Suicide

Following the double-disc reissues of Suicide's first two albums, Mute continued to slowly roll through the remainder of the duo's career. A Way of Life, produced by the Cars' Ric Ocasek and originally released in 1988 on Wax Trax!, undergoes remastering treatment from Martin Rev, and a second disc adds a recording of a London performance from December 1987. This release, along with the similarly treated reissue of 1992's Why Be Blue? (the lesser of the two), should hopefully detract from the widespread belief that the first two Suicide albums are the only ones worth owning. A seven-year gap between album number two (although plugged with some thrilling moments from Alan Vega's and Rev's solo albums) and this one didn't help, and the duo couldn't have possibly set the underground on fire as they had during the '70s and early '80s. However, any group inspired in the least by Vega and Rev would be proud to have made this. It's an update of their original sound, somewhere between the first two albums in terms of accessibility, with small traces of their adherents seeping through the cracks. The second disc adds value for fans who don't feel as if there's enough live material floating around -- several songs were being heard for the first time by the attendees. If Vega and Rev weren't as confrontational as they had been in the past, those in the crowd must've at least realized that they remained as powerful. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide