When it comes to bawdy, S&M-fueled rave albums,
Lords of Acid's
Lust is a classic. Coming across like a twisted mix of
Front 242 and
the Timelords,
Lords of Acid hit all the right notes on this debut album that entertains, shocks, and energizes listeners both on and off the dancefloor. Though
Lust works as a competent rave album, which actually caused its music to become almost instantly dated, its disturbing and sometimes violent samples and vocals give it an intriguing quality that extends its shelf life considerably. "Rough Sex," for example, is pleasant enough, its house grooves and tender spoken-word samples of "love is the answer" make for pleasant-enough listening, and then shouts of "Rough sex/Deep sex" commence and things get mildly sinister. Other choice snippets include "Let's get high and have fun," "Darling, come here, f*ck me up the...," "Sit on your face, I wanna sit on your face," "(Get) down on the floor you, b*tch," and "I must increase my bust." While
Lust certainly isn't the most aggressive or accomplished industrial dance music of its time, its racy subject matter and tongue-in-cheek nature make it more compelling than it would otherwise be. A song as campy and risqué as "I Must Increase My Bust," with its pneumatic chants of "I must, I must, I must increase my bust" and revelations that the vocalist is "obsessed with t*ts" and that her "auntie Marie had t*ts down to her knees," shouldn't be anywhere near as catchy as it is here.
Lust's success resides in its comedy, but it can also be quite sexy. "The Most Wonderful Girl," for example, is perhaps the rave scene's answer to
the Divinyls' "I Touch Myself." Still shocking, hilarious, and sexy many years after its release,
Lust is a great album. It's also
Lords of Acid's masterpiece.