The album begins even before you listen to it. The title and cover, styled after cheap easy listening from the 60s, mislead the listener. But behind this ‘gentle’ facade lies a world of sonic paranoia, sexual anxiety, alienation and chaos.
This is not 20 jazz-funk hits. This is a sonic invasion of the subconscious. Throbbing Gristle use primitive synthesizers, tape loops, crumbling beats, hoarse vocals and mechanical hum to create something resembling a radio broadcast from a post-apocalyptic world. At the same time, they do not shy away from song structure — on the contrary, some of the tracks are strangely catchy with their rhythms and melodies. 20 Jazz Funk Greats was released at a time when the punk movement was beginning to deflate and the need for something radically new was becoming apparent.
TG provided the answer: manipulation instead of rebellion, machines instead of guitars, cold detachment instead of anger. Their approach had a profound influence on genres such as industrial, techno, noise, synthwave and experimental pop, and the album itself became a benchmark for the avant-garde scene.