Painkiller

Painkiller

Track Listings

1. Painkiller

2. Hell Patrol

3. All Guns Blazing

4. Leather Rebel

5. Metal Meltdown

6. Night Crawler

7. Between the Hammer & the Anvil

8. Touch of Evil

9. Battle Hymn

10. One Shot at Glory

Tracks:

Love Don't Care
I'm Not Broken
Painkiller
Big Sister's Radio
A Good Fool Is Hard To Find
Err On The Side Of Love
I Roll When I Rock
If You Believe (In What You Do)
It's That Time Again
Goin' Down South
Lonesome And Then Some
It Ain't Easy Bein' Me

Amazon.com

Is Tommy Castro a soul man in a blues rocker's body, or vice versa? He doesn't seem to care--and neither should we, when the results of that dichotomy are as frisky and enjoyable as Painkiller. A better-than-average singer and guitarist, Castro has been hampered in the past by inconsistent material and the sense that he hadn't quite come to grips with his love of the Stax and Chess catalogs. Bringing in other songwriters has vastly improved the material on this collection, with eight original tunes co-written by Castro and veteran tunesmiths such as Gary Nicholson, Stephen Bruton, Bonnie Hayes, and Jimmy Hall. Castro sounds loose and comfortable hammering into riff-rockers such as "Love Don't Care" and Stones-styled material on the order of "I Roll When I Rock," both augmented by a horn section that adds dollops of R&B to the proceedings. Coco Montoya duets and adds typically sizzling guitar on a rollicking cover of Albert Collins's "A Good Fool Is Hard to Find," and Angela Strehli ups the heat for a soul-drenched take on Freddie King's "If You Believe (In What You Do)." Castro shifts into Tyrone Davis mode on "It's That Time Again," credited as an original but almost a rewrite of Davis's signature "Can I Change My Mind." The Al Green/Hi sound of "Lonesome and Then Some" brings out the best in Castro's Delbert McClinton-inflected vocals, and burns when he tears into a taut lead-guitar line. Call him a soul-drenched blues rocker if you must, but on Painkiller Tommy Castro successfully finds the sweet spot between his various influences and balances them like the pro he is. --Hal Horowitz

Album Description

Tommy Castro's newest studio recording, produced by John Porter (whose impressive list of credits includes Los Lonely Boys, Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, Santana, B.B. King, Elvis Costello, and Buddy Guy), features another spirited dose of the patented brand of infectious rock 'n' soul music that has endeared the Tommy Castro Band to legions of fans. Tommy tears it up again with his stellar band, and welcomes guests Coco Montoya (on a smoking Albert Collins tune), vocalist Angela Strehli, pianist David Maxwell, and singer/pianist Teresa James.

Customer Reviews:

Kickin'!!.......2007-06-12

Tommy's best. Alot of Delbert influence in his music on this CD. Great blend of horns and blues guitar. I've enjoyed Tommy's music for some time now, stumbling across a performance of his when I was in San Diego in 1998. His music has improved and this CD has provided the goods for me to turn more ears here on the east coast. Not a bad song on this CD.

solid blues,soul/ funk, rock n roll too.......2007-06-09

Tommy Castro plays and sings from the heart . He is supported by a great band, producers and management. check out his web site ,it is great. check out this cd and you will feel no pain.

WOW, Tommy Castro's best........2007-04-10

Having listened to Tommy Castro for the last 5 or 6 years, this is a truly great release from a fine electric blues and jazz guiter player.
I was impressed from the first track thru the entire CD. A must buy for all electric blues & jazz fans everywhere.

Painkiller - Tommy Castro.......2007-03-30

I had a chance to see Tommy perform at a local venue, he played a couple of songs from this album that sounded great. At the time the cd was not available in stores, just his website, which was autographed if bought from the website. Anyhow, after hearing the couple of songs live, I bought the cd and loved it. I'm glad to see the cd is doing well.

Best TC to date.......2007-03-22

I really think Tommy Castro has arrived as one of the best on the Blues scene today. Pain Killer is clearly his best effort to date. Most notably one should notice the work of Keith Crossan And Tom Poole (The Healthy Horns).

Average customer rating:

The one that started it all for me
kickass comeback from the metal gods.
Judas Priest doing speed & thrash metal - their last essential album
An overlooked gem
Recommended to relieve intense metal craving!

