Helios Creed - X-Rated Fairy Tales / Superior Catholic Finger (CD)

This CD reissue combines Helios Creed's first two solo LPs after his departure from the semi-legendary group Chrome and the hegemony the late Damon Edge had wielded as the group's chief sound architect. While Edge went on to make a few more Chrome albums in the mid 80s, Helios Creed was busy fashioning a reputation as one of avant-rock's supreme axe murderers. Though neither X-Rated Fairy Tales nor Superior Catholic Finger are quite as good as Kiss to the Brain or Lactating Purple, both of these are worthwhile "spaced-punk" nuclear meltdowns in a pretty nice package by Cleopatra. There are a few standout tracks on each CD. "Monster Lust," "The Descent," and "Sex Voodoo Venus" are classic H. Creed--blistering guitar swathed in an array of mechanized drumbeats, twisted samples, and icy cold synthesizers. If you're a Chrome dome (i.e., an original Chrome fan from the late 70s) or a Creed fanatic, this is an essential package.