I Loved 1938
Denise Casson | tacoma, wa usa | 04/02/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I, as many others, have eagerly anticipated the newest release from SR and was first introduced to them in the early 80's with their 'original line-up' at a PiL concert.
The current line up, in my estimation, is just as stellar.
1938 has a real feel of 'sturm and drang' to it--there's powerful industrial influenced music, ominiously inspired by infamous political occupations of the 20th century and relayed impeccably.
Showcasing SR's versitility, the albums songs seguay from darkness to fantastic surf-influenced songs, transfixing asiatic templates, Bunnyesque romanticism....it's a beautiful and inspired array of each musician's talent.
I would highly recommend this cd to SR fans, and to those who want to experience a new genre of music. There's a timelessness to it; it is, assuredly, NOT stale, nor disappointing."
Before industrial was, they am.
Conrad Heiney | Newport Beach, CA United States | 11/18/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I will admit first that I am a diehard SR fan since high school in the 1980s. No one has ever had a sound like this: heavily rhythmic, doom-filled, redolent of far-away lands and times, and brutally modern. Reviewers are supposed to compare a group to or more others, so here you are: they sound a bit like Public Image Ltd. jamming with a steel drum band in a parking garage.
That having been said, "1938" lives up to the music I fell in love with in 1982. It's almost entirely instrumental, with some yelling. Scratching surf/industrial guitar sits on top of the biggest baddest steel-pounding rhythm section around, and I am including Einstürzende Neubauten.
If you haven't already heard Savage Republic this isn't a bad start. Grab it and maybe "Tragic Figures" to bracket their career so far. Fans of PiL, Siouxsie, Joy Division, and Gang of Four will not be disappointed. You'll also enjoy this record if you like hearing 150 empty oil drums being dropped from a great height onto the entire Libyan Army while they're having a disco dance at the bottom of a quarry.
Amazon doesn't seem to have their other stuff, but you can always get it from Mobilization anyway I think."