When it comes to avant-garde jazz/rock noise, few bands kicked out the jams better than did Last Exit. A who's-who of jazz players with punk-ass attitudes, Last Exit -- guitarist Sonny Sharrock, bassist Bill Laswell, drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson, and saxophonist Peter Brotzmann -- could swing, rock, and create an all-out free-jazz din all in the blink of an eye. More important, Last Exit was about was the thrill and danger of total improvisation; so much did they believe in this concept that their debut performance in Zurich in 1986 was completely improvised and unrehearsed. Granted, one person's free improvisation is another's tuneless chaos, but Last Exit, due primarily to the skill of its individuals, only infrequently fell off the precipice into the netherworld of arty wanking. These were four men that emotionally, intellectually, and musically belonged together: Sharrock had gotten his start playing blues, but rebelled against structured, proper guitar technique, preferring to play sheets of atonal metallic distortion; Shannon Jackson grew up playing Texas blues, but through working with players such as Blood Ulmer, explored a percussive world that was not regimented by time and meter; Bill Laswell played and produced rock, funk, and "straight" jazz, and in Last Exit he mashed all of these influences into one feral ball of noise and rhythm; and Peter Brotzmann didn't simply blow sax, he blew it to bits as if his life depended on it. ... A live set from their '86 tour, Köln could well be the best of the bunch. There is an actual song here (Shannon Jackson's aptly titled "Brain Damage"), and an opening track, the nearly 20-minute rumble called "Hard School," that scorches from top to bottom. This recording was supposed to come after Cassette Recordings 87 and before Iron Path, but Laswell was involved in some rancorous disagreements with Enemy and the record's release was postponed for a couple of years. But man, was it ever worth the wait. Open up and burn. - John Dougan, All Music Guide