Painkiller
Judas Priest
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Ram It Down
Turbo
Hell Bent for Leather
Screaming for Vengeance
Stained Class

ASIN: B0000630BT
Release Date: 2002-03-19

Tracks:

Painkiller
Hell Patrol
All Guns Blazing
Leather Rebel
Metal Meltdown
Night Crawler
Between The Hammer & The Anvil
A Touch Of Evil
Battle Hymn
One Shot At Glory
Living Bad Dreams
Leather Rebel (Live)

Customer Reviews:

The one that started it all for me.......2007-07-14

This was the album that got me into heavy metal.I first heard it when I was around 11 years old, and I had never heard anything like it before in my life.It became my obsession, I would listen to it every day.It also inspired me to look into Judas Priest's older catalog.Lets look at it track by track:
1.Painkiller(5/5) - It starts out with a killer drum solo and then kicks in with the guitars.The solos in the song blow my mind.Tipton and Downing are at the top of their game.
2.Hell Patrol(3.5/5) - Its a good song, but in my opinion its a little bland.
3.All Guns Blazing(4/5) - The octaves that Halford can hit just blow my man.
4.Leather Rebel(4/5) - There is just something about this song that gets me pumped.This song just further proves that Halford is the Metal God.
5.Metal Meltdown(5/5) - Great guitar inro!This song is amazing, everyone is just rocking their hardest!
6.Nightcrawler(5/5) - This is my favorite song on this album.Halford's voice is simply amazing on this song.
7.Between the Hammer and the Anvil(3.5/5) - I enjoy this song, but its nothing special.Another solid track.
8.A Touch of Evil(5/5)- Most likely the slowest track on the album.Its great song.There is some use of synthesizers.
9.Battle Hymn - Its just the opening for the next track.
10.One Shot at Glory(4.5/5) - A great track,Halford is all over the place.Great guitar work.
---Bonus Tracks--
Living Bad Dreams(3.5/5)- Its a good song, but its not up to the standard as the rest of the album.
Leather Rebel(Live)- Well, its Leather Rebel live!

kickass comeback from the metal gods........2007-07-07

After "Turbo" and the underrated "Ram It Down," Judas Priest were slowly losing fans who longed for the classic sound from the older days. The infamous lawsuit involving the suicide of one boy in Nevada and the attempted suicide of his friend after listening to "Stained Class," right after the Ram It Down tour, wore the band out, and longtime drummer Dave Holland left. The band's frustration at their quasi-decline and the public's negative stereotypes of Judas Priest and metal in general combined with the arrival of Scott Travis on the drum revitalized them.

"Painkiller" is my favorite Priest album. Not a mediocre song to be found. Scott Travis' incredibly fast drum technique allowed Priest to go in the speed metal direction much more than they could have with Holland. Just listen to the drum intro to the title track. That kind of speed combined with KK and Glenn's considerable shredding abilities allowed a ridiculously aggressive and heavy approach to this album. Then there's Rob's singing, which is sensational. Incredible screaming. After the title track, "Hell Patrol" and "All Guns Blazing" are good mid-tempo songs. Then the pace REALLY picks up with "Leather Rebel," my favorite track, and "Metal Meltdown," the envy of guitar players everywhere. Then we have "Night Crawler," which is a catchy, chilling song, followed by "Between the Hammer and the Anvil" and "A Touch of Evil," which string together nicely. I love the riff to "A Touch of Evil," which is sort of a pseudo-ballad, but the aggression is there. "Battle Hymn" is to "One Shot At Glory" what "The Hellion" is to "Electric Eye." Not a bad finisher. The remaster tacks on "Living Bad Dreams," another song in the vein of "A Touch of Evil," and a live take of "Leather Rebel." It sounds a little disorganized and loses some of its heavyness, but that might be the quality of the recording (bootleg?).

Overall, a quintessential speed metal album and essential Priest album. Not to be missed by any metalhead.

Judas Priest doing speed & thrash metal - their last essential album.......2007-05-17

THE BAND: Rob Halford (vocals), K.K. Downing (guitar), Glenn Tipton (guitar), Ian Hill (bass), Scott Travis (drums & percussion).

THE DISC: (1990) 10 tracks clocking in at approximately 46 minutes. Included with the disc is a 10-page booklet containing song titles/credits, song lyrics and one black & white band photo. All songs written by Halford/Tipton/Downing. Remastered with bonus tracks and expanded liner notes in 2001 (55 total minutes). Recorded at Miraval Studios (Brignoles, France). Label - Columbia Records.

