AMG Review of Helter Stupid

Sean Carruthers
All Music Guide

After the relative success of 1987's Escape From Noise album, studio project Negativland found itself in the strange position of being expected to go on a money-losing tour. To get out of the tour, the band cooked up a phony press release linking their song "Christianity Is Stupid" to a multiple murder, claiming that federal officials had told the band not to leave town. This prank quickly spiraled out of control, with many media sources taking their news from each other instead of reality. This media circus became the basis for the first half of the album Helter Stupid, which deconstructs the media, the controversy, and sensationalism. Although the root of all of this material is perhaps ethically questionable, "Helter Stupid" is a brilliant lampoon of the media and makes the listener question just what is being fed to them as "information." Filling out the album is a series of "Perfect Cut" tracks, which meld together tons of singles from the '70s and then get Negativland audio blender treatment. Although the songs have their moments, they're not really enough to sustain half an album, especially after such a good start.