If you are new to the Cabs game - I would suggest either of the two Original Sound Of Sheffield CD's ( preferably 83-87 ) as they are a bit more accessible to the ear. Otherwise wait until you buy a few more of their releases before settling for this as this is what Richard H Kirk describes as " music for people who had nothing to lose and only themselves to please "


Good historical snippets of early CV experimentation... but not a good introduction to the Cab   June 11, 2007
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Cabaret Voltaire is a group that I have always had completist tendencies towards, wanting to see what new direction they veer off to next, and buying nearly everything they have released as a group and as solo projects. By comparison to today's electronics, synthesizers, and multi-track recording, the tracks found here sound very dated and and sometimes minimalist in feel. But it makes for a very interesting listening experience for one of the true innovators of electronic and industrial music. Listening to all of the electronic experimentation that is included on the first two CDs of this three-CD set are a bit like turning the radio dial back and forth through all of the various college radio stations' late-night experimental music programs... either that or it would be what both Hunter S Thompson and William S Burroughs would come up with during a really bad LSD trip (with Burroughs slicing up the words, phrases, and tones to come up with new sentences) - they make for some very challenging listening rich in sonic textures, at times sounding like early Throbbing Gristle (or vice versa). Like the audio commentary now included on many movie DVDs, and as the "Methodology" title suggests, I think the first two CDs serve more as a historical perspective than as stand-alone "tunes" or "songs". One gets the distinct impression that during all of this electronic experimentation, Richard H Kirk started to build up a library of sounds, tones, distorted saxophones and vocals, etc. that pleased him more and you can detect many of these sound snippets appearing in their works during the late 70s and early 80s. The third CD of the three-CD set is far more accessible, but most of the songs there are also included in their various other recordings and compilations. Overall, still far more accessible and rhythmic than what I consider to be the Cab's most challenging recording ever done - the two-part "Dead Relatives" track that takes up the entire second CD of the two-CD set in Richard H Kirk's High Time Fiction recording.