Public Castration Is a Good Idea

About Public Castration Is a Good Idea

Public Castration Is a Good Idea is the first live album by the New York City band Swans, which was originally released as a semi-official bootleg through Some Bizzare Records in 1986. It was recorded from shows in London and Nottingham on the Greed/Holy Money tour in 1986, the first six songs taken from a show at London's I. C. A. Public Castration Is A Good Idea is often regarded as the band's most brutal extant live album. Its song performances are musically quite different from their studio versions: they are typically lower in pitch, harsher and more abrasive. One notable example is "A Screw", which is longer and more minimalist than its studio counterpart. The compact disc edition, released by Thirsty Ear on July 6, 1999, was mastered from a vinyl source. An accompanying videocassette (betamax and VHS editions) of the same tour (both containing set lists that are identical to the LP) was released called A Long Slow Screw. more »