Pitchfork

The most irritating thing about this particular offering of Fiendish music is that Alien Sex Fiend is a good band. In fact, they're a damn fine band. But they're not gods, which is exactly what The Bat Cave Masters would try to have you believe.

The disc is a collection of tracks throughout the band's history that pays tribute to the club where they began: London's Bat Cave. Along with some tracks that have never before been (officially) released on CD, The Bat Cave Masters offers tastes of Alien Sex Fiend classics such as "Alien Sex Fiend," "Another Planet," and "Here Cum Germs." A nice collection, but the band has had better songs, and most of the folks that are going to be interested in the previously unreleased tracks available here are probably already going to own the originals. The album does score points for including the band's rendition of the 1960s "Batman" theme song, but not for excluding "I Walk the Line," one of the best songs in Alien Sex Fiend's repertoire.

The band is wonderful, their shock-rocking amalgamation of experimental stage and audio performance was way ahead of modern copycats. Plus, they've got a good beat, and you can dance to them (once you get used to the screaming). But, even if one manages to ignore the highly pretentious liner notes (which insist that these guys are the ultimate in underground music) this disc comes off only as a worst-of-the-best-of Alien Sex Fiend compilation, and hence should be sought out only by those truly dedicated to the band.