Critic's Review
Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
Recorded during the band's final tour in 1984 and originally released as a limited-edition run in 1989, Christ the Bootleg resurfaced on disc in the mid-'90s. Something of an adjunct to the live disc that makes up the second half of Christ the Album, Christ the Bootleg easily exhibits the roughest mix of anything Crass-related. Whether it's a formal monitor recording or an audience tape is unclear, though there's enough hiss and echo to suggest the latter. The sheer melee of frenetic noise and roared vocals (Ignorant and Libertine in particular sound like they've been possessed by demons of righteous outrage) shows that the band really did go down fighting. Given the group's self-imposed deadline was about up, the collective clearly saw no reason hold back. Most of the music sounds pretty trebly and buried as a result of the recording conditions, though the bass comes through readily enough and the singing is as direct as it can get. The bilious, strident stomp of "Smash the Mac" and Libertine's Yoko Ono-on-crack turn on "Poison in a Pretty Pill" alone make this a memorable experience, while the second appearance of "Yes Sir, I Will" has a heart-stopping start that's pure electric drama. For all the chaos, though, the fact that Crass could be honestly tender and heartfelt, lyrically and musically, still comes through -- consider the concluding piano-led coda on the first "Yes Sir, I Will," or the almost Byrdsy guitar part a minute into the otherwise harrowing "Darling." If a fair amount of the songs just blend into each other with barely any differentiation, that was always potentially a problem with Crass, and if Christ the Bootleg won't change anyone's mind about the band, it's still a unique listen.
