This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
There are plenty of bootlegs, but no official, approved live album from these bluesy post-punk legends led by an unhinged Nick Cave.
Live 1981-82, featuring 17 songs culled from guitarist Mick Harvey’s personal tape stash, addresses that oversight. Actually, it addresses it, stamps it, drives it to the freakin’ post office and shoves it down the mailman’s throat. Future Bad Seed and murder balladeer Cave is as intense as a hostage-taking here, howling and growling like The Cramps’ Lux Interior on, um, even more drugs. Meanwhile, the band, at the height of their powers, primal steam through classics like Junkyard, Dead Joe and The Stooges’ Funhouse, with all the sturm und clang they can muster. Which is one helluva lot. It’s their party, and they’ll fry if they want to.
