Records like this make me actually ask philosophical questions about the nature of album reviews. Weird, right? I know. Well, the issue at hand is how exactly to evaluate Spiritual, Mental, Physical, a rough album of pre-1975 demos and impromptu jam sessions from Detroit’s unsung punk heroes, Death.

As a musical distillation of the band’s journey — from the moment Alice Cooper planted rock in the Hackneys brothers’ hearts to the realization of what would become …For the Whole World to See — it’s a fascinating listen. There are explorations in fast and loose proto-hardcore punk, parenthetical psychedelic flourishes and laid-back melodies, all of which paint a picture of how the trio developed into a band that almost makes Bad Brains look like a tired rehash in retrospect (bold words, I know; that’s why I said almost).

Taken as a standalone record apart from Death’s made-for-the-movies story, however, it’s just a meandering conflagration that showcases stellar musicianship without an eye toward crafting stellar songs. That’s not to say no stand-out tracks exist, but you can certainly tell the band’s time-tunnel-riding sound hadn’t yet crystallized.

So the final decision on my obviously authoritative rating ends up somewhere in between. Spiritual, Mental, Physical is historically significant (especially within the narrative of the band), and it’s a somewhat lackluster album that was never really intended to be an album in the first place.

Also, this isn’t the metal band. Sorry to ruin your day.

3 Responses to “Death – Spiritual, Mental, Physical”

1. 

   On 03/18/11 2:51 PM, juliet said:

   This Death > metal Death

3. 

   On 03/18/11 5:37 PM, Sean Cannon said:

   thank you.

5. 

   On 03/20/11 4:24 PM, Jay DiNitto said:

   Absolutely not.

   Even though I like this Death, too.

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