Search - Various Artists :: Black Box: Wax Trax-First 13 Years

I wish I could give this collection 18 stars

audrey | white mtns | 11/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I dj'd at college radio stations for 5 years in the late '80s, and was always pleasantly excited when I found a Wax Trax! label in the New bin. (Unfortunately, I usually did my shows in the dark and thought the name was "Wax Traxi" for the longest time!) The label was a mainstay of industrial music, and founders Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher consistently managed to sign and produce the most exciting musicians of the time -- the many incarnations of dear troubled genius Al Jourgensen, The Young Gods, FLA, Coil, Controlled Bleeding, Doubting Thomas, A Split Second, Lead Into Gold, Psychic TV, Foetus -- they are all here on three great discs packed with music that makes you want to move and feel. Disc One, Track One: Trent Reznor covers Black Sabbath's 'Supernaut' with 1000 Homo DJs -- a version previously unreleased, and then you are zipping through Sister Machine Gun and The Young Gods and oh so many more seminal industrial bands. Divine puts the "fun" in funky with "The Name Game", the label's second release. I was also happy to hear a few groups that had somehow slipped past me the first time around, like Wreck. I had a great time listening to this collection and am still listening to it. You can put in any of the three discs and be happy for a long time.The packaging is beautiful -- a heavyweight black box covered with hip lettering and disturbing images; three black CD cases containing labeled discs and a listing with artist, cut, time and version information; and a terrific booklet that relates the anecdotal history of Wax Trax! -- it's artistically interesting as well as substantive and entertaining.If you enjoy industrial music, you cannot go wrong with this incredible collection of the music and people that started it all. And why not put a few bucks into the pockets of the guys who loved the music more than the profits?"

Worth the money!

M. D Poe | DC | 02/28/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This Chicago-based record label compilation is an awesome chunk of the work done by most of the best industrial bands that came out of N. America and Europe in the 80s. Very interesting and innovative music- fans of industrial music or darker techno should like most of this stuff quite a bit."

And Now That It's 13 Years Later ...

Makman | Dallas, TX | 04/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"... after the first printing of this collection, let me say LOUD and CLEAR that WaxTrax! (now TVT) Records NEEDS TO RE-RELEASE THIS COLLECTION OF CLASSICS!!! As it stands, Black Box is a hard to find collector's item, as the prices for used copies can attest (nobody's gonna have a new one available, kids, at least not for a reasonable price). You're lucky if you can find someone who kept immaculate, anal-retentive care of the discs. I was lucky to find a copy of this set at my local record shop, but the condition of the CDs would rate as GOOD, VERY GOOD at best. I'm just glad that after 13 years, they will still play in my CD player.



I'm not going to fire off a huge, elaborate critique of the set. If this kind of music from this time period pushes the dopamine receptors in your brain over the brink (and you know who you are), then this collection is for you. Yeah, it's primarily industrial in nature, but there are hints of techno, hard/goth rock, and dark experimental music. The 3-CD set clocking in at roughly 3 1/2 hours of music represents a nice, thick, bloody slice of a time and a place, and yes, it's just that damn good. Read the other reviews for point by point details. At worst, this one gets 4.5 stars. At best, it easily garners 5."