COMMENTS: "Painkiller" is an ultra large dose of traditional Judas Priest sounds with some speed & thrash metal mixed in. In other words... compared to their previous two albums, the metal messiahs have returned to form! Nothing can compare to the band's early releases ("Stained Glass" though "Screaming For Vengeance") in the late 1970's and early 80's... but "Painkiller" comes close. For me, "Turbo" (1986) and "Ram It Down" (1988) were way to pop, to tame, too much bubblegum - way to happy. "Painkiller" showed the band still had the balls to bang their heads the old school way. Looking back now, "Painkiller" is still a bittersweet album. Rob Halford would officially leave the band in 1991, and Judas Priest was pronounced dead from '91-95... only to resurge in '96 with replacement scab singer, Tim "Ripper" Owens. To me, this was like David Lee Roth leaving Van Halen, or Bruce Dickinson leaving Iron Maiden... maintaining that ANY replacement would simply be unacceptable. Also note long time drummer Dave Holland was out and new skin pounder Scott Travis (from Racer-X) was in - bringing extremely quick feet and lots of heavy double bass. This is an album filled with anger, attitude, shredding guitars, pounding drums, and happily very little keyboards (only on "A Touch Of Evil"). From the 6-minute opening title track to the album closer, "Painkiller" just doesn't let up - no filler to be found. Highlights include the title track, "Metal Meltdown", "Night Crawler" and "A Touch Of Evil" (as it happens, all 4 of these songs were featured on the band's 2-disc '93 compilation "Metal Works"). This may well be Judas Priest's heaviest album - as well as their last essential release (4.5 stars).

An overlooked gem.......2007-04-13

This may sound like heresy , but this is probably their second best album after Screaming For Vengeance . Tipton and Downing have never sounded better . Scott Travis lays down some of the best drum work ever on a Priest album . Ian Hill is as solid as ever and Halford still can belt it out with the best of them . So why not 5 stars ? Two reasons , the lyrics aren't as creative as other Priest albums ( sorry Rob ) and the three best cuts ( Painkiller , A Touch Of Evil and Night Crawler ) are all on Metal Works . If you are a Priest fan BUY THIS . If you are a casual listener , your probably better off spending the money on Metal Works .

Recommended to relieve intense metal craving!.......2007-04-12

"Painkiller" showed Judas Priest,like other metal outfits at the time, burnishng off the synth-heavy glam-metal of their previous CDs(1986's "Turbo" and 1988's "Ram It Down")and returning to pure metal with more speed,heaviness and vengance than ever before.Only in this case the veteran band sounds completely revitalized rather than desparete.Rob Halford's voice hits ear-splitting King Diamond-like notes on "All Guns Blazing","Metal Meltdown","Night Crawler" and the pummeling title track,as K.K Downing and Glenn Tipton trade in fercious licks with then-current drummer Scott Travis revving up the tempo up to 150 mph,right up there with the best of Metallica,Slayer and Megadeth.This grand return would not last(Halford would leave months after to form his own band Fight and would not return until 2004),but "Painkiller" would remain one of the best metal albums of the 1990's and still sounds as brutal,powerful and intense as it came out,thanks to Jon Astley's sizzling remastering treatment.Not for the faint of heart,but its just what the doctor ordered for any metal fan who want it hard n' heavy!

Average customer rating:

Best of the best!
Intriguing, but not the best Zorn offering
One of my all-time favorites.

Execution Ground
Painkiller
Manufacturer: Subharmonic
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Buried Secrets/Guts of a Virgin
Naked City

ASIN: B000003ZNI
Release Date: 1994-11-15

Tracks:

Parish of Tama [Ossuary Dub]
Morning of Balachaturdasi
Pashupatinath

Tracks:

Pashupatinath [Ambient]
Parish of Tama [Ambient]

Customer Reviews:

Best of the best!.......2003-07-22

Put Simply, this is the best Painkiller album there is. Fantastic! Fierce Bass, Hard-core Sax-chops, Furious Drumming - all to the delight of the ear. Free Rock, maybe? Emotional tunes that go places. Enjoy!

Intriguing, but not the best Zorn offering.......2002-04-17

I bought this disc because I have and love other John Zorn projects (Naked City, Masada), and I knew of Bill Laswell through his production work and great band Material.

I find Execution Ground to be full of interesting textures, bizarre rhythms, and insane drumming - plus plenty of shrieking sax, as one would expect. Although it's certainly intriguing, it falls short of Zorn's other projects for me. The long compositions seem directionless and the endless reverb and delays are a little hokey. I do like the second disc a little better, because the static feel naturally lends itself to the ambient mode, but overall I'd rather listen to Naked City or Material than Painkiller.

