Originally released as a cassette in 1981, Half Alive collects live material from 1974-1979 and rare early demos that present Suicide at its most gloriously experimental. Consisting of just Martin Rev on keyboards and drum machines and Alan Vega on demented vocals, Suicide has since proven to be a major influence on industrial bands and confrontational art-punks throughout the decades. There's a horror-show feel to this material, as Vega gasps and screams in mute-nostril agony over pulsing sound collages. "Goin' to Las Vegas" sounds like a David Lynch road movie. "Love You" adds a disturbingly mutated samba to a mess of notes that break into bursts of electronic organ. "Johnny Dance" adds a perverse, early rock 'n' roll progression to the madness. The recording quality is tough at times, but it adds to the mystery; improved sound wouldn't necessarily benefit the songs.