronic sound manipulation, Throbbing Gristle were the most dangerous assault to emerge from the punk era, gigs inducing horror, nausea, hostility or euphoria from those who hadn’t fled, complimented by the startlingly provocative albums released between 1978-80. Now all four [‘The Second Annual Report’, ‘D.O.A.’, ‘20 Jazz Funk Greats’ and live ‘Heathen Earth’] are being reissued with bonus CDs although, for TG virgins, this ‘Greatest Hits’ package could be the best introduction, showing how Chris Carter’s synth explorations were blueprinting techno, while his comrades laid a unsurpassed template for industrial havoc and the art of noise.
9/10
Words by KRIS NEEDS