One of my all-time favorites........2001-08-23

This is music unlike anything i've heard (besides other Zorn stuff). The moment I put it in my CD player I am trapped, unable to tear myself away, or even divert my attention elsewhere. Especially the first three tracks. There's always something interesting going on. All three musicians deliver superb performances. Zorn doing his "torture victim" style of saxophone playing, and even more normal jazzy playing, to my favorite, that creepy microtonal phase that sounds like several torture victims. Harris manages to straddle these lengthy improvisations without just repeating a drum pattern over and over, he always varies the groundwork in interesting and occasionally attention-grabbing ways. And Laswell he seems to prefer to stay in the background most of the time, letting his simple bass lines create the perfect atmosphere for everyone else. I think the ambient disc works more on a subconscious level, so I try to do something else while it plays, and it certainly creates a different kind of ambience, not harsh noise, but not dreamy new-age stuff. If you can find it I highly suggest picking it up ... NOW!

Average customer rating:

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME? OH MY GOD!!!
Hit the Nail on the Head with this one
Not as good as Execution Ground, but I'd still buy it!
Not as good as Naked City, but still very, very good.
Ear-bleeding deathmetal jazz

Buried Secrets/Guts of a Virgin
Painkiller
Manufacturer: Earache Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Execution Ground

ASIN: B000006AZX
Release Date: 1998-02-24

Tracks:

Scud Attack
Deadly Obstacle Collage
Damage To The Mask
Guts Of A Virgin
Handjob
Portent
Hostage
Lathe Of God
Dr. Phibes
Purgatory Of Fiery Vulvas
Warhead
Devil's Eye
Tortured Souls
One-Eyed Pessary
Trailmarker
Blackhole Dub
Buried Secrets
The Ladder
Executioner
Black Chamber
Skinned
The Toll

Customer Reviews:

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME? OH MY GOD!!!.......2006-03-18

This was the first rock cd I bought (after years of new age pabalum) and after hearing good things about John Zorn (who at the time was the premier catalyst in the avant-rock scene), picked Guts of a Virgin (now neatly packaged with Buried Secrets) and the aforementioned screaming (sung by lead Boredoms vocalist Yamatsuka Eye)on the first track and John Zorn's skronk turned me on to the whole Knitting Factory scene. I can't say this would be the first cd to buy in the John Zorn cadre because his different projects (Masada, Naked City, Cobra) are so markedly different. However, if you like noise but with some structure then this head splitting, gut wrenching blast will be to your taste. What has turned off some John Zorn listeners is his genre jumping music such as Cobra which changes character sometimes from one minute to another and can be irritating is not in evidence here. Though the pieces are short (sometimes a few seconds)they are all in character. Death metal fans might find Painkiller too avant-garde and free jazz fans might find it too rockist but anyone who appreciated the downtown scene (this includes members of Sonic Youth)at a time when Williamsburg was just another train stop will find this to be most rewarding.

Hit the Nail on the Head with this one.......2005-03-28

By the title I mean the other reviews described it well. But I would also like to recommend other artist out of the Zorn genre. If you like this try also The Iceburn Collective - Meditavolutions. Not as heavy a bass line in that album but, just as good. Bill Laswell is just awesome to be able to from the ambient style of bass to this wild, full of effects, hardcore bass playing. John Zorn's sax sounds as though it is a DJ scratching. Then the album just turns in to the ultimate jam album. Very experimental and recommend this album for anyone looking for something different.

Not as good as Execution Ground, but I'd still buy it!.......2003-08-29

Great album that will grow on you overtime. Not for the faint hearted though... If you're not into Naked City's "Torture Garden" this may not be the CD for you... Quite different from the other Pain Killer "Execution Ground." I enjoy it - although I don't listen to it all that often...

Not as good as Naked City, but still very, very good........2002-08-12

Take one of the loud manic sections off of a Naked City album, expand it to fit an entire album, give it a metallic bass line, and faster drums, and what you have is Painkiller, the band voted most likely to annoy parents or other elders.

Painkiller, a trio consisting John Zorn, Bill Laswell, and Mick Harris, is Zorn's venture into the world of death metal / grindcore. In attempting this, he succeeds. The album's opener, "Scud Attack" is one of the most intense tracks I have ever heard, with Zorn's saxophone sounding alternately like a (perishing) cat and a generator powering up, one is forced to wonder if they will be able to keep up this intensity throughout the entire album.

And they somehow manage to. This however, is as much, is as a curse as a blessing. In Naked City, Zorn knew how to balance this manic tendency with quiet peices. Here, there is no such thing, no let up whatsoever, making for an amazing, but also at times annoying and repetive listening.

