Track Listing

1. (I'm) Stranded
2. One Way Street
3. Wild About You
4. Messin' With the Kid
5. Erotic Neurotic
6. No Time
7. Kissin' Cousins
8. Story of Love
9. Demolition Girl
10. Nights in Venice
11. Lipstick on Your Collar [*]
12. River Deep, Mountain High [*]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #148353 in Music
• Released on: 1997-09-23
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Not the most important punk album, but probably the most fun
Absent is the cartooniness that made the Ramones impossible to take seriously. In addition, another thankful omission is the overbearing rage and political grandstanding that make people take the Pistols and the Clash too seriously. Basically, this is arguably the best garage band ever(at least on this album), and they're flooring it on almost every tune with a punk energy that's rarely been rivaled. "(I'm) Stranded" is a great song, but "Messin' with the Kid"(slow, grungy rocker), "Erotic Neurotic", "No Time", the cover of "Kissin' Cousins", and "The Story of Love" are its equal. The best tune - in my opinion - "Night in Venice", buries most punk songs with its potent, chord-ripping fury, and makes a great finale to a great album. The extra songs are good too. There's not a weak track here, and for a punk rock album, that speaks volumes.

One of the original punk rock artifacts
Sure, it sounds like it was recorded on a RadioShack C-120 cassette in an aluminum shack during a hailstorm with the treble turned up to ten, but what a buzz this album still delivers! The cranked momentum of the manic title song amazingly leads into more dementia, stopping for a breather only during the six-minute stomp of "Messin' With the Kid" and the (comparatively) Dylanesque "Story of Love", and then racing to the finish line with the mind-melting Stooges-style riff-insanity of "Nights in Venice". Ed Keupper's lead guitar is all fuzz and treble throughout, spinning flashy solos where punks weren't supposed to do such things, and Chris Bailey's gruff howl attains a tuneful charisma seemingly through the force of will. It was a pleasant surprise in '77; it sounds even more surprising now.

blistering, nosiy, exciting album
Huge slabs of chainsaw fuzz guitars, lyrics that invariably include "C'mon" and "Awl Right" and a great big helping of that rough and ready DIY fun that made late 70s punk so much fun and kept it fresh all these years. There are lots of hints that this band was going to be much better than the vast majority of its contemporaries: Ed Kuepper's forceful but oddly understated guitarwork and Chris Bailey's rasping world weary voice are obvious examples.

As other reviewers have pointed out, this is not the politically correct Anarchist punk that exploded in the 80s, this is real "garage band" stuff, with rather obvious nods to the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Stooges et al. For an interesting experience, compare "Messin' With The Kid" with the Stones' "Sway" on "Sticky Fingers".