Heavier Than a Death in the Family

Heavier Than a Death in the Family is a bootleg live album by Japanese noise rock band, Les Rallizes Dénudés. Most of the songs were recorded at a performance on 12 March 1977; the fifth track is taken from a 1973 performance. The album was released in 2002. In 2010, Phoenix Records repressed the album on vinyl and CD.[2]

Heavier Than a Death in the Family
Live album by
Released2002
Recorded12 March 1977
1973 ("People Can Choose")
VenueShakai Kyoiku Kaikan, Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan
Genre
Length74:42
Label(not on label)
Les Rallizes Dénudés chronology
OZ Days
(2001)
Heavier Than a Death in the Family
(2002)
Blind Baby Has Its Mother's Eyes
(2003)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Background

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Like most of the band's work, this album is a bootleg and wasn't authorized by the band for its release. The recordings are taken mostly from a performance at Shakai Kyoiku Kaikan on 12 March 1977 (as heard on a previous live album, '77 Live), except for "Field of Artificial Flowers" (mislabelled as "People Can Choose"), taken from a 1973 performance.[1]

Reception

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In a review for AllMusic, Phil Freeman writes that the "sound is primitive guitar rock à la the Velvet Underground crossed with the Troggs, but their simple guitar riffs are fed through so much reverb, fuzz, and echo that it's like a dub mix of psychedelic garage rock... it retains a primal rock & roll throb...[the album] is essential listening for anyone who wants to understand [the Japanese underground rock] scene."[1]

It reached #3 on Julian Cope's top 50 albums of Japanese rock, as found in his 2007 non-fiction book Japrocksampler. Cope writes, "It's relentless to the point of becoming meditative, and cylindrical to the point of being useful".[3]

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."Strung Out Deeper Than the Night"15:32
2."The Night Collectors"8:32
3."Night of the Assassins"12:07
4."Enter the Mirror"11:45
5."People Can Choose"10:33
6."Ice Fire"16:13
Total length:74:42

Personnel

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Adapted from CD liner notes:[4]

  • Mizutani – vocals, lead guitar
  • Nakamura Takeshi – guitar
  • Hiroshi – bass guitar
  • Mimaki Toshirou – drums

References

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  1. ^ a b c Freeman, Phil. "AllMusic Review by Phil Freeman". AllMusic. AllMusic, Netaktion LLC. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Les Rallizes Denudes – Heavier Than A Death In The Family (2010, 180g, Vinyl)". Discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  3. ^ Cope, Julian (2007). Japrocksampler. London: Bloomsbury. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-7475-8945-7. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Les Rallizes Denudés* – Heavier Than A Death In The Family - (2002, CDr)". Discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
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Heavier Than a Death in the Family at Discogs (list of releases)