Christ – The Album

Untitled

Christ – The Album is Crass' fourth album, released in 1982. It was released as a boxed set double vinyl LP package, including one disk of new studio material and another, entitled Well Forked.. but not dead, of a live recording of their June 1981 gig at the 100 Club in London along with other studio tracks, demos and tape fragments.

The album also included a book, A Series Of Shock Slogans and Mindless Token Tantrums (which featured Penny Rimbaud's essay "The Last of the Hippies" [1], telling the story of the suspicious death of his friend Wally Hope) and a large size poster painted by Gee Vaucher.

The album took almost a year to record, produce and mix, during which time the Falklands War had taken place. This caused Crass to fundamentally question their approach to making records, for as a group whose very reason for existing was to comment on political issues, they felt they had been overtaken and made to appear redundant by real world events.

For subsequent releases, including the singles "How does it Feel to Be the Mother of A Thousand Dead" and "Sheep Farming in the Falklands" and the album Yes Sir, I Will, the band stripped their sound "back to basics" and they were issued as "tactical responses" to political situations.

Re-releases of the album bear the line "With love to Steve Herman who died on the 4th of February 1989" on the back cover. Steve Herman was Crass' guitar player during their first few months.

The Crassical Collection version of this release, including new artwork by Gee Vaucher, remastered sound, liner notes by Steve Ignorant and Rimbaud, and bonus material, was released May 2011. It does not contain the original album cover or any of the material from the Series Of Shock Slogans booklet.

Studio tracks (Christ - The Album)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic

1. "Have a Nice Day" - 2:44
2. "Mother Love" - 2:52
3. "Nineteen Eighty Bore" - 4:09
4. "I Know There Is Love" - 2:47
5. "Beg Your Pardon" - 3:07
6. "Birth Control 'n' Rock 'n' Roll" - 2:59
7. "Reality Whitewash" - 3:28
8. "It's The Greatest Working Class Ripoff" - 3:21
9. "Deadhead" - 2:16
10. "You Can Be Who?" - 3:01
11. "Buy Now Pay As You Go" - 2:22
12. "Rival Tribal Revel Rebel (Pt. 2)" - 3:09
13. "Bumhooler" - 3:19
14. "Sentiment (White Feathers)" - 3:36
15. "Major General Despair" - 4:34
16. "Have a Nice Day"*
17. "Mother Love"*
18. "Buy Now Pay As You Go"*
19. "Birth Control 'n' Rock 'n' Roll"*
20. "You Can Be Who?"*
21. "Reality Whitewash"*
22. "The Greatest Working Class Rip-Off"*

*Out-takes included on the Crassical Collection rerelease.

Live tracks (Well forked - but not dead)

1. "Banned from the Roxy"
2. "The Sound of One Hand" (titled "One Hand..." on the 2011 remaster)
3. "Punk is Dead"
4. "Nagasaki Nightmare"
5. "Darling"
6. "Bata Motel Blues" (titled "Kind of Who" on the 2011 remaster)
7. "Berkertex Bribe"
8. "Fold It in Half"
9. "Big Hands" (titled "Tony's Big Hands" on the 2011 remaster)
10. "Heart-throb of the Mortuary" (demo) - included as part of track 9 on the 2011 remaster.
11. "Bumhooler"
12. "Big A Little a"
13. "First Woman"
14. "Arlington 73"
15. "Bomb plus Bomb Tape"
16. "Contaminational Power"
17. "I Ain't Thick, It's Just a Trick"
18. "G's Song"
19. "Securicor"
20. "I Can't Stand It" (demo)
21. "Shaved Women"
22. "A Part of Life" (titled "Not Apart" on the 2011 remaster)
23. "Do They Owe Us a Living"?
24. "So What"?
25. "Salt 'n' Pepper"

Personnel

• Joy De Vivre - vocals
• Steve Ignorant - vocals
• Peeve Libido (Eve Libertine) - vocals
• Phil Free - synthesizer, guitar
• $ri Hari Nana B.A. (N.A.Palmer) - rhythm sitar
• Sybil Right (Pete Wright) - bass guitar
• Paul Ellis - strings
• Elvis Rimbaud (Penny Rimbaud) - drums, radio
• Steve Herman - guitar (on the two demos on 'Well Forked')
• Jean Paul Marat - liner notes