The Black Box

The First 13 Years, A Video Retrospective (WaxTrax!)
by Karl Geising

A couple of years ago, TVT bought out Wax Trax! records, lock, stock, and barrel. In spite of or because of this, many of the old albums and singles have gone out of print. To compensate, last year TVT brought out Blackbox: The First 13 Years, a collection of those hard-to-find singles in one set. (You’ll find a review in the Dec. issue.) Now they have just released a companion video called (oddly enough) Blackbox: The First 13 Years, A Video Retrospective.

The songs range from pure techno (Greater Than One, Psychosonik, Clock DVA) to speed metal (KMFDM, Young Gods). A few videos stand out: Laibach‘s totalitarian versions of Queen’s “Birth of a Nation” and Opus’ “Life Is Life” are sickly hilarious; Coil‘s version of “Tainted Love” is powerful in a sad way; and Thrill Kill Kult‘s “Kooler than Jesus” is catchy satanism for the dance floor. You won’t find a better representation of Wax Trax! earlier phase than Revolting Cocks‘ “Attack Ships on Fire,” featuring members of Ministry and Front 242 on stage with a few glimpses of Trent Reznor. One problem is that since countless MTV vids have ripped off this style, you find little that is unfamiliar. But now you know where it came from.