Some quotes and comments (some edited) based on the initial feedback to the Whitehouse album Cruise (updated 03/03):
"One of the pioneers of the Noise scene 20 years later and are still making noise, and Cruise confirms their unique change. Now their main focus is to write these ultra violent tracks, most of them based on the track 'A C**t like you' from Mummy and Daddy, and the themes are are similar to Mummy and Daddy. However, this track is also on this album but it suits the rest of the album perfectly. There is a fine variety of tracks here, from the silent but haunting whispers over shopping mall ambience in 'Dance the Desperate', the simple but devistating 'Movement 2000' and not to mention 'Public', a sequal to 'Private' from the previous album which involves sound clips related to drug abuse, rape and child molesting.
From the perspective of the actual music, the electronics are devestating, which generally makes my walls shake, and the constant barking of vocals leaving no room for breath one after the other can be overwhelming. It's particulary quite scary when Bennet's wife beater style shouts turn into a psychotic squeak, all coming out fast like vomit.
Don't expect a happy album here, this is pretty bleak stuff, and will leave a bad taste in your mouth. But I will guarentee this is a little more accessable than Merzbow and is an album you could actually listen to everyday, unlike Merzbow."
"although pigeon holed under that icon of post-modernism - the one the kids call 'industrial,' whitehouse have invariably proven that they are still a pink sheep in herd of black and white ones. this is more horrible than most of their more recent offerings. its warming to see that they still retain their charming song titles, 'a c**t like you' going down in history with some of bennett's older little numbers like 'my c**ks on fire' and 'lightning struck my d**k.'
but if its a joke or entirely deliberate to offend then its worn thin after 20 years. whitehouse takes its name from mary whitehouse, the famous anti-pornography campaigner. ironically with cruise, musical pornography is exactly what you get. movement 2000 is hilarious but like all jokes, the more you say it, the funnier it aint. its 3:47 of pure static. nothing else. people used to music will abhor this record no end. and then there are cut up recordings of assault/rape victims (this i found quite touching and disturbing in equal measure - a complete juxaposition of destructive society and bennett's trademark musical denigration). the rest is spoken word and disorganised screaming noise.
it is violent, chaotic, entirely devoid of musicality and at certain volumes begins to impair hearing. this would have been interesting 20 years ago. now its stale. musical pornography has been done to death with merzbow, third organ, msbr and a whole brood of japanese industrial artists dead set on mixing their records a full 3 times louder than anyone else dares. whitehouse are no longer the pink sheep that they were all those years ago. even though the record does have its moments it *is* complete rubbish, like most industrial records. i feel at times it is an attempt to over intellectualise junk noise. the reasons for doing so are varied and often take precedence over what the artist is actually creating. its just that ive heard whitehouse's message before. by themselves and their contemporaries.
if you must have a whitehouse record then total sex or the great white death i feel would be preferable to this. for those who have a new found taste for the noisy avant garde, i would recommend merzbow's dharma or spk's auto da fe above any whitehouse record. despite not being a pink sheep anymore they are still as extreme as music can get."
"I’m going to fucking puke. The band responsible for countless nervous breakdowns have returned with their umpteenth release (which I guess actually came out a long time ago now). Samples of drug addicted prostitutes, abused children and rape victims crystallized in pure nightmare sonic pain. These are sounds intended not to entertain but to DAMAGE the listener. I’m sorry to anyone who takes this review as a queue to purchase this nightmare gone horribly wrong. Because much as one wants to turn off and forget the experience they will find it impossible to erase the sheer violation of any Whitehouse record (something about the black-on-white type and clicking keyboard as I compose this recalls the feeling.) and like a rape victim turned nymphomaniac come crawling back for more of the same. The band that basically invented “power electronics” continue to make me sick to be human all the while making such “jap-noise” monoliths as MERZBOW sound like dinner jazz. An album you’ll be lucky if you survive let alone enjoy."
"Oh i forgot to mention the track "Dance The Desperate Breath" a source recording of shopping mall noises over which Philip Best details his plan to abduct and underfeed a girl until she dies. These men should be in prison. hell, I should be in prison for listening to this. I actually have nightmares about this song. notice I use the word nightmare alot in relation to this group? NIGHTMARE. NIGHTMARE. NIGHTMARE."
