Throbbing Gristle's Greatest Hits

Subtitled "Entertainment Through Pain," 1980's GREATEST HITS is only half-ironic. While it's true that the group only once troubled any sort of chart, with 1978's subversive underground synth-throb hit "United," this is nonetheless an accurate representation of the group's best studio work.
Largely drawn from singles like "Adrenalin" and "Subhuman" as well as the band's two most accessible (a highly subjective term) albums, D.O.A. and 20 JAZZ FUNK GREATS, GREATEST HITS is the foursome's most direct, and therefore effective, work. Although reissued by Mute in a less-censorious era, this edition retains one oddity from the original: "Slug Bait," the lyrics of which are fashioned from the confessions of sex murderers, is rendered backwards, as "Tiab Guls." That it's at least as potent in this guise is a remarkable feat. This is easily the best starting point for the Gristle novice, and frankly, the timid might want to end here as well.