AMG Review of Godstar: The Singles, Pt. 2

Bradley Torreano
All Music Guide

Godstar was meant to be a "best-of" for fans without access to Genesis P-Orridge's constant output of music in the 1980s. By cutting away the excess that haunts most Psychic TV albums, what is revealed is how original and creative a force they had the potential to be. All three versions of the title track work as fitting tributes to the Rolling Stones' Brian Jones, while their cover of the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" is a charged, vibrant undertaking of a pop classic. But nothing on the album compares to the sprawling "Roman P (Sordide Sentimental Mix)," the drug-fueled centerpiece. Droning on for almost ten minutes with continued intensity, it builds into a psychedelic epic, colored with noisy guitar solos and tribal drum beats. Some may be offset by P-Orridge's blatant shock tactics ("Neurology" features samples of Charles Manson and Jim Jones in opposing stereo channels) and the album's lack of continuity, but fans of creative electronic music will find this to be a good introduction to an important artist.