Last Exit: Beauty Of The Beast

Last Exit (group, 1986 - 1994)
Sonny Sharrock (guitar)
Bill Laswell (bass)
Peter Brotzman (reeds)
Roland Shannon Jackson (drums)

Last Exit was nothing more than a fierce behemoth that roamed jazz clubs and finally rock clubs leaving only the brave in their wake.

This was a supergroup but a supergroup that recorded very frequently during their almost decade together. They never really recorded a complete studio album. The majority of their albums are all live and all call on you to use the one thing you don't like to use sometimes when listening to four improvisers--patience.

This is a band that sounds like a construction site but if you listen closely to Sharrock's guitar you can find the lead. They performed with the true "I don't care about you" "F@&# you" attitude and it worked. Most of the time they drove their original jazz audience away but as a result gained a massive alternative and punk audience through the reputation of their gigs and the stature of Laswell as a musician and producer who floated between jazz, rock and alternative.

Last Exit disbanded in 1994 after the death of founding member Sonny Sharrock. If you fear music this is not for you. If you want your brain splattered across the floor, please take a listen to them. I would recommend any of the following Last Exit (Enemy), The Best Of Live (Enemy) and The Noise Of Trouble (Tokuma) which are all available online for download if you are interested.

Here's a small taste of Last Exit performing "Discharge" from their first album Last Exit. I wish I was there!!!