"Open your eyes and see/Open your ears and listen,"
Perry
advises on this excellent record, and you would be foolish to ignore this advice.
Battle
, in many ways, gets to the heart of
Perry's
technique as a mixer and producer. The bass throbs so much on this record that you would swear it's leaking out of the grooves, and
added sound filigrees (echo, sheets of noise, explosive volume) don't disrupt the music as much as add to the very psychedelic ambience. The disc's most celebrated track is "I'm a Madman," wherein
acknowledges his lunatic persona. Also wonderful is the opening track, "Introducing Myself," which functions as a surreal, partly fictional autobiography. Close to spectacular, this is a great single slice of
mania. ~ John Dougan