Thought it was about time for another thread about my all-time fav Godflesh album “Us And Them”. This has some of the most uncompromising and brutal fusions of Jungle/Dub/Hip Hop with crushing guitars ever commited to wax without a doubt!
The whole album is superb and i remember Justin saying in an interview he was going to do a “Dub” of it??? Sadly that didn’t happen??? It would’ve been interesting to hear a Dub of that album as it was very electronic compared to SOLAH which had a very organic feel to it.
“Us And Them” is such a huge departure from “Street Cleaner”…it just sounds so devastatingly futuristic compared to the other Fleshy albums. When you get “Us And Them” you’ll love it…even now it still sounds really fresh off da press!
not a fan. though, i like maybe 4-5 songs on it. totally took off in a direction i didn’t dig…but then again there are fans for it so what do i know? maybe this was Broderick’s “filth pig” for many…
not a fan. though, i like maybe 4-5 songs on it. totally took off in a direction i didn’t dig…but then again there are fans for it so what do i know? maybe this was Broderick’s “filth pig” for many…
Funnily enough, Broderick himself HATES this album.
And as much as I like Godflesh I’d have to agree with him - it’s god awful. A real mess.
The only decent Godfelsh is:
Godflesh
Streetcleaner
Slavestate
Pure
Selfless
Songs of Love and Hate is way too ‘American metal’ sounding for me. Hyms I haven’t heard and Us And Them is embarrassing.
Us and Them is a fine record, and JKB hates everything he’s done about 6 months after he’s done with it. He’ll be happy about it when he releases it, then starts burning it down later on. It’s all about his forward drive. He liked Hymns too, but later on, it was all ‘oh, i think we back-pedalled a bit too far, as a reaction to Us and Them, which was a bit over the top’ etc and etc.
And as much as I like Godflesh I’d have to agree with him - it’s god awful. A real mess.
The only decent Godfelsh is:
Godflesh
Streetcleaner
Slavestate
Pure
Selfless
You’re fucking mad as a cut snake??!!
Us And Them and SOLAH are far better beasts than what you just listed??? (Even though the listed albums/EP’s kick ass!!!)
As for SOLAH being “american metal”…that’s complete crap!!! SOLAH owes more to Dub, Hip Hop and Sludge than crappy american metal ya big numpty! (Name me a song on that album that sounds like Van Halen??)
On Us And Them being “a real mess”…nothing could be further from the truth due to it being a fucking sublime Jungle/Dub/Hip Hop/Sludge/Metal masterpiece. In fact NO record before or since has matched it’s fusion of the said styles.
Peligro is scared of PHATT Hip Hop/Jungle/Drum’n’Bass and DUB riddimz due to being a wee skinny ass honky radge numpty ball-bag…that being said it’s not his fault for being intimidated by such devastating records.[cool]
As for SOLAH being “american metal”…that’s complete crap!!! SOLAH owes more to Dub, Hip Hop and Sludge than crappy american metal ya big numpty! (Name me a song on that album that sounds like Van Halen??)
Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of Helmet etc rather than Van Halen…
The problem I have with some of the later Godflesh albums was that they replaced atmosphere/ambience with thuggish rock. There are elements to these later albums that I enjoy but as a whole I think they fall rather flat. For example, ‘Streetcleaner’ was dark and weird and menacing - an aural nightmare, like the bastard son of Throbbing Gristle and Extreme Noise Terror. It was like nothing I had ever heard. However, as they progressed they began to lose alot of that unique quality and took on the form of any number of ‘hard edge’ American metal bands like Biohazard or Neurosis or Machine Head albeit with more of a ‘groove’, And yes, I am aware that they melded breakbeat and hip hop into their sound on later albums. But so what?? They weren’t the first band to do that.
On Us And Them being “a real mess”…nothing could be further from the truth due to it being a fucking sublime Jungle/Dub/Hip Hop/Sludge/Metal masterpiece. In fact NO record before or since has matched it’s fusion of the said styles.
Ya think.
Plenty of bands/artists have (check out ANYTHING by Doseone for instance). ‘Us and Them’ is not such a revelation. If you think it’s a masterpiece, then good luck to you. I happen to be a Godflesh fan so I can at least see where yr coming from.
Peligro is scared of PHATT Hip Hop/Jungle/Drum’n’Bass and DUB riddimz due to being a wee skinny ass honky radge numpty ball-bag…
We can go back and forth all we want, but what Godflesh really needs to do is release a live album.
I saw them live in 96 and was blown away. i still consider it to be one of the best shows I have ever seen. The sheer brutality of the sound was something I will never forget.
But the one thing I took the most from the show was being in awe of how accomplished Justin is on the guitar.
I was simply amazed at how many sounds that I previously thought were loops, were actually guitar effects live.