"So we all agree that Cruise is cack, right? Or at best should have been a 7 inch single? I suspect that this is because of the increasing importance that album placed on text, time in my opinion that should have better been spent on some new tracks. What's worse is despite this additional attention, Cruise's lyrics aren't even as good as M+D's. That admitted masterpiece's lyrics benefited from the velvet touch of Mr. Sotos, and his absence is noticeable from Cruise, excepting the cover and probably the title. As for right now, I think that Whitehouse's reified position as a perpetual enfant terrible has been usurped by of all thing the evolving form of Negro art, whose malicious influence they have been running from all these years. Lyrically Bennett cannot sweat the techniques of trained verbal sadists like Bun-B or the Ghostface Killa, but moreover the mass art rape that Whitehouse positively begs to commit is now redundant, committed by Eminem in the form of a series of top ten hits, a feat that Whitehouse can't even fantasize about. Whitehouse will always be useful, mainly for well-fed neurotic to prop up their egotistic delusions with, but it is unfortunate that at the peak of their popular appeal the inherent weaknesses of their art are more visible than ever, as they desperately try to catch up with the god that spat them out."
"What can I say? Perfect. Almost. What William & the boys are treating us to this time round is definitely something new, their whole song structure has seemed to have evolved to a more dramatic level, and William's voice has become more hysterical and rantish. Except in 'Dance The Desperate Breath', which is spoken and excellently eerie and effective. The CD has 7 tracks in all, one of which is a Peter Sotos tape-collage of junkies, whores, child-killers and the victims thereof. Highly recommended, as though I had to tell you that! (Cheeses International)"
"The new album is truly remarkable. It contains some of the best vocals of any Whitehouse releases and the lyrics and subject matter are by far the most impressive and entertaining."
"Cruise. Amazing. I think you've taken it to another level yet again. Thanks."
"The new album is truly amazing. I felt that the addition of 'A Cunt Like You' fit very well on the album. I do think that the fact that there were absolutely no adjustments made to the track is unfulfilling to those who own 'Mummy And Daddy' (which is all of us, right?). Cruise (Force the truth) (track 1) has some of the most amazing vocal arrangements on any Whitehouse tracks ever. 'Princess Disease' (track 2) is by far one of the "heaviest" to date. I couldn't believe when I heard it come through my speakers. The way 'Movement 2000' (track 3) comes in after 'Princess Disease' is fantastic, in fact I don't think the track is as good listening to it alone as opposed to hearing it smash through after 'Princess Disease'. 'Public' (track 4) is incredible and makes the album much more entertaining and enjoyable, although if I had to pick 'Private' from 'Mummy And Daddy' is better. Just like 'Movenment 2000', 'Scapegoat' (track 5) comes in after 'Public' viciously. 'Dance The Desperate Breath' (track 6) is very unlike most Whitehouse songs, it in a way reminds me of 'Bradford Red Light District' minus the spoken word aspect in 'Dance The Desperate Breath'. It has no real noise, just background sounds of people talking, etc. similar to a restaurant or a bar. The background sounds create a very mysterious feel for the track, very much like 'Bradford Red Light District'. 'A Cunt Like You' (track 7) adds perfect balance to the album with its intensity and content. The lyrical content on the album is some of the best Whitehouse has ever done. The lyrics are furious and overall some of the most entertaining. The lyrics are unbelievable!!!!!!! I am very surprised to hear that some of you don't like it. I guess this album is a good way of thinning out the fans, maybe something WB is purposely trying to do?"
"... seems to sort of aptly represent the new fanbase of gay men and straight women. count me out."
"...obviously Mr Bennett & co are running out of ideas. Shame."
"... without question, 'Cruise' sets new standards. As a bonus, it's nice to see this album finally flushing out all the Species23-style adolescents out of their wormholes - they want so terribly much to be part of what Whitehouse represents but can't quite understand it and hate the music."
"'Cruise' is wonderful. Scary, moving, bold, loud, fucking noisy shit. I'm impressed, very impressed...."
