Rest in Peace: The Final Concert

First surfacing long after the band's 1983 breakup -- but long before anyone realized that in fact more concerts would one day be a reality -- Rest in Peace, a soundboard recording made by the band's loyal soundman Pete "Plug" Edwards, isn't as crisp-sounding or totally successful a live release as the massive Press the Eject, but still demonstrates the band members bowing out on a high with what was indeed their final show together at that time. Covering the entire show without breaks, including the use of the studio instrumental "Satori" as introduction music, Rest in Peace remains quite noteworthy not merely for the historical value, but because it's the only place where official live recordings of many Burning-era songs can be found (aside from "She's in Parties," no other song from that album was regularly featured during the band's reunion tour). The portentous but still draggy "Burning from the Inside" actually starts the show, while the haunting beauty of "Kingdom's Coming," "King Volcano" and "Slice of Life," here sung by Murphy with Ash instead of just Ash (as on the album take), surface here, along with the ranting energy of "Antonin Artaud." As with the performances of more familiar songs like "Hollow Hills," the main-set-closing "Dark Entries" and "In Fear of Fear," the band sounds excellently on form; while you can't quite say there's a definite sense that these were going to be the last performances for the known future, the four members do give it all they have. The encore includes a spirited take on "Boys," the obscure flip of "Bela Lugosi's Dead," while the finale consists of that notorious number, given a then-final kick. On top of all this is a total never-officially-recorded-elsewhere rarity in the main set -- a gently spooky version of "In Heaven," the oft-covered David Lynch song used in Eraserhead.