Death

***Death III is coming! In advance of the release of EVEN MORE previously unreleased recordings from the vaults of DEATH, the two songs here represent the album in showcasing two different eras following For The Whole World to See. “North Street” was recorded in 1980, as Death was transitioning into their next incarnation as The Fourth Movement. The song was part of a studio session in their new home base in Vermont, capturing the HACKNEY Brothers’ full-bodied sound with the same fidelity of their 1975 recordings that made up For the Whole World to See. Just a few years later, DANNIS’ surging rhythm and DAVID’s acid-guitar leads are still holding strong, while BOBBY’s shout of protest is in full flight, with lyrics that focus on the darkness in the Detroit streets. The hopelessness of the situation is met with a snarling defiance, á la “Politicians In My Eyes,” making “North Street” one of the most aggressive Death tunes in a catalog thick with aggro statements. The B-side is a special song that represents some of the last music David Hackney ever recorded.  
 
The A Band Called Death documentary showed a side of the Death story that even those deeply involved with Death’s music may not have fully grasped, which was David’s almost-helpless visionary nature as a musician and as a man. After putting everything he had into Death in the 1970s, and then The Fourth Movement in the early 80s, and getting nothing back but rejection, David was heartbroken. He retreated not only from the music business, but from the world at large during the last years of his life. However, when inspiration came, he still embraced it wholly, with an open heart. This was how “We’re Gonna Make It,” came about—in 1992, over a decade after splitting from his brothers and returning to Detroit, David casually brought this new song to Bobby and Dannis. It is representative of the more spiritual, introspective side of Death, previously heard on tracks like “Let the World Turn,” and “Where Do We Go From Here???”. David and Bobby’s plaintive harmonies express an optimism that saw beyond the often-fragile circumstances of their lives on “We’re Gonna Make It,” creating a powerfully uplifting vibe. It was first heard outside the Death inner circle at the climax of A Band Called Death, providing viewers with an emotional release at the end of the often-frustrating, wildly-improbable story.