"... there are no gay pastel colors on this release. it's mainly black,
with an interesting shiny black tray for the CD. lyrics are included, and there
are a lot of them. more specific and obscure than ever before. since i honestly
don't know what the fuck they're talking about for most of the booklet, i'll
just keep my comments to the sounds. the tracks move right into each other,
with maybe half-second breaks between.
Cruise (Force The Truth): meandering digital noise bassline with rapid yelling
over it, bennett doing his thing and best with his angry schoolboy voice. some
sirenlike (feedback?) additions to the sound. doesn't do much for me, sounds
a bit stupid in places. the slight bending/effecting and cutting up of the vocals
is interesting to listen for, but sometimes it sounds either like performance
poetry or a crappy punkrock song.
Princess Disease: heavy bass rhythms and tunnel feedback... this is much better
as the vocals are sunk a bit deeper and the underlying noise has more power.
similar in style to the above.
Movement 2000: worthless flatulent noise.
Public: a raped retard. a little girl. a grieving mother. various junkie whores.
memories of child abuse. male-male rape (yech). parental opinion. tears. loss
of faith. some cunt who sounds like oprah. a few choice moments: "the makeup
couldn't cover the handprints on her"
Scapegoat: a nice harsh entrance. unimpressive noise that might be more pleasurable
under the right circumstances. repetitive, but with a strange quiet ending.
Dance The Desperate Breath: bennett whispering over what appears to be crowd
noise (recorded in a shopping mall?) for seven and a half minutes. downright
silly.
A Cunt Like You: yeah it's a great track, but i've heard it already.
not much meat on the bones here, especially as it's been three years since the
last release. if there are still holes in your whitehouse collection (or for
that matter, in other areas of your collection), fill them up before you shell
out for this."
"... review of Cruise is, unfortunately, right on the money." (refers to above comments)
"Yeah, CRUISE is a disappointment. "Public" is XXXcellant though!"
"What the fuck is this shit? It's taken you three years to come up with a gay title like 'Cruise' and half of it consists of Buyer's Market 2000 and a song from Mummy And Daddy. The best track is 'Princess Disease' at least that the sound kicks some serious butt. What happened to the days of 'Right To Kill' and 'Dedicated To Peter Kurten'????? Gimme some Taint or Macronympha anyday - even Deathpile's better than this. What a freakin' waste."
"I have just listened to "Cruise". It absolutely blows away anything else that I have heard. It is a genuine masterpiece, unrelentless and very very intelligent. Lets just hope that the music press cunts give this band the respect they deserve. I very much doubt that it will happen."
"I just got the new WHiTEHOUSE album today and i listened to it once. right now its pretty early to form an opinion but i do know already that track 2 is my favorite on the album. But i do feel ripped off and here's why. A CUNT LIKE YOU on this cd is the exact same version that's on Mummy And Daddy! now it is my favorite whitehouse track and i was really looking forward to hearing a new version, remix or what ever on this new album. but i'm very disapointed to hear the same version. it feels like it was just used as filler cause this album is so short. and cut out a cunt like u from it and indeed this album is very very short."
"I just got CRUISE, and ..................................Woah! It has been scorching my speakers, steaming up the windows and peeling the paintwork all morning. That's when it's being played safely at -48db!!! Woah, the mastering. Oh, the ruptured bass bins. Oh, the flapping speaker skins. What can I say? Baskets of kittens, wired up to the mains, fed through a Quadrafuzz, the size of manse. No. Words, of course, fail. Suffice to say, it is another tremendously exciting disc, and again, I can't help thinking that Whitehouse are that truly rare thing......an original, without comparison."
"... first track is brilliant, genuinely exciting - as with putting 'mummy and daddy' on for the first time there's a feeling that maybe you know what to expect, but then something different and even better erupts from the speakers - very nice! - sotos's track again the weak point for me again tho - maybe i'm too emotionally numb to appreciate it?"
"Cruise is the fucking best. We love it amazing sounds and what we totally wanted over, over the top vocals. An A++++++ job."
