Sabotage/Live
Sabotage/Live is a live album by the Welsh rock musician John Cale. It was recorded at CBGB, New York City on 13–16 June 1979, and released by SPY Records in December 1979.
Release
A studio version of "Mercenaries " was released as a single in the US on 14 March 1980. The sleeve notes that are on the B-side state that the "vocal distortion intended."It was later reissued on CD by A&M Records Canada, and reissued again in the UK by Diesel Motor Records. Both CD releases use the same vinyl rip as the source recording. The Diesel Motor CD reissue contains four extra tracks. The first three are originally from Cale's debut extended play Animal Justice, while the fourth was the B-side of the "Mercenaries " single. However, this was included on the unofficial download available on the ZE Records website from 2011.
Critical reception
NME said of the backing band, "What they lack in finesse they make up for with a remorseless drive that equally befits Cale's cold-blooded, gut-churning music of fear – but puts the weight on the gut-churning. In fact it's surprising that there isn't a song about a mass-murderer amongst them; instead, for the first side at least, Cale is in the grip of post-nuclear mental tremors, raving obsessively about espionage, atom bombs and the dogs of war."Personnel
- John Cale − vocals, piano, guitar, fretless bass, viola
- Marc Aaron − lead guitar
- Joe Bidewell − keyboards, vocals
- Doug Bowne − drums, vocals
- Deerfrance − percussion, vocals
- George Scott − bass, vocals
- Jane Friedman − executive producer
- Charlie Martin − recording
- Warren Frank, John Cale - mixing
- John Vogel − art direction
- Hugh Brown − photography
- John Cale − vocals
- Ritchie Flieger − guitar
- Jimmy Bain − bass
- Bruce Brody − Moog synthesizer
- Kevin Currie − drums
- Jane Friedman − backing vocals on "Chicken Shit"
- John Cale − vocals, bass, Wurlitzer electronic piano
- Michael Mason − rhythm/drum machine
- John Cale − vocals, organ, guitar
- Joe Bidewell − Hammond organ, vocals
- Peter Muny − bass guitar, vocals
- Deerfrance − vocals
- Robert Medici − drums, vocals
- Sturgis Nikides − lead guitar