Considering that, I recommend this album to everyone, but I must also make a further recommendation that if you want Zorn at his best try the Naked City self-titled or Radio. Painkiller is an experiment and, while the experiment is successful, it is this success that holds the band and the album from its full potential.

Ear-bleeding deathmetal jazz.......2000-06-21

Trio consisting of postmodern saxophonist John Zorn, ambient/bass master Bill Laswell, and the drummer of Napalm Death (forgot his name, oops), this is improvisational death metal. Its often as ferocious as music can get as their improvisations seem to build more force than you would get from a pre-written song. Still, its too much to listen to for more than 3 or 4 songs

Average customer rating:

Painkiller Blues
Earthy , real Honest ..........Worth the buck.......

Painkiller Blues
Don McMinn
Manufacturer: Icehouse Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000003L55
Release Date: 1994-03-14

Tracks:

painkiller blues
i've earned my rest
house of the rising sun
where's the love
memphis in may
down home blues
loving instructor
nothing like a woman
plastic flowers
lay back

Customer Reviews:

Painkiller Blues.......2000-05-30

Top notch , real blues music. It's time Don McMinn cut another for blues fans

Earthy , real Honest ..........Worth the buck..............1999-06-23

this is a simple good feeling series of songs ranging from classic blues, to country feeling urban music it's cool......

Average customer rating:

Classic thrash

Hellish Crossfire
Iron Angel
Manufacturer: Painkiller
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Winds of War
Unveiling the Wicked
Enforcer//First Strike
Victims of Deception
Power from Hell

ASIN: B000CDIQ3I
Release Date: 2005-12-12

Tracks:

Metallian
Sinner
Black Mass
Church of the Last Souls
Hunter in Chains
Rush of Power
Legions of Evil
Wife of the Devil
Nightmare
Heavy Metall-Soldiers

Customer Reviews:

Classic thrash.......2006-06-03

Clu-lassic I tell you. Definantly one of the finest speed metal albums released from Germany. If your'e looking to expand your collection of thrash metal then look no further. Comparativley, the sound of this is album is very strong as far back it was released. The production definantly do justice for the riffs. Anywho, as for the vocals, ther'e pretty cool. Somewhere between Shmeir/Mustaine kinda vocals. Standouts for me include "the Metallian", Sinner 666 and Heavy Metal Soildiers.

Also, make sure you look for Heathen's Victims of Deception, Invocator's Weave the Apocalypse, Mekong Delta's Mekong Delta (Self titled), Toxik's World Circus and Morbid Saint's Spectrum of Death

Collected Works (The Complete Studio Recordings 1991-1994)

Average customer rating:

mastery!
Hmmm....not bad
Grindcore, dub and everything in between.
Shrieks and whispers and rolling thunder
SOUND IN AN AGE OF TERRORISM

Collected Works (The Complete Studio Recordings 1991-1994)
Painkiller
Manufacturer: Tzadik
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Complete Studio Recordings
Talisman: Live in Nagoya
Astronome
At the Mountains of Madness
Kristallnacht

ASIN: B000003YUO
Release Date: 1998-02-17

Tracks:

Scud Attack
Deadly Obstacle Collage
Damage To The Mask
Guts Of A Virgin
Handjob
Portent
Hostage
Lathe Of God
Dr. Phibes
Purgatory Of Fiery Vulvas
Warhead
Devil's Eye
Tortured Souls
One-Eyed Pessary
Trailmarker
Blackhole Dub
Buried Secrets
The Ladder
Executioner
Black Chamber
Skinned
The Toll
Unlisted

Tracks:

Parish Of Tama (Ossuary Dub)
Morning Of Balachaturdasi
Pashupatinath

Tracks:

Pashupatinath (Ambient)
Parish Of Tama (Ambient)

Tracks:

Gandhamadana
Vaidurya
Satapitaka
Bodkyithangga
Black Bile/Yellow Bile/Blue Bile/Crimson Bile/Ivory Bile

Customer Reviews:

mastery!.......2006-09-04

Painkiller is John Zorn (saxophone, vocals), Bill Laswell (bass) and Mick Harris (drums, vocals). Without the name, the makeup of the trio sounds more like the recipe for a lounge act, any place the smoke will be thick and people are going to hum along to "Misty," no matter how many times they've already heard it.

Throw in the band's name, though, and you have improvisational thrash tinged with ambient grooves and a boatload of primal screaming, not to mention the occasional lick of dub reggae. The music is full and deep and will toss you around in a matter of seconds (as is the case with "Handjob," "Purgatory of Fiery Vulvas" and "Trailmarker," which altogether total not even a minute's worth of music) or quell you with twenty minutes of oceanic groove (as in "Pashupatinath (Ambient)"). Sometimes, Painkiller gives you both in the same song.