"It's definitely one of Whitehouse's best albums. As far as complaints about it being too short: well, many of the Whitehouse albums that the folks on this list state as being good starting points or favorites ("Dedicated To Peter Kurten", "Buchenwald", "Great White Death", "Halogen", "Mummy & Daddy") are under 30/35 minutes in length, so I don't see what all the fuss is about. I always had the impression that Bennett was kind of fulfilling yet teasing you @ the same time by giving you great, brutal music & ending it right @ the point when you're really into it & want to experience more (You can proceed with as many obvious sexual analogies here as you want...) If WB didn't care about the quality of his music, then he wouldn't have (rightfully) bitched about the (alleged) poor re-mastering of the World Serpent(?) re-release of "The 150 Murderous Passions". And, the quality of the Whitehouse albums has increased immensely since their early days. Their themes have become more focused & the guys are using different approaches to achieve the same impact that they want to. I wouldn't call "Dance the Desperate Breath" a power electronics track, but it's certainly creepy & is one of the best things they've done."
"The Cruise CD is fantastic."
"Cruise is a wonderfully mischievous album of unparallelled boldness, intelligence and sensitivity - and Whitehouse's best work yet."
"That so many people are heaping praise on this disc (and by extention themselves for their "sensitivity" and "insight" into whatever WB is doing) despite its obvious shortcomings just goes to show that WH is retreating further into Artworld, where sticks and slogans are hailed as works of artistic genius and any criticism betrays a supposed inability to understand the work. The critique of art-types on the "Cruise" cover is probably a sly indication that this is true. As I've said before, these days WB = Damien Hirst."
"I'm just wondering how many of the people who don't like it are having those feelings for lyrical reasons alone, as the actual sounds and vocal style aren't such a radical departure from the previous releases (barring "Dance..." of course, which I still find quite fascinating). I don't think of myself as being one who blindly praises anything Bennett does, and I of course have my gripes about the disc (I already have "A Cunt Like You" and "Movement 2000" is somewhat dull, though it's sequencing on the disc helps it greatly), but I still have found it enjoyable."
"Movement 2000 is a dense wall of bulldozing noise. not much variation
at all... if you listen closely you can hear some faint high-end noise in the
background. on its own this track is pretty useless but it
works well as a piece connected to the previous track, although it should be
about half the length. Public: about halfway through i stop listening and hit
the skip button. this stuff doesn't do much for me, and i find it equivalent
to channel surfing with your eyes closed through cable tv on any given afternoon.
A Cunt Like You: since the lyrics aren't in the same style as the rest of the
album, and since the track is the exact same version as the one that appeared
on the last album; i must conclude that this was a attempt to fill out the album.
hopefully, they won't wait 3 years to record the next album...i expect it to
be better than this."
"Arty-farty crap by 3 totally objectionable sleazebags."
"The intent behind this CD is very powerful, disturbing, and more sophisticated.
Everything WB does is
genius! This is the best piece of audio art since "M&D", in fact,
much better! All hail the new powerful sound!"
" ...if only we had a shopping mall here in little ol' hanover new hampshire, then i could try to be just as cool as the blokes from whitehouse! awww, who am i kidding? i could never be so cool and insightful and stuff. i know i "just don't get it". in fact, i believe bennett once told me that himself - of course i considered it an unintentional compliment at the time. anyway, i suppose you're right... i never thought i'd say it but... WHITEHOUSE IS ART. and i mean that in the most modern sense of the word. three years for barely a morsel of what we (i?) had come to expect from so many years of new and powerful ideas. i just can't avoid a comparison to modern "artists" who spend decades producing essentially blank canvases. the funniest thing to me right now is how many people are coming out of the woodwork saying they love this new album. i imagine many of them didn't like the others very much, but the whitehouse sound has finally weakened and diluted so that they, too, may share in the fun.
