Heavier Than a Death in the Family is a bootleg live album by Japanese noise rock band, Les Rallizes Dénudés.
The recordings are taken mostly from a performance at Shakai Kyoiku Kaikan on 12 March 1977 (as heard on a previous live album, '77 Live), except for "Field of Artificial Flowers" (mislabelled as "People Can Choose"), taken from a 1973 performance.
[1] In a review for AllMusic, Phil Freeman writes that the "sound is primitive guitar rock à la the Velvet Underground crossed with the Troggs, but their simple guitar riffs are fed through so much reverb, fuzz, and echo that it's like a dub mix of psychedelic garage rock... it retains a primal rock & roll throb...[the album] is essential listening for anyone who wants to understand [the Japanese underground rock] scene.
"[1] It reached #3 on Julian Cope's top 50 albums of Japanese rock, as found in his 2007 non-fiction book Japrocksampler.
[3] Adapted from CD liner notes:[4] Heavier Than a Death in the Family at Discogs (list of releases)