''Christ – The Album'' is the fourth album by

Crass Crass was an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977 who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestyle, and a resistance movement. Crass popularized the anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, ...

, released in 1982. It was released as a boxed-set, double-vinyl LP package, including one disc of new studio material and another, entitled ''Well Forked.. But Not Dead'', a live recording of the band's June 1981 gig at the

100 Club The 100 Club is a music venue located at 100 Oxford Street, London, England, where it has been hosting live music since 24 October 1942. It was originally called the Feldman Swing Club, but changed its name when the father of the current owner ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

along with other studio tracks, demos and tape fragments. The box also included a book, ''A Series of Shock Slogans and Mindless Token Tantrums'' (featuring

Penny Rimbaud Penny Lapsang Rimbaud (born Jeremy John Ratter, 8 June 1943) is a writer, poet, philosopher, painter, musician and activist. He was a member of the performance art groups EXIT and Ceres Confusion, and in 1972 was co-founder of the Stonehenge F ...

's essay "The Last of the Hippies", telling the story of the suspicious death of his friend

Wally Hope Philip Alexander Grahame Russell (9 August 1947 – 3 September 1975), known as Wally Hope, was an experimental philosopher of the UK Underground and organiser of the Windsor Free Festival and the Stonehenge Free Festival. Biography Activities an ...

), and a large poster painted by

Gee Vaucher Gee Vaucher (born Carole Vaucher in 1945 in Dagenham, Essex, England) is a visual artist primarily associated with the anarcho-punk band Crass. Biography Vaucher met her long-lasting creative partner Penny Rimbaud in the early 1960s when ...

. The album was well received and the band considered it their best. In 2011, a two-disc remastered CD edition of the album was released as a part of the band's ''Crassical Collection'' reissue series. This edition featured extra content, with the studio album (and the bonus tracks) featured on the first disc and the live album featured on the second disc. On 2 October 2020, the ''Crassical Collection'' edition was reissued, with the bonus tracks added to the second disc.

Background and release

Unlike previous Crass albums, ''Christ'' took almost a year to record, produce and mix, during which time the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

had taken place. This caused Crass to fundamentally question their approach to making records. As a group whose very reason for existing was to comment on political issues, they felt that they had been overtaken and made to appear redundant by real-world events. For subsequent releases, including the singles "How Does It Feel to Be the Mother of a Thousand Dead", "Sheep Farming in the Falklands" and the album '' Yes Sir, I Will'', the band stripped their sound "back to basics", issuing the singles as "tactical responses" to political situations. Rereleases of the album bear the line "With love to Steve Herman who died on the 4th of February 1989" on the back cover. Herman was Crass' guitar player during their first few months.

Reception

''Christ'' – ''The Album'' is considered by former members of Crass to be among their best recordings. In a retrospective article written for the album, Harry Sword of ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

'' refers to it as "the most caustic realization of their vision" and called it "a seething howl that remains most intensely relevant to politics and vibrantly forward thinking in terms of music." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' referred to it as "quintessential" for it "proves the band's courage and conviction." Reviewing the album in ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'',

Paul Du Noyer Paul Du Noyer (born Paul Anthony Du Noyer; 21 May 1954) is an English rock journalist and author. He has written and edited for the music magazines ''NME'', '' Q'' and '' Mojo''. Du Noyer is the author of several books on the music industry, ro ...

wrote: "There's always something exciting about such raw passion; anger which hits you so hard that every idea in your head gets shook up, violently."

Track listing

Personnel

* Joy De Vivre - vocals *

Steve Ignorant Steve Ignorant (born Steven Williams in 1957) is a singer and artist. Career Steve Ignorant was born in Stoke-on-Trent but grew up in Dagenham, East London. He later lived at Dial House, which since 1967 has been a self-sustaining anarchist- ...

- vocals * Peeve Libido (Eve Libertine) - vocals *

Phil Free Crass was an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977 who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestyle, and a resistance movement. Crass popularized the anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, ...

- synthesizer, guitar * $ri Hari Nana B.A. (N.A.Palmer) - rhythm sitar * Sybil Right (Pete Wright) - bass guitar *Paul Ellis - strings * Elvis Rimbaud (Penny Rimbaud) - drums, radio *Steve Herman - guitar (on the two demos on 'Well Forked') *Jean Paul Marat - liner notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christ - The Album Crass albums 1982 albums Crass Records albums