Customer Reviews

Before You Were Punk

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you remember the eighties, which you should, you will enjoy this album. As a punk fan and a 80's retro freak I was delighted by the songs and the way they were redone for this cd. The songs are all old standby favorites and the bands who cover them are some of the brightest stars in modern punk pop. If you are a fan of bands such as MXPX then this album will fit into your collection well. If you are more of a Minor Threat listener you will be better off skipping this one. Grab this one and think of the years gone by when a mullet was still cool. If you feel real retro grap a copy on tape...how old will that make you feel?!

This is the GREATEST CD EVER! Whoever thought you could mix up punk and new wave! The two greatest genres of all time, on one CD! They picked the best songs to put on this album, esapecially the cover of "867-5309," which is the very very best song on the disc, as well as the covers of "goody two shoes" and "turning japanese" and "pretty in pink" and "crash" ! This is the best album ever! Buy it! I assure you, you WON'T be disappointed!

I read the five star reviews on this disc. I'm always suspicious of those, because (just in case you haven't noticed) 90% of the reviews on Amazon seem to be five star. I also read the review of the guy who gave this disc only two stars. I think he's wrong. This is a cool and very fun compilation. If you grew up with these songs, either in college or high school, this is a great way to re-visit them. Yes, many of the songs are a bit overly faithful to the originals, but we're not talking about re-interpreting Beethoven here. This is supposed to be brainless fun, and it is. My personal favorite is the Jughead's Revenge rendition of "Young Turks" but that's probably just because I feel like Rod Stewart deserves to be brutalized a bit. I'd recommend this as a party soundtrack.

When you can't find a hit song of your own use somebody elses. This CD is a collection of 80's hits redone by some of your favorite punk bands. But this is different. Instead of the hard core misconstrewing of your favorite songs, these bands have done it tastefully. Granted they will never be as good as the originals, but this album unites the 80's jumper wearers and the spike haired punks onto a plain of nirvana. AH! This is an album, however, that both can enjoy. One of the best ways to revive a song is to cover it, and these bands can be commended for doing an excellent job.

Excellent. This unlikely juxtaposition of 90s SoCal punkers and new wave turns out to be a great fit. Some solid bands are featured on this CD!

This disc is fantastic. So really good songs redone by some of the best newer punk bands!

I discovered this CD by accident, after being given an MP3 of "Turning Japanese" by No Use For A Name. After a little search I found the CD and bought it (and the RIAA thinks MP3 is evil, if not for that one MP3, I would never have bought these 2 CDs).

Being in my middle 30's, I remember when most of these songs were big hits in their original incarnation. And how our parents screamed at us for playing them.

Now our own kids can torture us with the same songs, just sung in a way they can appreciate. I work as a Club DJ, and I am constantly asked to play these over and over again. And if you own this CD, you have to also get Volume 2.

For those of us that remember Billy Idol as the hard rocking and drinking bad boy (before he moved to acting in things like The Wedding Singer), we can recall his youthfull anger in the new version Rebel Yell by All, and the remake of Every Breath You Take by Strung Out.

For anybody into Alternitive Rock or New Wave should look into this collection. The revival of the BeeGees and the Go-Go's, as well as covers of Come On Eileen by Save Ferris and Abracadabra by Sugar Ray prove that there is still life in those old songs, it just needs to be updated properly.

It was such a great idea. Take songs by New Wave's keyboard pounders and put them in the hands of high-profile punk bands to see what new shapes they take. Great idea, sad execution.

What makes a good cover tune is some degree of respect for the original, the desire to take something you have some affection for and make it your own. Most of these tracks sound like the bands want to beat the songs until they stop twitching.

There are maybe three good tracks on this CD; Pretty in Pink, Peace, Love, and Understanding, and the stellar Walking in L.A.(which makes a song I've never been able to stand into a great tune). The remainder fall into three categories: 1. Sounds just like the original, 2. Sounds like the original sped up and played while drunk, 3. Sounds nothing like the original, but horrid. Particularly painful are Good Riddance ridding "I Melt With You" of all of its hummable charm, and the usually better Blink182's ritualistic slaughter of "Dancing With Myself."

I'm at a loss to explain the good reviews this album has. Maybe if you like your punk dirty, raw, and screaming, this fits the bill. But if, like me, you prefer more talent and vocal skill thrown in the mix, you're better off skipping this one and picking up Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, or even the far better sequel to this disc.

This is one of those CD's you can put it, and let it play all the way through, all the songs are fun to listen to! Turning Japanese (originally by The Vapors) covered by No Use for a Name is even more desperately fun than the original.

This Cd is in its own class cause it has old song lyrics with new punk music, and all of the songs kick at the begining. I love blastin it in my car. Buy it and you'll thank me!