LORDS OF ACID GREATEST T*TS COMPILATION AMANT, SANCTUARY RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 9, 2003 REVIEW: NOVEMBER 24, 2003

So finally we have a compilation by those masters of sleaze, the Lords of Acid. Opening the album is the latest track "Gimme Gimme", a beat-driven vocal track that compliments the work of the past, if not quite reaching the heights of tracks like "Pussy" or "I Sit on Acid".
It is these very tracks which follow, and help remind you of what must possibly be some of the sleaziest, filthiest and downright naughtiest slices of techno ever laid available for public consumption. "Pussy" is driven by a brilliant downward sliding bassline which oozes dirty class, the lyrics helping to cement the reputation of what must be the one track even Prince in his hey-day would have been too shy to record.
The thing that helps to put this group ahead of so many other acts is that they refuse to be faceless, hiding behind consoles and generally looking like they aren’t enjoying it. The Lords of Acid are visual, very in your face, and because of that, influential, arguably as much as the Prodigy in their finest hour.
Lead by Praga Khan (he of that original monster classic "Injected with a Poison"), there is clearly something of the old school spirit in there: energy, lots of passion and those heavy, heavy, synth lines that I like to refer to as "skull crackers". The tracks on this album help to highlight the musical progression of this group, including the vocalists who have contributed - Nikkie van Lierop originally, followed by Lady Galore, and the latest, Deborah Ostrega, along with long time collaborator Oliver Adams - who have shaped the sounds, from the brass stabs and playful Sixties stylings of "Am I Sexy", to the heavy guitar and jackhammer breaks of the awesome "Crablouse" - this is an album to suit every dirty taste.
Before I start to make it sound like you should only be able to buy this album in a brown paper bag from your local top-shelf porno emporium, can I remind you that this is in fact party music - and it does exactly that - it parties. You would be hard pushed to find an album that grooves so much; it is impossible to keep still while listening to this firecracker of an album. So many styles of music can be seen in this collection of tracks, which helps to highlight how creative this group is. This is what a compilation album should be all about, highlighting not just the great and the good, but also showing the amount of variety the group has to offer.
Every track is genuinely different to the last. Compare "Marijuana in My Brain" with "Rough Sex" for example - a semi-dub reggae skank next to a rave-style anthem. Or "Rubber Doll", another rave epic which seems to lurch from ear to ear, shouting dirty things in your ears, not whispering, with the quite menacing heavy-thrash rock of "Scrood Bi U" which practically kicks you in the teeth and that goes some way to telling you what these particular bad boys (and girls) are capable of.
You may be left feeling dirty and slightly disorientated after listening to this album, but don’t let that put you off. Anybody who knows will tell you that the best clubs will also do that to you, or the best concert, and you're not going to stop going out now are you? To best give you the idea - imagine Sheep on Drugs recording an album with Prince in a Soho sexshop and you may be somewhere near the idea. Now can someone pass the tissues?

MIKE WHYTE