Known in their time mostly through those in the know up in New York City (and by some very lucky crowds in Japan), Painkiller was a three-year effort that started in 1991. They released four recordings: the EPs Guts of a Virgin and Buried Secrets, the two-album Execution Ground and a live recording from Osaka, which graced only select stores in Japan. In continual reverence to John Zorn, their executive producer, the Tzadik label has released all four recordings and a bonus track in a four-disc package amply titled Painkiller: the Complete Studio Recordings 1991-1994 (Tzadik has been rereleasing many of John Zorn's older works, from his first recordings of 1973 to his film scores and a previously unavailable--in America, at least--recording from his band Naked City).

Painkiller was a creation of three icons of underground music. Mick Harris was the original whirlwind of percussion behind Napalm Death; John Zorn has been blowing saxophone (and bird whistles and kazoos and pots and pans and vacuum cleaner hoses...) in New York City since the 1970's; and Bill Laswell is the master ear behind such bands as Praxis (featuring Funkadelic veterans Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell) and Material (featuring everyone in the world at some point of the band's continued reincarnations, including Whitney Houston). The idea was to see if improvisation could make a crowd mosh (and mosh they did). Perhaps another idea was to explore the sounds of a band without lead guitar, a must to your typical rockers.

Each member of the trio brought to the table his own talent and extraordinary magic. Mick Harris brought the sheer power a drum kit could offer, the reality that there could be but one man, a mere pair of arms and feet, behind an insane flurry of percussive attacks and cymbal crashings. Also, he brought that primal wail that sent the early recordings of Napalm Death (the days of thirty-minute albums graced by forty or more songs) to their psychomaniac height. John Zorn brought the virtuosity of saxophone--the ability to make the most extraordinary range of sounds, from wails and squeals to the kind of breathy riffs film noire ran their credits in front of. He brought the ability of quick-change, the precision of switching from a steady, droning groove to high pitch mayhem in the space of a breath (more often switching tempos in the same breath, having been inspired by Carl Stalling and his scores to Warner Brothers cartoons). John Zorn also brought the ability to play along to anything. Soul, ska, bebop, hip-hop, Beach Boys or Dead Boys, Zorn could find a way to slip in some saxophone and never let it sound out of place.

The real crux of this band, though, was Bill Laswell. Only he could round out the efforts of this spectrum of influence. His name has held the producer's spot on albums from the Ramones and Mephiskapholes to the Japanese drumming band Kodo and jazz great Pharaoh Sanders. A Bill Laswell production distinguishes itself not for sounding like every other Bill Laswell production (like, for instance, the efforts of Bob Rock or the David Bowie influence on Iggy Pop) but for not sounding like any other Bill Laswell production. John Zorn often holds the spotlight in Painkiller with his high trills and lung-bursting blasts, and Mick Harris may mesmerize with his drum rolls that make Alex van Halen's beats as tedious as a pair of shrunken old dams operating a crusty red Bonneville, but it's Laswell that maintains Painkiller through its plethora of sounds. No matter if it's the unremitting noise of "Damage to the Mask" or the sine wave of crescendo and liquid slide in "Parish of Tama," Bill Laswell drives the atmosphere with a steady foundation of bass--nothing too fancy, but always just right.

In all, the Painkiller complete recordings will give you a full range of experience, offerings selections for all tastes--a lot of the short, hard material lies in wait on one disc, while the more ambient tracks sit on another, a considerate allowance for those whose moods may shift in trying to decide what to listen to. The dynamic of having all three performers keeps things from completely giving themselves over to, say, the purist speed-dementia of Mick Harris or the disparate noise that can too often grace a lot of John Zorn's solitary efforts. We never even sink fully to the depths of Bill Laswell's thalassic ambient whalesong, the likes of which can be found on the Subharmonic label with such notaries as Jah Wobble and the California mutant guitarist Buckethead, the kind of ambient that would make Brian Eno look like a speed freak. Just as any one sound seems to be taking over, it is instantly thwarted by another in a very refreshing way. The mega-quick, three-second "Trailmarker" is rounded out right afterward by the bass-heavy "Blackhole Dub."

