Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Destiny Street repaired

The Richard Hell "repaired" mix of his final proper Voidoids studio album, "Destiny Street", is being previewed by his label. Hell complained that he was too drug-fucked at the time of its recording to do the songs justice.

Of course he's probably right, but a key element of the sessions was guitarist Robert Quine who's no longer on the planet. Hell's left Quine's scything rhythm work intact but has called in other players to play solos.

It's a bit of a "Raw Power" situation. There are good things about the repair job (the title track takes on a funkier, more vibrant life, for example) but it just doesn't feel right. Maybe that opinion will change over time. Sometimes you do have to wonder if it's sane to let rampant narcissists re-evaluate their own work.

Judge for yourself here.

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