dan's jams - music reviews

This disc is mostly a compilation of Paul Baloff performances that are either rare or completely unreleased. Tracks from the live compilation they did with Slayer and Venom at Studio 54 in 1985 (all board mixes and thus very clean), Baloff singing on tracks from Pleasures of the Flesh (before Steve Souza joined the band and re-recorded all of those vocal tracks), and 3 songs from the days when Kirk Hammett of Metallica fame was in the band (all of marginal live recording quality). In fact of those last 3 tracks, it's really interesting to hear the "Die by my hands, I creep across the land" Metallica riff from "Creeping Death" as the chorus to Exodus's "Die By His Hands". Or the verse riff from "Trapped Under Ice" in "Impaler". It's kind of like listening to Megadeth's "Mechanix" and hearing the same riff in Metallica's "The Four Horsemen".

For the most part though, this disc is for Exodus completists. If you were all about Exodus during the Baloff years or even the early Souza years, or the novelty of Hammett in Exodus, this will be an entertaining buy if you can find it for under 30 bucks. Otherwise, don't bother.