Vega and Rev

[oh oooh]

I only really dig Suicide's first album and a handful of stuff I've heard by Vega ('Jukebox Baby' and 'American Dreamer' are both fucking excellent).

NME really rated their second LP but...I dunno, it doesn't do a damned thing for me. And I know some folk here like the 1988 record with that apocalyptic name (I think), but...

Any recommendations?

[jeffk]

I really like the 3rd album, almost as much as the debut. Way of Life, it is called.

[jeffk]

[rayge]

I much prefer the second to the first, and quite enjoyed solo albums by both guys, but the material I really liked was the glitzier poppy stuff such as Diamonds, Fur Coats, Champagne and Dream Baby Dream.
And I admire Vega's chutzpah in just knocking a decade off his age.

[jeffk]

From his first self-titled solo album.

[jeffk]

I enjoyed the album he did with Alex Chilton and Ben Vaughn called Cubist Blues.

[jeffk]

Martin Rev's first solo album was a keeper.

[NarBud]

I remember riding around Brooklyn with a promo cassette dub of Suicide's first during the 77 Black Out, blaring from a sanitation truck, it really fit the scene.

[snarfyguy]

It took ages, but now I like the follow-up as much as the debut (and the early rehearsal tapes that came as a two-fer with the second album are a treat).

I was fortunate enough to see them live a lot over the years, including one show as a three-piece with Ric Ocasek on guitar at The Limelight (big old church converted into a nightclub in downtown Manhattan).

Last time I saw them Marty was bashing his rig so hard it finally fell on the floor and promptly conked out, whereupon they both exited the stage.  End of show.

I saw him solo last summer, after Alan's death and it was the most abrasive I've ever heard him play, just a howl of rage. I couldn't really listen to it, but I couldn't blame the guy either.

I really loved them.

(Alan Vega's first three solo albums are all worthwhile.  After that he mostly seemed to have taken up with dodgy collaborators/producers, to unsatisfying effect.)

[NarBud]

I am very torn on the solo work of both Vega and Rev. I never understood why they just didn't crank out Suicide albums. I love Vega's electroBilly jaunts and Rev's first few, but lost track of them as 90s progressed.