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Holy Moses > Too Drunk to Fuck > Reviews
Holy Moses - Too Drunk to Fuck

Too broke to care - 20%

autothrall, February 11th, 2011

We had managed to be spared for six full-length albums before the inevitable 'fan package' compilation arrived, but when it did, it took the form of an expanded release of the band's 1991 Too Drunk to Fuck cover single. This is little more than the re-release of the band's cover songs, with a 5-track compilation, a few cover songs and some rehearsal tracks, and in short, it's just a convenient way to shovel some extra money upon Holy Moses, or their label at the time. Like many such collections, there has since been a re-issue of this with even more content, namely some early live recordings from 1982-84 that had been released as a rare demo. I'd advise not wasting your time at all with the Too Drunk to Fuck package, but if you're going to, then you'd might as well grab that 2006 for the minimal, added value.

The compilation begins with the covers of "Too Drunk to Fuck" (Dead Kennedys) and "Fight For Your Right To Party" (Beastie Boys), both of which the fan will already own with the CD of World Chaos (1990). I rather like their Dead Kennedys cover, but it hasn't suddenly sprouted wings here and flown away to another level of appreciation. After this, there's a very short compilation of previously released material: "Theotoloy" and "Distress of Death" (Terminal Terror, 1991); "Clash My Soul", "Welcome to the Real World" and the cover of D.R.I.'s "Five Year Plan" (Reborn Dogs, 1992), which had just been released a year prior! What a fucking waste this is. Then we actually arrive at the few tracks that the Holy Moses fan might actually have shelled out their money for. Rehearsal renditions of "Finished with the Dogs", "World Chaos" and a song I hadn't heard called "Waste or Try". Neither of the studio tracks sounds any better in this situation, and the unreleased piece is average.

Finally, there's a cover of "Black Metal" with Cronos and members of the Holy Moses-related thrash band Warpath involved. It's not the best remake of the song I've heard, and I don't like the gang vocals, but it is perhaps the one thing on this stinking heap that is actually worth hearing. But honestly, maybe you could find it at YouTube or somewhere else. Too Drunk to Fuck is just another asinine grab at the fan's wallet, no matter who was involved. Consider that Holy Moses had about a half dozen demos in the early 80s. Would we not have preferred a compilation of these? That might at least been worth shelling a few dollars for. This, this is just pitiful, and the Venom cover does not make up for any financial loss.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

A dubious compilation - 70%

Agonymph, January 1st, 2007

From the moment I have purchased this album, I have been wondering who has been responsible for the tracklisting of the damn thing. From talking to her, I know that vocalist Sabina Classen wasn't really behind the release of the album and I can understand why. The title really already says that it's based around their Dead Kennedies cover. Instead, it's an expansion of the picture disc single that was released of the song.

I guess that already betrays that the album starts out with two tracks I absolutely despise. Once again, the two covers that are on the 'World Chaos' album come to torture my hearing when I put on the CD. Luckily, there's something called a skip button on a CD player, that makes it pretty damn easy to get to the next songs.

But there's a "best of-ish" part on the rest of the album that isn't exactly representative of what Holy Moses was about up until that album. Hell, it's not even representative for Holy Moses in that period! Of course, 'Nothing For My Mum', 'Theotocy' and 'Clash My Soul' are killer tracks, but who ever came up with the idea to include 'Distress And Death' and 'Five Year Plan' on this album? Of course, they're good songs, but not even close to Holy Moses' best at that time. 'Fuck You', 'Reborn Dogs' and 'The Pool Of Blood' would have been better selections.

The previously unreleased stuff on the compilation make up a little though. There are rehearsal room versions from 1991 of the songs 'Finished With The Dogs' and 'World Chaos'. Both versions are tight and sound killer, in both cases probably even better than the original studio versions, because there is a certain "live feel" to the songs, but then with a studio sound quality. There's also a rehearsal version of the never released track 'Waste Or Try' on the album. The song itself is pretty nice, but it's obvious why it didn't end up on an album. It would have been one of the better songs on 'World Chaos' though, but I guess it's been written after that.

Closing the album is yet another cover. That brings the grand total on four, which is too much in my opinion. It's a rather cool one though. It's Venom's 'Black Metal' with several members from Warpath and Venom-singer Cronos. The multitude of singers makes the vocals a bit messy but the music is tighter than in Venom's version if you ask me.

On the 2006 re-release, the 'Death Bells' live demo is included. All the tracks are better audience recordings. Not really the sound quality you'd expect on an official release, but fair enough for fans of this material. Doesn't take away anything from the fact that 'Too Drunk To Fuck' is a dubious compilation.