But the real gems by far are found in selections from Execution Ground. Rather than hit us with several songs, each sporting its own musical style, as in the Guts of a Virgin and Buried Secrets EPs, Execution Ground offers fourteen to sixteen minute assaults that take us through every mood of the ensemble. Zorn's peals on the sax meld slowly into a cascade of screams by Mick Harris, moving then so slowly into the subconscious (and subaural) thumps of Bill Laswell, and we come to an end strangely pacifying and complete. This was indeed the height of their artform, and their live disc reinforces that: the audience sounds both mesmerized and enraged. Slowly, oh so slowly, we have been breaking down the categories of music and find it harder and harder to call one thing 'rock' while we call another thing 'alternative' or 'pop.' Painkiller offers us music that transcends all--slow and fast, hard and soft, Painkiller offers up music worth a serious listen.

Hmmm....not bad.......2006-03-09

Now this is not a completely satisfying box set. Do not get me wrong there is some really great stuff on here. the mix of heavy metal and jazz is well done. I preferred Naked City however but even that concept wore thin after a few records. Here it is abit of the same. Ok the players are exceptional and there are some gems but...

Grindcore, dub and everything in between........2005-11-18

In the late '80s, John Zorn developed a fascination with hardcore death metal and grindcore. Adding bands like Napalm Death to his endless list of influences. Zorn at some point met Napalm Death drummer Mick Harris, and the two discussed collaborating. The net result of this was Painkiller, with the addition of bassist Bill Laswell.

Describing Painkiller is a bit difficult-- Zorn and Harris' overt grindcore sound blends remarkably well with dub bass courtesy of Laswell-- the band recorded three albums-- "Guts of a Virgin" and "Buried Secrets" and "Execution Ground". All of these along with an ambient remix of "Execution Ground" and a live show are gathered into this boxed set, "Collected Works".

"Guts of a Virgin" and "Buried Secrets" (making up the first disc) follow pretty much the same formula-- the band rails away, loud, heavy, and propolsive-- Laswell finds oddball grooves, Harris pounds relentlessly, and Zorn screeches over the top. The music is exciting, powerful and engaging, but you really have to be in the right frame of mind to hear it because it is relentless in its approach. Sometimes it excels enormously (opener "Scud Attack", frantic "Guts of a Virgin" and "Skinned" or Zorn explosion "Hostage"), sometimes it gets a bit more experimental which is intriguing, particularly on "Buried Secrets"-- tracks like "Blackhole Dub" and "Black Chamber" find Laswell pushing the grooves in somewhat different directions. Guest performances by Justin Broadrick and G.G. Green (both of Godflesh) on a pair of tracks help provide some more intrigue to those pieces-- "Buried Secrets" is a guitar effects workout and "The Toll" is morbid and bleak (and fantastic). The final cut on the disc, "Marianne", is from an album by vocalist Makigami Koichi. The band with Koichi on vocal and Haino Keiji on guitar, follows much the same formula, also in Keiji, Zorn has a guitarist willing to match his screeches and it makes for an intriguing pairing. Add to this Koichi's much more patient and relaxed vocal delivery, and certainly the cut is one of the most unique on the record.

"Execution Ground" paints a drastically different picture-- the same fierce improvs and explosive performances are present, but rather than brief tracks, it sounds as if Laswell mixed several pieces together with some ambient tape to form more coherent and extended statements. The results-- the music is a bit more laid back (a bit mind you, it's not exactly calm and patient), a more overt dub sound comes out, and it's much more produced and arranged-- effects processing, instruments fading in and out, volume swells, and so on. While it makes for a more coherent statement, it does lack that frantic energy that the earlier records had. The music is really quite unlike anything else and needs to be heard to make sense, "Pashupatinath" is the standout, encompassing an almost Naked City-like variance in sounds and themes, with Zorn adding a West coast jazz sensibility to the dub and grindcore sounds. If production made "Execution Ground" unique, then it stands to follow that ambient remixes would only continue that trend. What results is something totally unexpected-- "Execution Ground" is reduced virtually to samples for Laswell, who by and large creates a music that is bleak and haunting, using ambient sound, noise, and staggered instrumental presence to build a sense of foreboding. It's highly enjoyable, albeit not what you'll be looking for if you were expecting a grindcore workout.

The final disc, "Live in Osaka", is to my mind the gem of the set-- like many Zorn projects, Painkiller shines live. The music loses some of its heaviness but does not tame a bit-- four pieces are performed by the band, each is far more extended than the album cuts an has a weird jam-band/grindcore feel to it that, while I'm incapable of explaining it, benefits the material. On the last track with the band, Yamatsuka Eye of the Boredoms joins in to add some madness, and Eye and Zorn duet for an encore.

All in all, it's a pretty impressive set, there's a lot of material, I suspect not all of it is going to be to everyone's liking, but it's a good value for the money. Recommended.

