Minutemen | ||
| Allmusic Biography : More than any other hardcore band, the Minutemen epitomized the free-thinking independent ideals that formed the core of punk/alternative music. Wildy eclectic and politically revolutionary, the Minutemen never stayed in one place too long; they moved from punk to free jazz to funk to folk at a blinding speed. And they toured and recorded at blinding speed; during the early 80s, they were constantly on the road, turning out records whenever they had a chance. Like their peers Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, R.E.M., Sonic Youth, and the Meat Puppets, the Minutemen built a large, dedicated cult following throughout the United States through their relentless touring. Like their fellow American indie bands, the trio was poised to break into the world of major labels in 1986, and they would have if it wasnt for the tragic death of guitarist/vocalist D. Boon in December of 1985. Even though bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley carried on with fIREHOSE in the late 80s, the legacy of the Minutemen overshadowed the new band in the late 80s and early 90s, as the San Pedro trio influenced several generations of musicians. D. Boon and Mike Watt began playing music when they were teenagers in the mid-70s, covering 70s hard rock standards. After they graduated from high school in 1976, they heard their first punk rock records, which marked a significant change in their musical development. Once Boon and Watt heard punk, they began writing their own songs and decided to form their first full-fledged rock & roll band. In 1980, the pair assembled a quartet called the Reactionaries, which featured drummer Frank Tonche and a second guitarist. Within a few months, their second guitarist left and the band changed their name to the Minutemen, since most of their songs were not much longer than a minute in duration. They recorded one single with Tonche before he was replaced by George Hurley. After Hurley joined the band, the Minutemen recorded Paranoid Time, their first EP; the record was released on SST Records in 1981. From the start, the band was eclectic and political, but they didnt find their voice until their first full-length album, 1981s The Punch Line. Following the release of The Punch Line, the Minutemen embarked on a punishing touring schedule, driving across America and playing any city where they could get a gig. They were recording frequently, too. All of their major records appeared on SST Records, but they also issued selected tracks and EPs for other independent labels, beginning with 1982s Bean-Spill EP, which appeared on Thermidor Records. The bands second full-length album, 1983s What Makes a Man Start Fires?, earned them considerable critical acclaim throughout the underground and alternative press. Later in 1983, they released their third album, Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat. By the end of 1983, the Minutemen had become one of the most popular bands in the American underground, a status they only built upon during 1984. That year, they delivered the double album Double Nickels on the Dime. The length of the album was a response to Hüsker Düs 1984 double album Zen Arcade, but the expanded length gave the group an opportunity to stretch out and showcase their increasing musical depth and vision. Double Nickels on the Dime was a considerable underground hit, earning substantial college radio play and critical praise; many critics named it one of the best albums of the year. Also in 1984, the band released a collection of outtakes and unreleased material called The Politics of Time on New Alliance Records. Throughout 1985, the Minutemen churned out recordings, beginning with the Tour-Spiel EP on Reflex Records. It was followed by the cassette-only retrospective My First Bells, which was released on SST. After My First Bells, the group issued another EP, Project Mersh, which featured covers of "commercial" arena rock bands plus several long original "spiels." Around the same time, the group recorded the Minuteflag EP, a one-off collaboration with Black Flag. Finally, the Minutemen released the full-length follow-up to Double Nickels on the Dime, 3-Way Tie (For Last), toward the end of the year. Like its predecessor, 3-Way Tie (For Last) received overwhelming positive reviews, including