Music Arcades: Napalm Death: From Enslavement to Obliteration + Scum

Two albums, 54 tracks, 65 minutes. Longest track 4'03", but 19 of them are 45 seconds or less. This, of course, includes the timeless classic that is the 1.5 seconds of You Suffer (op cit), as well as Your Achievement? and Dead that clock in around the same length.

If this music didn't exist already, it would be necessary to invent it — if only as one of Brian Eno's thought experiments.

Stuart Maconie's Cider With Roadies is a rum affair. The early edition that I read managed to find about four different ways to misspell Siouxsie Sioux, almost as though some grudge were being played out. At least that's quite easy to do with Siouxsie's name, but the sub-editors attempted a similar feat with Ritchie Blackmore, which started to stretch credulity*. But I was also bewildered by the no-holds-barred character assassination of the members of Napalm Death, particularly the drummer, who was portrayed as lower down the evolutionary chain than your average factory chicken. These Brummie vegans were never named, but I couldn't help wondering whether the drummmer concerned was the versatile polymath, Mick Harris, whose many and varied recordings Sir Stuart may well have featured on his Freak Zone (if he hasn't, then surely there is a grudge at work). One review of Harris's contribition to …Obliteration said, "This sounds like someone is literally firing a fully automatic rifle while a bassist and guitarist try to keep up" (source). Maybe it was a different Napalm Death drummer that Stuart was writing about.

*Hostage-to-fortune alert: This is based on my memory of reading the book years ago. My copy of the book is in the attic and it would take too long to check my facts. If I've got them wrong, then this will be the pot calling the kettle black, and I'll look a fool. Since I do anyway, I'm OK with that risk.