''Life Is Easy'' is a compilation album by

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

-based

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine In ...

group

Fall of Because Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham. The group formed in 1982 under the title Fall of Because but did not release any complete music until 1988 when Justin Broadrick (guitar, vocals and programming) and G. C. Gree ...

, compiling songs recorded in 1986 and 1987 before the band became

Godflesh Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham. The group formed in 1982 under the title Fall of Because but did not release any complete music until 1988 when Justin Broadrick (guitar, vocals and programming) and G. C. Gree ...

. Released on 24 August 1999 through Alleysweeper and distributed by

Martin Atkins Martin Clive Atkins (born 3 August 1959) is an English drummer and session musician, best known for his work in post-punk and industrial groups including Public Image Ltd, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Pigface, and Killing Joke. He also works as ...

' label

Invisible Records Invisible Records is a Chicago based record label founded by Martin Atkins Martin Clive Atkins (born 3 August 1959) is an English drummer and session musician, best known for his work in post-punk and industrial groups including Public Image ...

, ''Life Is Easy'' contains many songs that went on to be rerecorded and turned into Godflesh tracks.

Background and content

Following the recording of a demo called ''Extirpate'' in 1986,

disbanded and reformed in 1988 as

. ''Life Is Easy'' incorporates many of those early demo tracks, which were recorded when

Justin Broadrick Justin Karl Michael Broadrick (born 15 August 1969) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the band Godflesh, one of the first bands to combine elements of extreme metal and i ...

was only sixteen. Dimitri Nasrallah of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' called Fall of Because's output "eerily ahead of its time". Released eleven years after Fall of Because turned into Godflesh, ''Life Is Easy'' was recorded partially in studio and partially live. The first eight tracks were recorded and mixed at Rich Bitch studios in

, England in November 1986. Tracks 9, 10, and 11 were recorded live, with the latter two comprising complete Fall of Because shows. The songs "Devastator" and "Life Is Easy" were rerecorded in 1989 and used in Godflesh's debut studio album, ''

Streetcleaner ''Streetcleaner'' is the debut studio album by English industrial metal band Godflesh. It was released on 13 November 1989 through Earache Records and was reissued with a second disc of previously unreleased material on 21 June 2010. The album ...

''. "Merciless" was rerecorded in 1994 and became the title track of a Godflesh EP. A segment of the show titled "Xmas Special" appeared as the intro of the Godflesh song "Love, Hate (Slugbaiting)" from their 1992 album ''

Pure Pure may refer to: Computing * A pure function * A pure virtual function * PureSystems, a family of computer systems introduced by IBM in 2012 * Pure Software, a company founded in 1991 by Reed Hastings to support the Purify tool * Pure-FTPd, F ...

''. Since Broadrick acted as a physical drummer in Fall of Because, there is notable difference between those early demos and the final Godflesh songs, which employ programmed drum machines and slower, more grinding tempos.

Track listing

All songs written by

G. C. Green Ben George Christian "G. C." Green (Born 1964) is an English musician, best known as the co-founder and bass guitarist of the industrial metal band Godflesh. Biography A native of Birmingham, Green was involved in the city's post-punk and got ...

, and

Paul Neville Paul Neville may refer to: * Paul Neville (politician) (1940–2019), Australian politician *Paul Neville (musician), British industrial metal guitarist *Paul Neville (actor) Paul Neville may refer to: *Paul Neville (politician) (1940–2019), Aus ...

Personnel

Fall of Because *

– drums, vocals *

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

– guitar, vocals, tapes Additional personnel *

Mick Harris Michael John Harris (born 4 October 1967) is an English musician from Birmingham. He was the drummer for Napalm Death between 1985 and 1991, and is credited for coining the term "grindcore". After Napalm Death, Harris joined Painkiller with Joh ...

– vocals on "Fight Show" *

Nicholas Bullen Nicholas Bullen (sometimes called Nik Napalm; born 1968) is an English musician and a founding member of the grindcore band Napalm Death. Biography Bullen is one of the founding members – with Miles Ratledge (Rat) – of Napalm Death, the ...

– vocals on "Fight Show"

References

{{Authority control 1999 albums Godflesh albums Justin Broadrick albums Albums produced by Justin Broadrick