Shrieks and whispers and rolling thunder.......2003-12-06

Although this box set lives up to its reputation (and then some), it's a disappointing collection of music. Painkiller is a very heavy, shrill band. Over the course of four CDs, three guys improvise an interesting hybrid of hardcore jazz and heavy metal: John Zorn on alto sax, Mick Harris on drums, and Bill Laswell on bass. The first two EPs (squeezed together on to one disc) are formless instrumentals of noise. Each song has a random length and a colorful title. These two EPs (Guts of a Virgin and Buried Secrets) don't have much going for them. They stop and start, they shriek, and in the end you get a little bit bored.

Their third recording, Execution Ground (the second disc here) is a major improvement. It sounds like Laswell took the first two EPs and remixed them, blending ambient soundscapes into the jackhammering improvisation. There are three songs, each about 15 minutes long, that drone and rumble along. The third disc in this set is an ambient remix of Execution Ground. The noise is kept to a minimum while wind and distant echoing screams take over. It's very creepy and beautiful. It is, by far, the best part of this set.

The fourth and final disc is a live album. It sounds just like Execution Ground. On the final tracks, the great Yamatsuka Eye joins in. Eye howls like the Tasmanian Devil along with Zorn's screeching saxophone. I've heard this disc over and over, waiting for it to grow on me, but it never did. It's boring.

It's hard to recommend the Collected Works to anyone who hasn't already heard (and loved) Painkiller. The idea behind the band --- three musicians improvising the noisiest music of all time --- is a great idea. But the result is less than expected. Too much of this music is an indulgence that leaves you scratching your head. The high points (discs 2 and 3) are impressive, but not enough to justify buying the whole set.

SOUND IN AN AGE OF TERRORISM.......2003-07-26

Improvisational music's currrent Dark Magus is found here
in a amplified trio that includes alto sax, bass and drums. How to describe Zorn's playing here? Imagine if a velociraptor somehow was an alto saxophone virtuoso-and was hunting for his next kill! Bill Laswell's generous use of his weapons of bass destruction create the general mood and space of each piece while Harris's drums serve to raise or lower the general panic level. I'm not put off by noise but I do marvel at how HARD these guys work at it. Someone might compose a piece about BILE,
But five BILE(s) in 5 different colors?! These recordings spill the "gutbucket" back into Jazz but in a visceral,FORENSIC sense.
The use of dub techniques and echoes remind us that violence (most of which occurs on disc one) may reverberate longer in our lives than we think. P.S. Better than Naked City because more of Zorn's own brilliant playing over extended jams. Six Stars!!!

Average customer rating:

pass the medicine
Smooth And Sexy Vocals Continues.......

Painkiller
Sue Ann Carwell
Manufacturer: Mca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | R&B | Styles | Music

General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000008E2H
Release Date: 1992-06-09

Tracks:

Sex Or Love
7 Days, 7 Nights
P.M.S.
Johnnie
The Dark Side Of Love - Sue Ann CarwellSue Ann Carwell
Painkiller
Some Love
Here 4 U
For Love and Money
I'll Give You Love

Customer Reviews:

pass the medicine.......2006-10-08

sue ann is no stranger to music. this is actually her junior release.yes its true. in the early 80's she had an album on the warner label with two small hits noteworthy:Let me let you rock me and company. even though this album is overall well balanced and mature, the songs dont stand out and grab you like they do on the blue velvet album (her second). Best picks her are :sex or love,the dark side of love, here 4 U, and I'll give you love (which was also a single on the sophomore release). p.s. her mom is the disco diva joi carwell so the talent is in the genes.

Smooth And Sexy Vocals Continues..............2005-05-22

On this follow-up recording, Sue Ann puts her foot in this cd. Starting up with Sex or Love, a funky groove track with a touch of hiphop flavor to keep the sound fresh makes this one of the bes songs on this cd. Other tracks include 7days 7night, an upbeat dance song, P.M.S.(play me serious), a demand for respect with no exceptions,For Love and Money, a wake me up and lets get away for the weekend song, and other upbeat groves great to listen. Several other songs to pay attention to are, Here for You, a sort slow jam with a faster beat than normal sound to it, I Give You Love, which was on her first debut selftitled album(not quite sure why they put it on this recording as well)sound just as great as it did on the first album. The Dark Side Of Love, which was featured in the Motion picture Jason's Lyric(but not on the soundtrack)is also a really nice slow jam. Over all, you can hear that Sue Ann's sound has matured and she sounds even better this time around.