...For the Whole World to See

...For the Whole World to See is a studio album by the Detroit band Death, released in 2009 and consisting of various demos originally recorded in the mid 1970s.

...For the Whole World to See
Studio album by Death
Released	February 17, 2009
Recorded	1975
Studio	United Sound[1] Detroit, Michigan
Genre	Proto-punk[2] garage rock[2]
Length	26:23
Label	Drag City
Producer	Death
Death chronology
...For the Whole World to See (2009) Spiritual • Mental • Physical (2011)

Background and recording

In 1975 the band entered a studio to record a 12-song album. After refusing to change their group's name, Death was turned away by Clive Davis of Columbia Records. Only seven songs were completed and the album was never released.^[3] The surviving songs were released as ...For the Whole World to See in 2009 by Drag City.^[4]

Just prior to and right after the record's release, the songs on ...For the Whole World to See were performed live by Rough Francis, a band formed by the three sons of Death's original bassist. With the record's critical acclaim and praise from many other musicians, the two surviving members of Death reformed the band with a new guitarist to promote the record themselves.^{[citation needed]}

Reception and legacy

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	76/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Pitchfork Media	(7.1/10)[5]
Sputnikmusic	[6]
Tiny Mix Tapes	[7]

Initial critical response to ...For the Whole World to See was positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 76, based on 8 reviews.^[4]

Jack White of The White Stripes related his first reaction to the album in a New York Times article: "I couldn't believe what I was hearing. When I was told the history of the band and what year they recorded this music, it just didn't make sense. Ahead of punk, and ahead of their time."^[3]

The song "You're a Prisoner" was featured in the 2011 film Kill the Irishman.^[8]

The song "Freakin Out" is played in the main action sequence on the sixth episode of the Starz show Ash vs. Evil Dead.^{[citation needed]}

The song "Keep on Knocking" was used for the soundtrack for the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5.^{[citation needed]}

The song "Politicians in My Eyes" was covered by the band Black Pumas in the deluxe release of their debut album (2019).^{[citation needed]}

The song "Freakin Out" was featured in the 2022 film Wendell & Wild.^[9]

In 2024, Ultimate Guitar named the album as one of the greatest proto-punk albums. Staff writer Greg Prato wrote: "What's interesting about this selection was while the other entries on this list were pointed to by many for decades as important punk stepping stones, this release did not enter the public's eye until 2009. The story goes that this all-black Detroit trio had entered the recording studio in 1975 to record an album for Columbia Records, which ultimately was shelved for 34 years. And when it finally emerged, it showed that Death, which is not to be confused with the death metal band of the same name, was one of the first to begin to dial up punk's intensity, and sounded uncannily similar to early Bad Brains."^[10]

Track listing

Side A

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Keep on Knocking"	David Hackney, Bobby Hackney	2:50
2.	"Rock-N-Roll Victim"	D. Hackney	2:41
3.	"Let the World Turn"	D. Hackney, B. Hackney	5:56
4.	"You're a Prisoner"	D. Hackney, B. Hackney	2:24
Total length:			13:52

Side B

No.	Title	Music	Length
5.	"Freakin Out"	B. Hackney	2:48
6.	"Where Do We Go from Here???"	B. Hackney	3:50
7.	"Politicians in My Eyes"	B. Hackney	5:50
Total length:			12:29

Personnel

Death

• David Hackney – guitar
• Bobby Hackney – bass, lead vocals
• Dannis Hackney – drums

Technical

• Death – producer
• Tammy Hackney – photography
• Jim Vitti – engineer