notices in mainstream publications. In December of 1985, D. Boon and his girlfriend were driving home from the house of one of her relatives when they were involved in a fatal automobile accident. For the first part of 1986, Mike Watt and George Hurley tried to decide whether they would continue playing music. During this time, the live Ballot Result was compiled and released. After a few months, both Watt and Hurley had decided to quit music when they were convinced to continue playing by a passionate Minutemen fan and guitarist called Ed Crawford. Watt, Hurley, and Crawford formed fIREHOSE in 1986 and later in the year, the new band released their debut album, Ragin, Full-On. fIREHOSE toured and recorded for the next seven years, signing with the major label Columbia in 1991. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 14 Title: Paranoid Time Released: 1980-12 Tracks: 7 Duration: 06:39 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Validation (00:41) 2 The Maze (00:40) 3 Definitions (01:13) 4 Sickles and Hammers (00:47) 5 Fascist (00:56) 6 Joe McCarthys Ghost (01:01) 7 Paranoid Chant (01:19) |
 | Album: 2 of 14 Title: Joy Released: 1981-08 Tracks: 3 Duration: 03:15 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Joy (00:55) 2 Black Sheep (01:09) 3 More Joy (01:10) |
 | Album: 3 of 14 Title: The Punch Line Released: 1981-11 Tracks: 18 Duration: 15:01 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Search (00:53) 2 Tension (01:20) 3 Games (01:03) 4 Boiling (00:56) 5 Disguises (00:48) 6 The Struggle (00:41) 7 Monuments (00:51) 8 Ruins (00:49) 9 Issued (00:40) 10 The Punch Line (00:41) 11 Song for El Salvador (00:31) 12 History Lesson (00:38) 13 Fanatics (00:31) 14 No Parade (00:51) 15 Straight Jacket (00:59) 16 Gravity (00:57) 17 Warfare (00:55) 18 Static (00:51) |
| The Punch Line : Allmusic album Review : The Minutemen may have come out of the same California hardcore scene that produced Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Fear, but they not only bore little resemblance to their West Coast contemporaries, they didnt sound much like anyone else in American rock at that time. The Punch Line was the bands first album, packing 18 tunes into less than 25 minutes, and if the music shares hardcores lust for speed and assaultive rhythmic punch, their sharp, fragmented melodies, complex tempos, and overtly poetic and political lyrics made clear they were rugged individuals; imagine James Blood Ulmer teaching Wire how to get funky and you start to get an idea of what The Punch Line sounds like. It wasnt until the band began to slow down a bit on What Makes a Man Start Fires? that the strength of the groups individual songs became clear, and The Punch Line works better as a unified sonic assault than as a collection of tunes, but moments do stand out, especially "Tension," "Fanatics," and the title cut, which certainly lends a new perspective to Native American history. The Punch Line was as wildly inventive as anything spawned by American punk, and the band would only get better on subsequent releases. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 14 Title: What Makes a Man Start Fires? Released: 1983-01 Tracks: 18 Duration: 26:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs (01:28) 2 One Chapter in the Book (01:02) 3 Fake Contest (01:43) 4 Beacon Sighted Through Fog (01:00) 5 Mutiny in Jonestown (01:08) 6 East Wind/Faith (02:08) 7 Pure Joy (01:29) 8 99 (01:00) 9 The Anchor (02:33) 10 Sell or Be Sold (01:44) 11 The Only Minority (01:00) 12 Split Red (00:53) 13 Colors (02:05) 14 Plight (01:37) 15 The Tin Roof (01:08) 16 Life as a Rehearsal (01:34) 17 This Road (01:24) 18 Polarity (01:48) |
| What Makes a Man Start Fires? : Allmusic album Review : The Minutemen had already come up with a sound as distinctive as anything to come out of the American punk underground -- lean, fractured, and urgent -- with their debut album, 1981s The Punch Line. But on their second (relatively) long-player, What Makes a Man Start Fires?, the three dudes from Pedro opted to slow down their tempos a bit, and something remarkable happened -- the Minutemen revealed that they were writing really great songs, with a remarkable degree of stylistic diversity. If you were looking for three-chord blast, the Minutemen were still capable of delivering, as the opening