let's look at things in terms of a 20-year perspective, shall we? i'll just give a few specific examples here, i'm sure y'all can come up with plenty more. in 1981 whitehouse came out with, among other things, "new britain", which is perhaps the harshest album ever recorded EVEN UNTIL TODAY. bennett likes to think that albums like this spawned japanese noise, and i'm not gonna take that away from him. it's likely it's true. over the years, the whitehouse style has constantly changed, each time into something equally unique... things like "great white death" or "halogen" or "mummy and daddy" or whatever. and over the years a shitload of people have borrowed whitehouse-spawned ideas and worked with them in a great number of ways... everything from masonna to taint shows some whitehouse influence. each album either had something new and interesting to offer in terms of style, or was a better-developed version of the previous album's style. and now we have "cruise".... which consists of: 1) the first two tracks, a continuation and development of the style of the last album, which is something whitehouse has always been good at. one of them i consider pretty weak, but i'll chalk that up to personal taste, and i must admit it's not some crappy version of what someone else is doing. the second is a strong track. nothing monumental like i was hoping for, but strong. fine. the main dose of meat here. 2) "movement 2000", which really serves no good purpose other than as a divider between tracks. i don't have any severe problems with it, but it's not meat. 3) "public", which like "private" and "buyer's market" is good, but to be honest i'd much rather listen to taint. "victimology" and "whoredom" kick the shit out of the abovementioned three. the pupil surpassing the master. this is meat, but not new or marinated meat, and nothing you have to go to one particular butcher to get. 4) "scapegoat"... a noise track that isn't nearly as good as a lot of noise releases out there today (and most of those are crap). meat in the sense that beef tips or hot dogs are meat. 5) an artsy track. tofu? 6) a track that's already been released on another album, in what appears to be exactly the same version (or a version so similar that it doesn't matter). no meat.
and there you have it. a snack at best, but you've digested it alongside other, less tasteul things, so you're not really hungry for more. i have no complaints about the lyrics, as i don't see any particular loss of quality there. but if you don't have sounds to back up your lyrics, write a fuckin book. so anyway, depending on how generous you feel, you can say this album consists of "public" and 1 or 2 (short) "songs" and a (short) "instrumental". and only one out of the latter three packs any punch. thankfully there's a rich back catalogue to explore, if you haven't done so already.
but as a final note, i must say that if whitehouse had never existed until now, and this was their debut album, my praise would probably outweigh my criticism. it's like the band is in its own shadow with this release. of course, if i hadn't existed until now, and i was just being born, in a few hours i'd be pissing my fucking diapers. in other words, so what? it's a weak release, and not just because i expected much more."
"I'd just like to say that Cruise is amazing. Fantastic. "Princess
Disease" is delightfully brutal and "Cruise (Force The Truth)"
is just perfect for scream-a-longs. Keep up the good work."
"Cruise is really amazing ; the sound is very difficult ; I love Public and finally A Cunt Like You finish in beauty this LP; 2 days ago I was in Paris at the Batofar for a WARP night w/ Autechre & Gescom and during the DJ set of Russell Haswell, he did play the opening track Cruise at the end of his set, the sound was enormous and the lyrics yell all over the place and some people put carefully their hands upon their ears during the long minutes of pure Whitehouse anger; this is hardcore !"
"Cruise if fucking brilliant, it seems to have an odd tone to it though throughout, very sombre somehow."
"So it's really a great CD. New territory explored. Some images from the movie 'Seven' come to mind. The fat force fed man + the cabinets full of canned spaghetti. Also a recent article by a formerly overweight man who lost 100 to 200 lbs eating subway sandwiches for a year or so. He's still with his first girlfriend. Incentive. It also brings to mind a recently discharged pt. from the unit where I work. He weighed 450lbs easy. His mattress pads were on the floor in a corner. When I'd walk by and he was sleeping the scene was evocative of State Fairs where they auction pigs.
The other images that come to mind are skinny women, petite women, anorexic women, women policing themselves for me (or somebody). Listening to your material makes the imagination run wild. Especially the connection between bondage + cosmetic enhancement. Body wraps specifically. I guess this all sounds crazy."
"I fuckin' love the Cruise CD, your most complete + extreme release so far. The lyrics r so great - thanx for the harrowing experience."
