Live at CBGB's 1985

10 previously unreleased live recordings from the 1980s indie rock band that shared the stage with Rain Parade, Salem 66, Dream Syndicate, Alex Chilton, Long Ryders, Three O’clock Featuring Beth Brown, Mitchell Rasor, Pat Thomas, Matt Kitchen Imagine early REM with female vocals, blending Fairport Convention & Jefferson Airplane with Echo & the Bunnymen Liner notes by Karen Schoemer, Jim DeRogatis, Luke Wood Trouser Press Record Guide wrote: Long before self-reflective female singers became the hip trend on the alternative music scene, Beth Brown of Rochester, New York’s Absolute Grey was writing and singing about loneliness and the challenge of independence…a garage-pop approach, the bass carrying most of the melody and the guitar adding color with Peter Buck-like arpeggios. All Music Guide says: Absolute Grey was playing intelligent, tuneful folk-rock with intriguing melodies, subtle but effective hooks, and a psychedelic undertow that would have allowed them to fit right in with the paisley underground bands blossoming on the West Coast or the jangle pop armies gathering in Athens, GA - their approach was a bit less trippy and significantly less retro than such paisley underground stalwarts as the Rain Parade while the band's tone was notably cooler and more hard-edged than what R.E.M or Pylon brought to the table. Byron Coley of Forced Exposure declares: “Absolute Grey created a wonderful sound, one that has never been imitated by anyone. You can hear traces of bands that came later, sounds that evolved after the next generation had digested stacks of obscure records, but you always get the sense that Absolute Grey arrived at their sound through epiphany rather than scholarship. Beth Brown’s vocals are so filled with emotion they are teetering on the edge of chaos. She puts all of herself into it…the band create this great ‘new wave folk rock’ whatsis with no real idea of where the hell it’s going to go. They just slap it out, and man, it just works so great.”