I've mentioned the sheer Joy this music can invoke in even the most miserable of old sods,and thats some kind of inexplicable magick, is it not?(Check out the first audience-less album Here!) I couldn't have put it better myself, maybe missing a few expletives, but essentially, therein, lies the meaning of life. "Without the arts and sciences,and without music especially,life would be a dreadful mistake.Music begets happiness,and music begets peace and its through peace that we arrive at the truth and goodness which makes life meaningful and unveils its highest values." (Michael Bond 1974) Its like an almost capable school orchestra playing James Last,but without that famous James Last,ist funky ja, rhythm section. Nonetheless, this gives the rock and pop dinosaurs,not so much a kick,but a mild slap of the testicles.Truly in keeping with the Punk era's intended Raison d'Etre. It lacks that atonality,and the joke wears rather thin by the time we get to the best track,the Stones' "Satisfaction". Whereas the first two albums,which focused on Classical music, were far more upbeat and joyful,this one,lacking the guidence of originator Gavin Bryars,and the cred of Brian Eno (who no doubt had better things to do by 1979?),they come across a little melancholic and dismal sounding, like a bad community band unfortunately captured on record whilst the air is let out of them.
I'm sure you are now familiar with the original concept of mixing musicians with non-musicians playing instruments they were unfamiliar with A noble attempt to free music up for the masses & get to the heart of popular composition. Whereas the Jazz Funk enthusiast would have been appalled at Throbbing Gristle's challenging non-musick, the average easy listening punter was certainly more likely to accept 20 Classic Rock Classics as just the badly played real thing. Released in the same year as Throbbing Gristle's "20 Jazz Funk Greats", the Gavin Bryars and Brian Eno-less Portsmouth Sinfonia's "20 Classic Rock Classics" probably had the same result, as in luring the wrong kind of person to buy this uncomfortable music by mistake.