Slayer - 1984 - Live undead
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Re: Slayer - 1984 - Live undead
(Review of a fan at Amazon)
"They say the pen is mightier than the sword, but I say fuck the pen, because you're gonna die by the sword!"
Some may not consider this to be a true "live record" since it was technically done in a small studio-like setting in front of,
what, fifty people?
But to me, if there's a crowd, then it's live!
Though its a very short and simple EP, I can really get behind it due to the fact that it's when Tom and co. were so young,
and the performance of such early songs is pretty much the best you'll ever find.
You will find no other recording of Slayer doing "Black Magic" or "Aggressive Perfector" played live that's pulled off
any better than this; which makes sense though.
I wouldn't really expect anybody over thirty to be able to belt out the screams the way that Tom does on this record.
There's also something about the guitars on here that seems to be a little more true to writing intent.
Perhaps that the young King and Hanneman hadn't experimented beyond this sound yet,
and the ability to play this way had not yet dissolved into the cleaner styles that would arise later.
Listen to "Die By The Sword" off of Decade Of Aggression and see how it stacks up with this. Not nearly as great, right?
On another note, Lombardo's drumming shines through very brightly on this, drawing out a heavier and more intimidating sound.
Seeing that he is my favorite drummer of all time, that's a pretty remarkable factor for this small set.
In general though, I can really dig the way that this raunchy set was pulled off in a manner that's easily accessible.
The atmosphere, and the "small crowd/club" background adds a nice touch, making it seem like they're still a young club band,
thus giving a fair sense of what it would be like to attend this type of show back in the mid '80s.
A problem that Slayer has always had is the fact that you can almost never hear Tom Araya's bass playing,
to the point that there's basically nothing else to say about it.
First time I heard this, I thought maybe it'd be before they had that problem, even live, but I guess I was wrong.
It would have been a great surface finish to polish this up, by turning up the bass a tad
(I mean this was in a studio for God's sake)!
Thankfully, both guitarists make a superb duo (preferably Jeff doing the lead),
and the overall performance is spectacular for a bunch of angry, young kids.
"They say the pen is mightier than the sword, but I say fuck the pen, because you're gonna die by the sword!"
Some may not consider this to be a true "live record" since it was technically done in a small studio-like setting in front of,
what, fifty people?
But to me, if there's a crowd, then it's live!
Though its a very short and simple EP, I can really get behind it due to the fact that it's when Tom and co. were so young,
and the performance of such early songs is pretty much the best you'll ever find.
You will find no other recording of Slayer doing "Black Magic" or "Aggressive Perfector" played live that's pulled off
any better than this; which makes sense though.
I wouldn't really expect anybody over thirty to be able to belt out the screams the way that Tom does on this record.
There's also something about the guitars on here that seems to be a little more true to writing intent.
Perhaps that the young King and Hanneman hadn't experimented beyond this sound yet,
and the ability to play this way had not yet dissolved into the cleaner styles that would arise later.
Listen to "Die By The Sword" off of Decade Of Aggression and see how it stacks up with this. Not nearly as great, right?
On another note, Lombardo's drumming shines through very brightly on this, drawing out a heavier and more intimidating sound.
Seeing that he is my favorite drummer of all time, that's a pretty remarkable factor for this small set.
In general though, I can really dig the way that this raunchy set was pulled off in a manner that's easily accessible.
The atmosphere, and the "small crowd/club" background adds a nice touch, making it seem like they're still a young club band,
thus giving a fair sense of what it would be like to attend this type of show back in the mid '80s.
A problem that Slayer has always had is the fact that you can almost never hear Tom Araya's bass playing,
to the point that there's basically nothing else to say about it.
First time I heard this, I thought maybe it'd be before they had that problem, even live, but I guess I was wrong.
It would have been a great surface finish to polish this up, by turning up the bass a tad
(I mean this was in a studio for God's sake)!
Thankfully, both guitarists make a superb duo (preferably Jeff doing the lead),
and the overall performance is spectacular for a bunch of angry, young kids.
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