"Got my hands on Cruise...the first 3 tracks are great, almost essential, with Philip Best's best vocal barrage to date, brilliant squelching bass sounds, thunderous distortion and top notch production. Really enjoyed the intensity, though I felt the lyrics were quite bland - I'd have preferred something about botched hospital operations or sex. 'Public' is probably the weakest link, sorry but it's got 'PLEASE BE SHOCKED BY THIS PART OF THE ALBUM' stamped all over it, while failing to be extreme enough to warrant repeated plays. Maybe it would have worked better if Peter Sotos had banged around on his Wasp in the background. However, despite some of the the negative comments concerning 'Dance the Desperate Breath', this track's a brilliant, funny piece with a totally inspired lyric. One can imagine the young pop floozie Billie Piper in such a predicament had her East London-based, female stalker's death threats boasted any substance. So overall, thumbs up for 'Cruise', 'Princess Disease' ( both of which are essential spins when the Jehovahs Witnesses come around, etc), 'Movement 2000' and 'Dance...' (oh and 'ACLU' of course) but despite these minor classics, 'Public' messes up what could have been a superior album. Mind you, I reckon its the best one since 'Never Forget Death'."
"The new album is the strongest studio-recorded release by Whitehouse that I've heard in quite some time (and I write "studio-recorded" because, frankly, I'm still somewhat infatuated with the London performance of last year, LA86, which was simply a fucking revelation in sonic brutality). But Cruise is definitely much more streamlined and coherent than Mummy and Daddy, and it just flat-out overpowers Quality Time in terms of aural might. I like how it works as a whole---that is, a complete, integrated work. If you removed one track from it, or perhaps switched a couple of them around, you would, in effect, interrupt a very carefully-planned and executed piece. "Princess Disease," at first listen, would seem to get the award for Most Kick-Ass track on the album---so far it seems to be the song that everyone digs the most, judging by the various snippets of anonymous feedback that I've seen---but now that I've lived with the album for a little while (it's May 14th as I write this), I'd say that "Scapegoat" gets my vote in that category instead. It's quite stirring, especially as it follows right after Sotos' "Public," a very intense track in its own right (and a track that, as predicted, the lame-os "just didn't get." "Yeah, because you're a LAME wishy-washy cunt, that's why," is what I say). But personally, regarding "Scapegoat," it's strange writing that because I've never been moved any one way in particular when it comes to "instrumental" tracks on Whitehouse albums. This one is different, though. It screams and grates with an almost unbearabe tone of guilt, panic and, yes, pleasure. Like someone caught in the act of something bad. We can only imagine. Anyway, Cruise is a fine, fine album. And those who bitched about the inclusion of the "previously-released" "A Cunt Like You" probably aren't capable of understanding the greater scope of the work---oh well. So long---cunts."
"I have just finished listening to the new album and I was completely
exhilarated/satisfied with the experience - another triumph. I was particularly
impressed by the track 'Dance The Desperate Breath'- I hope that this progressive
style will feature on future 'Whitehouse/Susan Lawly' recordings."
"Just a note to say I've had 'Cruise' for about a month now, and it's the
most affecting, inscrutable, impossible album I think I've ever heard. As I
see it, 'Cruise' has done something unexpected and strangely heartening to the
WH system, flinging question marks all over the place and dragging notions of
sincerity and irony around for bloody sport. Undoubtedly annoying, it refuses
to be what you want it to be, seeming to exist as a stubborn, obnoxiously intelligent
and frustratingly nebulous revelation without falling awkwardly between two
stools. So yeah, I dig it."
"Well done guys, Cruise is the monster we were all hoping for. You've left the pathetic 'competition' in the dirt and shown yourselves to be the true leaders we already knew you were. Surely you cannot be stopped now?"
"Congratulations CRUISE is a masterpiece!"
"It was good to get the latest CD at last. I was a little apprehensive about the new CD as there were a few listeners that didn't seem too keen on it but I wasn't disappointed,so if you dont mind I would like to offer a few thoughts on it.
To start with I really liked the sleeve, it was like an old Whitehouse design
which I am very fond of. I have always liked the text sleeves and anonymity
of these designs. The statements intrigue and lend to the imagination as to
what the contents may be.