cut proved (the hyper-anthemic "Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs"), but there was just as much churning, minimalistic funk as punk bile in their sound (bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley were already a strikingly powerful and imaginative rhythm section), and D. Boons guitar solos were the work of a man who could say a lot musically in a very short space of time. Leaping with confidence and agility between loud rants ("Split Red"), troubled meditations ("Plight"), and plainspoken addresses on the state of the world ("Mutiny in Jonestown"), the Minutemen were showing a maturity of vision that far outstripped most of their contemporaries and a musical intelligence that blended a startling sophistication with a street kids passion for fast-and-loud. It says a lot about the Minutemens growth that The Punch Line sounded like a great punk album, but a year later What Makes a Man Start Fires? sounded like a great album -- period. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 14 Title: Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat Released: 1983-11 Tracks: 8 Duration: 15:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Self-Referenced (01:24) 2 Cut (02:03) 3 Dream Told by Moto (01:46) 4 Dreams Are Free, Motherfucker! (01:12) 5 The Toe Jam (00:40) 6 I Felt Like a Gringo (01:58) 7 The Product (02:45) 8 Little Man With a Gun in His Hand (03:10) |
 | Album: 6 of 14 Title: The Politics of Time Released: 1984-04 Tracks: 27 Duration: 34:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Base King (01:16) 2 Working Men Are Pissed (01:19) 3 I Shook Hands (01:02) 4 Below the Belt (00:58) 5 Shit You Hear at Parties (01:08) 6 The Big Lounge Scene (01:25) 7 Maternal Rite (01:15) 8 Tune for Wind God (03:06) 9 Party With Me Punker (00:56) 10 The Process (01:19) 11 Joy Jam (04:48) 12 Tony Gets Wasted in Pedro (02:10) 13 Swing to the Right (00:43) 14 ¡Raza Si! (01:00) 15 Times (00:48) 16 Badges (00:35) 17 Fodder (00:43) 18 Futurism Restated (01:31) 19 Hollering (00:59) 20 Suburban Dialectic (00:45) 21 Contained (00:57) 22 On Trial (00:41) 23 Spraycan Wars (00:58) 24 My Part (01:37) 25 Fanatics (00:34) 26 Ack Ack Ack (00:43) 27 The Big Blast for Youth (01:23) |
| The Politics of Time : Allmusic album Review : The Minutemen had as high a batting average as any band that came out of the California punk scene, releasing a number of superb records that confirmed their status as one of the finest, most intelligent, most forward-thinking, and most individual bands of their time. However, there isnt an awful lot of that on The Politics of Time; this compilation ties together a bagful of studio outtakes, rehearsal recordings, and live tapes of highly variable quality (one of which is thoroughly inaudible; its a joke, but not necessarily a funny one). The album leads off well enough with seven tunes the band recorded for an unreleased album. Stylistically, the songs fit comfortably between the ambitious What Makes a Man Start Fires? and the magnum opus Double Nickels on the Dime; on their own, they would have made for a superb EP, and "Working Men Are Pissed" and "Shit You Hear at Parties" are excellent. But side two is bogged down with far too many unfocused, lo-fi live tapes, and while the selections by the Reactionaries (an embryonic version of the Minutemen) are historically interesting, ultimately theyre little more than juvenilia from a band destined to create much stronger music. The Minutemen were far too gifted to make an album that wasnt worth hearing, and completists will be more than willing to forgive the duff tracks to get at the handful of great songs here, but ultimately The Politics of Time is the bands least essential release. