Maps of Music

Live Undead (1985)

Where the lyrics of Live Undead take you, and where it was really made.

The crowd noise on this 'live' album may have been added in a studio, and the album was made before only about a dozen people.

Key places

Recording and mixing at Track Record (1985)

Recording site Track Record Studios — Discogs notes say side two was recorded and mixed here, and the album was mixed at Track Record in Los Angeles. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording before about a dozen people in Glen Cove (1985)

Recording site Cove City Sound — The album was recorded at Tiki Recording Studios in Glen Cove, NY, before around a dozen people. The point marks the city centre of Glen Cove, not the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Live Undead: the first live album by American thrash metal band Slayer
• Seven tracks, opening with an extended introduction of 'Black Magic'
• Released through Metal Blade Records
• Remaining tracks come from Show No Mercy (1983) and Haunting the Chapel (1984)
• Track list: Black Magic, Die by the Sword, Captor of Sin, The Antichrist, Evil Has No Boundaries, Show No Mercy, Aggressive Perfector

Background

• In 1984, WBAB Fingers Metal Shop, a radio station, held a contest to meet and hang out with Slayer during a live recording
• The album was originally meant to be recorded before a live audience, but things went wrong
• First released in 1984 under Metal Blade Records
• Re-released in 1993 and 1994 with the same catalog numbers
• In 2006, re-released as an eleven-track record that added the Haunting the Chapel EP and the studio version of Aggressive Perfector

Recording

• The seven-track set was recorded in autumn 1984 before a room full of people in New York City
• Tiki Recording Studios in Glen Cove, NY, in front of around a dozen people
• Producer and engineer Bill Metoyer, who had worked on the album in Los Angeles
• Discogs notes: side one was recorded live in New York City on the 1984 Haunting North America Tour
• Side two was taken from the EP and the LP, and recorded and mixed at Track Record
• Album mixed at Track Record, L.A.; mastered by Eddy Schreyer at Capitol Mastering

Cover

• Albert Cueller designed the sleeve image, starting a brief association between Slayer and the artist
• The image shows the four band members as grinning, partially decayed zombies walking through a graveyard
• Cover is a plain black frame die-cut design with credits on the back and a hype sticker

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in 1981 in Huntington Park, California by Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo and Tom Araya.
• Started by playing covers of Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Venom at parties and clubs in Southern California.
• Signed with Metal Blade Records after the song "Aggressive Perfector" appeared on Metal Massacre III.

Members

• Current lineup: Kerry King, Tom Araya, Paul Bostaph and Gary Holt; Holt joined in 2011 and became permanent after Hanneman's death in 2013.
• Former members include drummers Dave Lombardo (left three times) and Jon Dette.

Career

• Released twelve studio albums, including Reign in Blood (1986), widely described as one of the most influential thrash metal albums.
• Christ Illusion (2006) won a Grammy for "Eyes of the Insane", the band's first Grammy-related recognition.
• Disbanded in 2019 after a farewell tour and reunited for sporadic shows from 2024.
• Considered one of the "Big Four" of thrash metal alongside Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• AllMusic employee Ned Raggett gave the album a 2.5 out of 5 rating
• Raggett wrote that the album is not really necessary except for the hardest hardcore fans, especially compared with Decade of Aggression
• He named 'Evil Has No Boundaries' the best performance of the seven songs
• He also found moments that could only be Slayer, including Araya's almost casual way of rudely introducing 'Captor of Sin'

Records

• Catalog number MBR 1037 appears on the back of the cover
• Catalog number 72015-1 appears on the spine of the cover
• Re-released in 1993 and 1994 with the same catalog numbers
• The 2006 re-release has eleven tracks, adding the Haunting the Chapel EP and the studio version of Aggressive Perfector

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Trivia

• It has been rumored that the crowd noise was added in a studio, and the producer answered evasively when asked, calling it one of the industry's great secrets.
• Before 'Die by the Sword', Tom Araya gave a short speech about the pen and the sword.
• 'Aggressive Perfector' is dedicated to the Old Bridge Militia, a group of headbangers from Old Bridge, New Jersey.
• The Spanish Wikipedia says the album was not truly recorded live but in a studio with 50 selected fans.
• Joel McIver wrote that the Live Undead version of 'Black Magic' started a long trend of Slayer's live songs being more powerful than their studio versions.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

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