D.O.A. THE THIRD AND FINAL REPORT

'Third Annual Report' is one of their best efforts but if you're unsettled by the sleeve, you definitely don't want to see the calendar girl inside. Now that's 'Dodge City Jail Bait' if ever I saw it.

Throbbing Gristle were one of the more adventurous outfits of the 70's comprising four very different musical personalities. At the helm was Genesis P. Orridge with his dead, empty soul and almost ghost-like vocals. Keyboard creator Chris Carter, a self proclaimed lover of Abba. Cosey Fanni Tutti - Soft core porn model and performance artist. And lastly poor old Pete Christopherson who died recently - tape manipulator and electronic percussion master.

Throbbing Gristle were a real rag-tag outfit who didn't fit any genre at the time. They were as 'outside' as you could get.

'Third Annual Report' is their most diverse album. Chopping and changing from one style to another beginning with the 'Kluster' like intro, followed by the punk-like - 'Hit by a Rock' before being thrown straight in to the hard hitting foul mouthed audio recording of some English hoodlums on a street corner. 'Dead on Arrival' is proto industrial in the style of 'SPK' and is very unlike anything else on show in 1978.

Ahhh... these truly were the good old days when some artists could produce whatever the hell they liked and sod the consequences. It just goes to show that in the long run, doing your own thing pays off.

Mr Dead Pan P. Orridge sings (or whines- as many would claim) the rather miserable 'Weeping' while playing a distorted old violin that sounds as though half the strings are missing.

Honestly, there are barely two tunes on 'Third Annual Report' that sound as though they're played by the same band. However, ALL of them have that dirty, seedy, hot and sweaty feel that Throbbing Gristle somehow always managed to conjure up.

'Hamburger Lady' is rather gross and very intense with swelling, throbbing electronic drones, as we're put through the mill listening to an account of a serious burn victim.

There's some light relief with Cosi Fanni Tutti's 'Hometime' - with a small girl muttering about bunny rabbits and sand pits, accompanied by spacey guitar and massively reverbed effects. Chris Carter cheers this strange, disturbing album up with the purely electronic and upbeat 'AB/7A'. There's more filthy doom and gloom with 'E-Coli' which has those creepy violins screeching in the background along with guitar strings that sound like they're bent at right angles as a Doctor explains the effects of this bacteria.

'Death Threats' are actual recordings from their home phones!. I'm not surprised they had so many enemies. 'Five Knuckle Shuffle' has the classic TG sound and is the most representative song of the band on this album... An odd repetitive electronic beat, with rambling shouty vocals, sound effects and hugely distorted guitar all thrown right in your face.

Definitely not for the faint hearted or fans of 'Genesis' or 'Yes'. I call it a masterpiece for the simple fact that there's nothing else like it. Hugely original and influential in as much a way as Kraftwerk were to electronics.

A really dirty repulsive little album that hits all the right buttons with me.

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