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 14 Title: Double Nickels on the Dime Released: 1984-07 Tracks: 43 Duration: 1:13:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 D.’s Car Jam / Anxious Mo-Fo (01:20) 2 Theatre Is the Life of You (01:28) 3 Viet Nam (01:27) 4 Cohesion (01:57) 5 It’s Expected Im Gone (02:07) 6 #1 Hit Song (01:52) 7 Two Beads at the End (01:50) 8 Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Truth? (01:46) 9 Don’t Look Now (01:40) 10 Shit From an Old Notebook (01:33) 11 Nature Without Man (01:43) 12 One Reporter’s Opinion (01:47) 13 Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing (01:30) 14 Maybe Partying Will Help (01:56) 15 Toadies (01:38) 16 Retreat (01:55) 17 The Big Foist (01:27) 18 God Bows to Math (01:18) 19 Corona (02:25) 20 The Glory of Man (02:52) 21 Take 5, D. (01:41) 22 My Heart and the Real World (01:03) 23 History Lesson, Part II (02:12) 24 You Need the Glory (02:00) 25 The Roar of the Masses Could Be Farts (01:21) 26 West Germany (01:49) 27 The Politics of Time (01:08) 28 Themselves (01:18) 29 Please Don’t Be Gentle With Me (00:46) 30 Nothing Indeed (01:20) 31 No Exchange (01:54) 32 There Ain’t Shit on T.V. Tonight (01:35) 33 This Ain’t No Picnic (01:54) 34 Spillage (01:48) 35 Untitled Song for Latin America (02:02) 36 Jesus and Tequila (02:56) 37 June 16th (01:47) 38 Storm in My House (02:02) 39 Martins Story (00:51) 40 Doctor Wu (01:41) 41 The World According to Nouns (02:02) 42 Love Dance (02:03) 43 Three Car Jam (00:38) |
| Double Nickels on the Dime : Allmusic album Review : If What Makes a Man Start Fires? was a remarkable step forward from the Minutemens promising debut album, The Punch Line, then Double Nickels on the Dime was a quantum leap into greatness, a sprawling 44-song set that was as impressive as it was ambitious. While punk rock was obviously the starting point for the Minutemens musical journey (which they celebrated on the funny and moving "History Lesson Part II"), by this point the group seemed up for almost anything -- D. Boons guitar work suggested the adventurous melodic sense of jazz tempered with the bite and concision of punk rock, while Mike Watts full-bodied bass was the perfect foil for Boons leads and drummer George Hurley possessed a snap and swing that would be the envy of nearly any band. In the course of Double Nickels on the Dimes four sides, the band tackles leftist punk ("Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing"), Spanish guitar workouts ("Cohesion"), neo-Nortena polka ("Corona"), blues-based laments ("Jesus and Tequila"), avant-garde exercises ("Mr. Robots Holy Orders"), and even a stripped-to-the-frame Van Halen cover ("Aint Talkin Bout Love"). From start to finish, the Minutemen play and sing with an estimable intelligence and unshakable conviction, and the album is full of striking moments that cohere into a truly remarkable whole; all three members write with smarts, good humor, and an eye for the adventurous, and they hit pay dirt with startling frequency. And if Ethan James production is a bit Spartan, its also efficient, cleaner than their work with Spot, and captures the performances with clarity (and without intruding upon the bands ideas). Simply put, Double Nickels on the Dime was the finest album of the Minutemens career, and one of the very best American rock albums of the 1980s. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 14 Title: Project: Mersh Released: 1985 Tracks: 6 Duration: 22:14 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 The Cheerleaders (03:52) 2 King of the Hill (03:24) 3 Hey Lawdy Mama (03:37) 4 Take Our Test (02:44) 5 Tour-Spiel (02:45) 6 More Spiel (05:52) |
 | Album: 9 of 14 Title: 3‐Way Tie (for Last) Released: 1985-12 Tracks: 16 Duration: 35:16 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 The Price of Paradise (03:35) 2 Lost (02:26) 3 The Big Stick (02:33) 4 Political Nightmare (03:50) 5 Courage (02:34) 6 Have You Ever Seen the Rain? (02:25) 7 The Red and the Black (04:04) 8 Spoken Word Piece (01:07) 9 No One (03:24) 10 Stories (01:31) 11 What Is It? (01:46) 12 Ack Ack Ack (00:26) 13 Just Another Soldier (01:58) 14 Situations at Hand (01:20) 15 Hittin’ the Bong (00:40) 16 Bermuda (01:37) |
| 3‐Way Tie (for Last) : Allmusic album Review : D. Boons death in December 1985 was one of rocks most tragic occurrences. And, a decade later, you may find that it still affects the way you listen to this, the "final" Minutemen record. Boon was hitting his stride here; the songs were emphatic, smart, and marked by his increasing sociopolitical awareness. He did not suffer fools gladly, and this record (as do the best of the Minutemens) retains a strong sense of moral indignation (listen to "The Price of Paradise" and "The Big Stick"). One fact that shouldnt be lost in eulogizing over Boon was the significant role Mike Watt was playing in the band. This hadnt happened overnight, but with each successive record, Watts confidence as a bass player and songwriter was growing, and by the time of 3-Way Tie, his skills were in full flower -- so much so that one side of the record is called "Side D," the other, "Side Mike." Dense and driving, this is a bittersweet moment closing an excellent bands career. