Alien Sex Fiend

The companion volume to Drive My Rocket, with the same basic format and set-up -- new cover art from Nik Fiend, rarities mixed with key singles and album cuts in no particular order, perfect sound, and illuminating and fun liner notes -- Frankenstein is a collection of delights from the clown princes and princess of goth. Like its partner, it perfectly appeals to both new fans and old as a result, a lesson more compilers of retrospectives could learn (and since the Fiends helped put it together, they knew more than most!). The choices of more well-known tracks here are particularly astute, including the flat-out amazing early Fiend anthem "Ignore the Machine," the wired and on-edge "Can't Stop Smoking," and "Do You Sleep," possessed of such a punch that the liner notes talk about having to tone down the bass drum because the mastering plant wouldn't have been able to handle it. Slightly more obscure numbers include a great rip through Hawkwind's space-chug classic "Silver Machine" (originally on Another Planet), with the band amping up everything and adding a shuddering electronic rhythm to boot, and "Stuff the Turkey," a snarky and spooky attempt at writing a Christmas holiday classic. While it may not be the equal of, say, Slade's "Merry Christmas Everybody," it definitely beats hearing "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" one more time. Some of the numbers aren't that rare or compelling per se -- new mixes of "Coma" and "Magic," both from Open Head Surgery, are nice but not the key reason to be here. That aside, Frankenstein is the near equal of Rocket in terms of general appeal and specific interest, showing the laughing mayhem of the Fiends at its best. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide