Everything I said above goes for this one as well. It's about time, blah, blah, raging crossover hardcore/thrash, blah, blah, etc. But "Money Talks" is absolutely my favorite Cryptic Slaughter record, if for no other reason than the title track, which opens the disc, is a fucking masterpiece, and also my favorite Cryptic Slaughter song of all time. But really, aside from that, the songs on this record were of course a bit more mature across the board, what with tighter performances, a wider range of lyrical topics, more extreme tempo variation, longer and more developed arrangements, and so on. There's not as much of a focus on constant speed, so the songs are a bit more dynamic and stand apart more from one another very nicely. Take "Too Much, Too Little", for instance, which starts out more aggressively than usual and brings early Napalm Death to mind before plunging into a typical blast of Cryptic Slaughter crossover. Once more the recording doesn't sound dated to me in the least, which is odd as the record that followed this one ("Stream of Consciousness") sounded pretty shitty compared to the first two. Go figure. This time around the mix is a bit tighter with more central guitars and a warmer drum sound. The bass isn't as dominant as it was on "Convicted", but it's still there, and pound for pound this album does sound better. The bonus tracks this time out consist of five tracks recorded in 1988 as rehearsals for "Stream of Consciousness" (including the unreleased "Song X"). The sound is actually worse than the band's 1985 demo, driven by bass and drums with vocals way off in the distance behind the guitars. I can deal with it, but it's pretty rough on the ears. Then there's one live song from the band's final show with their original lineup, recorded in Detroit in '88, and three more songs from the Houston show that partially appeared on the "Convicted" reissue. The bonus tracks do little for me on this one, but at least they're there. The space would've gone to waste otherwise, and they're worth listening to a couple of times, so... The layout here is almost just like the "Convicted" reissue, maintaining the original cover art along with all of the lyrics for the 12 tracks from the LP, lots of photos, liner notes, old flyers, etc. Lyrically the topics here are similar, though there's a little bit more hope expressed to some degree: "No doubt in your mind to do what you think is right, Let them try and stop you, you've just begun to fight, Believe in your own thoughts, There is no other way, Fight their unfairness, Set your own pace." This is another mandatory item for your collection. Now I can finally retire my well-worn vinyl copy. Until now, finding this one on CD was god damn near impossible... so this is the big one for me. A definite must.
[Relapse]
Running time - 60:38, Tracks: 21
[Notable tracks: Money Talks, Set Your Own Pace, Wake Up, Too Much, Too Little, Tables are Turned]
Relapse Records - http://www.relapse.com