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 14 Title: Ballot Result Released: 1986-12 Tracks: 27 Duration: 1:09:07 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Little Man With a Gun in His Hand (03:03) 2 Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing (01:25) 3 I Felt Like a Gringo (01:39) 4 Jesus and Tequila (02:52) 5 Courage (02:55) 6 King of the Hill (03:00) 7 Bermuda (03:07) 8 No One (remix) (06:30) 9 Mr Robot’s Holy Orders (07:45) 10 Ack Ack Ack (00:32) 11 History Lesson, Part 2 (02:30) 12 This Ain’t No Picnic (01:46) 13 The Cheerleaders (03:32) 14 Time (02:36) 15 Cut (02:01) 16 Split Red (01:05) 17 Shit You Hear at Parties (01:08) 18 Hell (second take) (07:05) 19 Tour‐Spiel (03:22) 20 Take Our Test (02:03) 21 The Punch Line (00:41) 22 Search (00:48) 23 Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs (01:16) 24 Badges (00:38) 25 Tension (01:32) 26 If Reagan Played Disco (01:15) 27 No! No! No! to Draft and War / Joe McCarthy’s Ghost (03:00) |
| Ballot Result : Allmusic album Review : Before they had even released 3-Way Tie for Last in the fall of 1985, the Minutemen had blocked out plans for their next album, which was to be a sprawling three-LP set featuring three sides of studio material and three sides of live recordings. Initial pressings of 3-Way Tie included a ballot so fans could vote for the songs to be included on the live half of the upcoming album; the tragic death of D. Boon meant the Minutemen would never make another studio album, but Mike Watt and George Hurley compiled the ballots sent in by fans and used the results as the basis for this album, which uses radio broadcasts, studio outtakes, rehearsal tapes, and audience recordings to assemble a final tribute to their fallen comrade. As you might expect, the quality of the sound varies quite a bit from track to track (though theres nothing as awful as the stuff on side two of The Politics of Time), and there are a few items here that were outtakes for a good reason (like the overlong version of "Mr. Robots Holy Orders" or the spontaneous soundtrack improvisation "Hell"). But for the most part, Ballot Result is a fitting memorial that makes clear the Minutemen were just as strong onstage as they were in the studio and that their songs were smart, provocative, adventurous, and stand up well to the test of time. The fiery first side of material from the WREK-FM broadcast previously bootlegged on Just a Minute, Men alone makes this album well worth owning, and there are plenty of other gems scattered through the rest of the set. Ballot Result is hardly the ideal Minutemen live album, but it offers tangible evidence that they were one of the greatest American bands of their time, and thats not an accomplishment to be sneezed at. | ||
 | Album: 11 of 14 Title: Post-Mersh, Volume 1 Released: 1987-12 Tracks: 36 Duration: 41:54 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Search (00:53) 2 Tension (01:20) 3 Games (01:03) 4 Boiling (00:56) 5 Disguises (00:48) 6 The Struggle (00:41) 7 Monuments (00:51) 8 Ruins (00:49) 9 Issued (00:40) 10 The Punch Line (00:41) 11 Song for El Salvador (00:31) 12 History Lesson (00:38) 13 Fanatics (00:31) 14 No Parade (00:51) 15 Straight Jacket (00:59) 16 Gravity (00:57) 17 Warfare (00:55) 18 Static (00:51) 19 Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs (01:28) 20 One Chapter in the Book (01:02) 21 Fake Contest (01:43) 22 Beacon Sighted Through Fog (01:00) 23 Mutiny in Jonestown (01:08) 24 East Wind/Faith (02:08) 25 Pure Joy (01:29) 26 99 (01:00) 27 The Anchor (02:33) 28 Sell or Be Sold (01:44) 29 The Only Minority (01:00) 30 Split Red (00:53) 31 Colors (02:05) 32 Plight (01:37) 33 The Tin Roof (01:08) 34 Life as a Rehearsal (01:34) 35 This Road (01:24) 36 Polarity (01:48) |
| Post-Mersh, Volume 1 : Allmusic album Review : The Minutemens Post-Mersh is a valuable series, collecting all of the groups official discography, with the exception of Double Nickels on the Dime, 3-Way Tie for Last, and Ballot Result, over the course of three discs. Post-Mersh, Vol. 1 starts at the beginning, combining the trios first two albums, The Punch Line (1981) and What Makes a Man Start Fires? (1983) on one disc. | ||
