1974? Remember that far back? Despite the fact that such people as VELVET UNDERGROUND, CAN, COUM TRANSMISSIONS & others existed out there, your average listener was still being plagued by such musical wonders as BAY CITY ROLLERS, GILBERT O'SULLIVAN & worst of all LITTLE JIMMY OSMOND. No wonder those first victims of CABARET VOLTAIRE's wicked sense of humour reacted in such shock when, sat in a Sheffield pub having a quiet drink, their idyll is shattered by three youths playing ear-twisting loop tapes at them. No matter what you think of them now, or even from the Punk era, I feel this shows pure DADA humour, and any chance to hear what these poor victims experienced must be taken in both hands. Well, here's your chance. This album is already very familiar to me - I bought it, way back in the early Eighties, along with the RICHARD H. KIRK album, and "White Souls In Black Suits", all on the collectable INDUSTRIAL label, on a trip to Birmingham. Now on CD I have to say it sounds better - surprisingly high quality, considering the age & relative low-tech equipment used, and heard through headphones of a DISCMAN, you can once again experience a little of that early culture shock. It clocks up the first eight & a half minutes or so with "The Dada Man", fading in on mellow percussive sounds, it's an uneasy blend of frequency/tempo changing drum machine, fast-forward tape, both subtle and dense effects, sudden shocking sounds and wild, unfettered electronics which take off on the crest of echoes. "Ooraseal" is a little more laid back, yet no less disturbing - dissociated voices, both discernable and distorted, speaking Dada prose & chanting phonetic poetry, blend with a bizarre rhythm made of electronics and treated sound. "A Sunday Night In Biot" is an easier piece, swathed in gliding keyboard washes, occasionally joined by stark, ear-grating sounds, disconnected wind instruments, and almost flatulant noises while the vocalist tries several styles, some quite unnerving. "In Quest Of The Unusual" glides in on uneasy synth sounds and a broken, distorted rhythmic backdrop, like distant trains heard at night, the sound waves shattered by buildings between, "Do The Snake" rises up on hissing echo. Despite showing naivete on the CABS' behalf, suggesting they were in their early teens when they recorded it, it acts as a precursor to much later VOLTAIRE recordings, say "Microphonies" or "The Crackdown", with some obvious JAMES BROWN catchphrases ('Get Down'). They retain their humour throughout, which thankfully saves them from too much self-indulgence. "Fade Crisis" slowly fades in on it's tail, a delicate, subtle piece with chilling synth use which rises like a horn fanfare over a gradually changing electronic rhythm. "Doubled Delivery" is a dense and broken piece similar to the "Mussolini Headkick" era, although as mentioned, a good deal more rough around the edges. "Venusian Animals" is a slow moving, drifting piece of music with grating distortion and distant animal-like howls, a drum machine rhythm set so far back it's almost absent and an overall unnerving effect, "The Outer Limits" is a gradually rnetamorphosizing piece based, I suspect, around a decent delay line, although it's probably too early for DDL. It reminds me a little of DOME or perhaps something from the second side of "The Bridge" - good stuff, and probably my favourite track on the entire album, "She Loved You" - hmm.. , I can remember drifting off to sleep one night thinking 'hey! a CABARET VOLTAIRE BEATLES cover version'. Listening to it now, I can tell it's at least based on the original, although it's musically closer to "Hamburger Lady" - heartbeat bass drum, depressive falling synth sounds, massed, threatening noise, whispered voice. This is not an easy album to listen to, but it is more than a mere historical document. Not only can you witness where the current HOUSE group came from, but also lose yourself in strange, alien, nerve-jangling soundscapes. Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.