This Heat (album)

This Heat
A blue background with the words "This Heat" written in small, yellow handwritten font in the top-right quarter of the image.
Studio album by This Heat
Released September 1979
Recorded 1976–1978
Genre Experimental rock
Length 48:24
Label Piano
Producer Anthony Moore, David Cunningham, This Heat
This Heat chronology

This Heat
(1979)		 Health and Efficiency
(1980)

This Heat is the debut studio album by English experimental rock band This Heat. Recorded between 1976 and 1978, it was released in September 1979 by record label Piano.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [1]
BBC Music highly favourable[2]
Melody Maker unknown[3]
New Musical Express unknown[4]
Trouser Press mildly favourable[5]

Dean McFarlane of AllMusic wrote: "There are very few records that can be considered truly important, landmark works of art that produce blueprints for an entire genre. In the case of this album, it's clear that this seminal work was integral in shaping the genres of post-punk, avant rock and post-rock, and like all great influential albums, it seemed it had to wait two decades before its contents could truly be fathomed."[1] Steven Grant of Trouser Press wrote: "Though insolent and withdrawn, the music is adventurous and, in its own peculiar way, engrossing."[5] Peter Marsh of BBC Music called it "one of the strongest and strangest debut records of all time. Seemingly born out of the fervent experimentalism of the UK post-punk scene, This Heat's beautifully skewed mix of improvisation, lo-fi tapework and stretched, ghostly songform actually had more in common with maverick longhairs like Henry Cow and Faust. [...] The music here seethes with an economy, invention and power that still shocks a quarter of a century on."[2]

Legacy

Pitchfork included the song "24 Track Loop" on their list of the "Greatest 500 Songs from Punk to the Present".[6] NME listed it as the 35th best album of 1979.[7]

Track listing

  1. "Testcard" – 0:47
  2. "Horizontal Hold" – 6:56
  3. "Not Waving" – 7:26
  4. "Water" – 3:10
  5. "Twilight Furniture" – 5:06
  6. "24 Track Loop" – 5:57
  7. "Diet of Worms" – 3:09
  8. "Music Like Escaping Gas" – 3:40
  9. "Rainforest" – 2:55
  10. "The Fall of Saigon" – 5:10
  11. "Testcard" – 4:09

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 McFarlane, Dean. "This Heat – This Heat | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Marsh, Peter (2006). "BBC – Music – Review of This Heat – This Heat". BBC Music. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Goldman, Vivien (1 September 1979). "This Heat: This Heat (Piano Records)". Melody Maker.
  4. ↑ Gill, Andy (8 September 1979). "This Heat: This Heat (Piano)". NME.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Grant, Steven. "TrouserPress.com :: This Heat". Trouser Press. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  6. ↑ Schreiber, Ryan; Plagenhoef, Scott, eds. (1 November 2008). The Pitchfork 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present. Pitchfork Media.
  7. ↑ "Albums and Tracks of the Year for 1979 – NME.com". NME. Retrieved 15 April 2015.

External links