 | Album: 12 of 14 Title: Post-Mersh, Volume 2 Released: 1988-09 Tracks: 14 Duration: 37:57 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Self-Referenced (01:24) 2 Cut (02:03) 3 Dream Told by Moto (01:46) 4 Dreams Are Free, Motherfucker! (01:12) 5 The Toe Jam (00:40) 6 I Felt Like a Gringo (01:58) 7 The Product (02:45) 8 Little Man With a Gun in His Hand (03:53) 9 The Cheerleaders (03:52) 10 King of the Hill (03:24) 11 Hey Lawdy Mama (03:37) 12 Take Our Test (02:44) 13 Tour-Spiel (02:45) 14 More Spiel (05:52) |
 | Album: 13 of 14 Title: Post-Mersh, Volume 3 Released: 1988-12 Tracks: 46 Duration: 59:16 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Validation (00:41) 2 The Maze (00:40) 3 Definitions (01:13) 4 Sickles and Hammers (00:47) 5 Fascist (00:56) 6 Joe McCarthys Ghost (01:01) 7 Paranoid Chant (01:19) 8 Joy (00:55) 9 Black Sheep (01:09) 10 More Joy (01:10) 11 Split Red (00:53) 12 If Reagan Played Disco (01:19) 13 Case Closed (01:30) 14 Afternoons (01:29) 15 Futurism Restated (00:57) 16 Base King (01:16) 17 Working Men Are Pissed (01:19) 18 I Shook Hands (01:02) 19 Below the Belt (00:58) 20 Shit You Hear at Parties (01:08) 21 The Big Lounge Scene (01:25) 22 Maternal Rite (01:15) 23 Tune for Wind God (03:06) 24 Party With Me Punker (00:56) 25 The Process (01:19) 26 Joy Jam (04:48) 27 Tony Gets Wasted in Pedro (02:10) 28 Swing to the Right (00:43) 29 ¡Raza Si! (01:00) 30 Times (00:48) 31 Badges (00:35) 32 Fodder (00:43) 33 Futurism Restated (01:31) 34 Hollering (00:59) 35 Suburban Dialectic (00:45) 36 Contained (00:57) 37 On Trial (00:41) 38 Spraycan Wars (00:58) 39 My Part (01:37) 40 Fanatics (00:34) 41 Ack Ack Ack (00:43) 42 The Big Blast for Youth (01:23) 43 Aint Talkin Bout Love (00:39) 44 The Red and the Black (03:30) 45 Green River (01:47) 46 Lost (02:24) |
 | Album: 14 of 14 Title: Introducing the Minutemen Released: 1998-07-28 Tracks: 35 Duration: 57:36 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Definitions (01:13) 2 Joe McCarthys Ghost (01:01) 3 Paranoid Chant (01:19) 4 Search (00:53) 5 The Punch Line (00:41) 6 Fanatics (00:31) 7 Straight Jacket (00:59) 8 Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs (01:28) 9 Fake Contest (01:43) 10 The Anchor (02:33) 11 Split Red (00:53) 12 Life as a Rehearsal (01:34) 13 Cut (02:03) 14 Dream Told by Moto (01:46) 15 I Felt Like a Gringo (01:58) 16 Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing (01:30) 17 Maybe Partying Will Help (01:56) 18 Toadies (01:38) 19 Corona (02:25) 20 History Lesson, Part II (02:12) 21 This Ain’t No Picnic (01:54) 22 King of the Hill (03:24) 23 Tour-Spiel (02:45) 24 The Price of Paradise (03:35) 25 The Big Stick (02:33) 26 Courage (02:34) 27 Spoken Word Piece (01:07) 28 Just Another Soldier (01:58) 29 If Reagan Played Disco (01:19) 30 Case Closed (01:30) 31 Futurism Restated (00:57) 32 Joy (00:55) 33 Black Sheep (01:09) 34 Badges (00:35) 35 Party With Me Punker (00:56) |
| Introducing the Minutemen : Allmusic album Review : Along with such bands as Black Flag, Minor Threat, and the Circle Jerks, the Minutemen were one of the prominent underground punk bands of the early 80s, who helped pave the way for countless other bands who would soon follow. Although only a trio (the late, great D. Boon on vocals/guitar, bassist Mike Watt, and drummer George Hurley), the Minutemen were capable of creating quite an enjoyable racket, as evidenced from any one of the 35 tracks that comprise the 1998 career overview, Introducing the Minutemen. Although the band has ceased to exist since late 1985, after Boon died in an auto accident, they continue to be name-checked by new punk bands as a major influence. The majority of the tracks dont stretch past the two-minute mark (several not even past a minute), as the group specialized in succinct blasts of energetic punk -- "Definitions," "Fanatics," "Search," and so on. But toward the end of their career, the trio began to branch out musically -- "Corona" (which became the theme song for MTVs Jackass program), the surprisingly melodic "Price of Paradise," "This Aint No Picnic," and "I Felt Like a Gringo." As the title suggests, Introducing the Minutemen serves as a perfect introduction to this notable 80s band. | ||