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Richard Hell, "Time"
Richard Hell is beyond many things. Reproach and comparison are two such things. Leader of the Voidods, poet, bass player, and a man many call one of the founders of the punk movement, Hell has released very little music for a man of his acclaim and stature. In fact, he's reportedly only been in a studio once in the last 17 years. Luckily, the music he has released is so fantastic that it lasts, so much that any new music might pale in comparison. Add this one to the stack of record you must own.Matador
"Time" is actually part re-release/part never released live and studio material, and it shows how much of an influence Hell and the Voidods have had on other bands, as well as a distinct style that cannot be denied. The first CD, labelled "R.I.P.", is a re-release of a cassette only retrospective - Hell's self-proclaimed epitaph - released on ROIR. It adds three songs, one being the title track, and features some near classics. It opens with 'Love Comes in Spurts', a well-known track, immortalized in "Pump Up the Volume" with Christian Slater (it plays while he humps the wedding dress on the couch). After that, it never lets up. Song after song crackles to life, sometimes in the form of an all-out assault, sometimes as a slower and lower skip. The production values aren't that great, the performances a little far from perfect. But it's amazing nontheless. By the time you reach the Dylan cover 'Going Going Gone', you're in awe. Good. It gets better. The second CD, "Live", starts with, in Hell's own words, "one of the most aggressive sets we ever played." Aggressive due to the band's strife on the tour leading up to that point, and good for them. The audience would never have complained. The last four tracks are from a second live show at CBGB where Elvis Costello joins them for two tracks. Nothing short of incredible, electric, and highly influential. "Time" is two CDs of amazing music: Richard Hell has a legacy, and it is captured brilliantly on this release. Get it without delay.
 
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