Thought the CD was one of the most complete conceptually - it seems to have
a bit of everything.I really liked the two instrumental tracks, Scapegoat could
have been from Peter Kurten. I liked the new structure of the Princess Disease
with its cut up 'hardcore' feel to the music. The opening track was different
as well with the high energy mid tones of the keyboards,which is quite a change
from the denser sounds of the subsonic bass tones in previous recordings. I
guess this keeps it lighter to keep the flow of the vocals. With the tracks
having far more lyrics than in the past I suppose this alone must change the
composition of the music ? I really liked Dance the Desperate Breath this was
a fully developed idea that has had potential before in tracks like The Way
it Will Be and Twice Is Not Enough ETC.I really like these menacing tracks that
are more subtle with a disturbing undertone - they perfectly complement the
more 'in your face' tracks. I also couldn't help but be reminded of Jam with
this track - any influence filtering through the subconscious ?"
"Not to be too ass-kissing, but I love "Cruise" and was just blown away by the title track. I literally jumped out of my seat. "Intense Reaction"-Yes indeed. As for the rest, well it lived up to my expectations with "Dance" proving particularly effective and somewhat haunting. Elsewhere, you proved that your understanding of attack and effect hasn't left you. It's a wonderful album that seems to be garnering you some of your best (although I know this doesn't particularly concern you) reviews of your career. What was once taboo has become High Art? Surely not?"
"As I haven't been in touch for ages I should congratulate you on the
last CD. Cruise is absolutely stunning, definitely a genre definer! I was a
big fan ov Mummy and Daddy, but Cruise just gets bigger, better and sicker every
listen."
"Well worth the usually unreasonable price of $19. 'Cruise' is almost as good as 'Dedicated to Peter Kurten'. ALMOST. This is definitely Whitehouse's most accessible release to date in my opinion, and it's being marketed as such. Special 12" DJ copies of the title track, Kid 606 and Richard D. James spinning the song at thier own concerts; stuff like this makes its accessibility quite evident, as much as all of those elitist cunts who're being alienated by this record would like to think otherwise. "Hardcore fans" indeed. Some of WH's strongest work is included here (title track, Princess Disease, Movement 2000), but some of it is a bit bland in my mind (Dance the Desperate Breath, though the subject matter is quite humorous. Scapegoat is one of those OK tracks. not really bad, but not that good) or redundant (A Cunt Like You. lol. Great song. 5 YEARS AGO) I think that the Sotos track is great, but I'm a big fan of his work. You really only want to listen to it once though, as with other recordings of this nature. I love Whitehouse's new sound, but they can only take it so far. And this makes me quite curious as to where they will go next with their sound. Anything's fine with me, just so long as it hurts at least a little."
"When this album came out, there was a whole lotta yappin' going on. Few
reviews were neutral. It was either 'Whitehouse are fucking genius' or 'this
is silly art school shit'. I'm prepared to straddle the fence. Whitehouse has
always had SO MUCH potential. How often have they lived up to it? Not very often,
I'm afraid. Certainly not since the 80s. Kids... this Peter Sotos victim-vocal
cut-up thing has GOT TO GO. I'm not even gonna get into the whole "I can
hear that shit on Geraldo, it's not shocking" thing. It's just boring.
If that shit MUST be included, at least do it as a bonus
and tack it on to a solid 30 minutes of ragin' shit. And don't put it in the
middle of the fuckin' album.
"Cruise (Force the Truth)" is a fucking AMAZING track. You can understand most of the vox even though they're distorted, and the shit sounds fucking MEAN. This is POWER electronics... listening to it makes you wanna fucking smash someone. It's midrange, irritating, brilliant. This is one of my favorite noise/power electronics tracks, ever. A few stupid moments, though. The stuff about Jesus could have easily been left out. "Princess Disease" is okay, but not great. Kinda sounds like Bennett hijacked an Atari Teenage Riot concert. That might not sound flattering, but whatever. And the rest... I actually was digging "Dance..." although it doesn't really stand up to repeated listens. It took some balls to record that, though, so I can't talk too much shit. The instrumentals- send $2.50 to RRRon. He'll send you a bargain-bin noise tape that probably sounds at least as good. A little bit of power here. A lot of electronics. Your next album had better fucking rock, boys. Are you still playing Akron next month? If so, I'll be there. And Sotos... DO NOT try any funny shit, homo."
"Wow. I thought Cruise (FTT) sounded too much like a couple of skinny
kids screaming and erratically playing fifths on their grandma's Bontempi organ
to really kickk my ass."
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