Send "Death " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Rollingstone |
 Death were just another African–American R&B act from Detroit before the Stooges and the MC5 changed their lives. After recording these seven blistering tracks, the three Hackney brothers passed on a deal with Clive Davis at Columbia Records because they refused to change the band name. Lost in the dustbins until now was "Freakin Out," which sounds like a primal version of the Buzzcocks. "Rock–N–Roll Victim" is the kind of chunky cock rock Kiss would refine for arenas. Not everything is so visionary. "Let the World Turn" is a muddled train wreck of psychedelic balladry, hard rock and prog noodling....full text |
| Dustedmagazine |
| Every time a reissue of a remarkable, lost record comes out, it’s difficult to resist the temptation to compile an amazed laundry-list of bands it mysteriously prefigures. Death’s …For the Whole World to See provokes such a response. Some licks sound like Husker Du. Some quivery vocals evoke H.R. of Bad Brains. But better, perhaps, to view Death’s seven-song oeuvre as the logical bridging of a lacuna rather than a before-its-time aberration. Of course it makes sense that, in mid-’70s Detroit, three black brothers (Dannis, Bobby and David Hackney) might have gotten as into the Stooges and MC5 as into Funkadelic, that they might have synthesized the sounds of FM rock radio just as their white peers ransacked soul and funk. The Hackneys released a single, recorded and shelved an album, and then moved to Vermont with their family. They morphed into a reggae band. Time passed. The EP slowly acquired a cult record-collector following. Tapes were unearthed, and here we are. Death’s music falls somewhere between ’70s hard rock and the more stripped-down, straightforward garage rock one might deem proto-punk. Obviously influenced by Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, most of their songs span multiple parts and time signatures. “Let the World Turn” even features a drum solo. With the exception of that song, a reverby slow-jam, the album stays uptempo. It’s replete with wonderful, memorable moments, like “Freakin’ Out,” which mixes a classic-sounding garage riff with an unexpected chorus that sharply repeats the title phrase over a snare beat. “Rock-N-Roll Victim” avoids hard-rock cliché by augmenting the drums with handclaps....full text |
| Musicemissions |
| Death is proof that history is never complete, and a lot of it lies buried, just waiting to be found to shake the official record. In the early 70s, in Detroit-that much written about cauldron of a punk, post-punk, whatever-there was a trio of African-Americans, the Hackney brothers, who recorded seven hot slabs of rock that anticipate all that has come after. Much like the recent props given to Rocket From The Tombs, Death deserves a place at the godfathers of punk table. So much for Bad Brains being the first all-black rock band, or the first punk band to evolve into reggae. "...For The Whole World To See" collects the seven tracks meant for a major label release, which was scrubbed because, in true 60s/70s fashion, they refused to change their name to make it more marketable. The opener, "Keep on Knocking," wears its influences proudly, being a slab of greasy Detroit punk mixed with sharp Mod power chords. Like wise, "Rock-N-Roll Victim" and "Let The World Turn" are snarling rockers full of the righteous anger and hope of the period. Lyrically, "You're A Prisoner," "Politicians in my Eyes" and the trippy, extended "Where Do We Go From Here" are even more explicitly of their era, but for the most part hold up well. The fierce energy this trio produces is high class. Had they gotten better promotion and/or luck, they may have gotten godfather status thirty years ago during the first wave of punk...full text |
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