The Best: Make the Music Go Bang! (Dig) [Original recording remastered]

X | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 27, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Elektra / Rhino
• ASIN: B0002IQDQ0
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,661 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #54 in Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > American Punk

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Adult Books [Single Version]

2. We're Desperate [Single Version]

3. Los Angeles

4. Your Phone's Off the Hook, But You're Not

5. Johny Hit and Run Pauline

6. Soul Kitchen

7. The World's a Mess; It's in My Kiss

8. The Unheard Music

9. White Girl [Single Mix]

10. The Once Over Twice

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Wild Thing [7" Single Edit]

2. Poor Girl

3. The Call of the Wreckin' Ball

4. Someone Like You

5. What's Wrong With Me...

6. Burning House of Love

7. My Goodness

8. 4th of July

9. You

10. When It Rains...

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

X exploded out of Los Angeles' legendary club The Masque in the late '70s, the epicenter of the city's thriving punk underground. X also ultimately proved to be one of the most influential American rock bands of their time. Fronted by Exene Cervenka and John Doe-who co-wrote their material-and anchored by Billy Zoom and D.J. Bonebrake, X reinvented punk with their literate and volatile sound. The band's inspired individuality, however, obeyed no genre boundaries and fused rockabilly, country, metal, roots rock, and more into the mix. Their landmark 1980 debut, Los Angeles, kicked off an extraordinary career that’s spotlighted in this essential retrospective.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally! A general overview of a great band!, July 28, 2004

By 

Wilson Ng (Guam USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best: Make the Music Go Bang! (Dig) (Audio CD)

This is the perfect way to introduce one of the most important bands come from the L.A. punk scene to influence the rest of the world. Critics have acknowledged X's influence on the rest of the music scene during their heyday and this is a great way to honor X!

This 2-CD set serves as a general overview for people who want to dabble in the punk rockabilly rock of X. Exene's off-key voice harmonizes with John Doe to make a truly unique sound. Billy Zoom and DJ Bonebrake create a backbeat to further cement X as truly a sonically unique band that broke new ground.

The first compilation from X was called "Beyond & Back: The X Anthology" serves a lot of B-Sides, rarities, and alternate takes from the X catalog. Beyond & Back is a great companion piece to "Make The Music Go Bang". Casual listeners and newcomers would do well to get "Make the Music Go Bang" first and then "Beyond & Back".

"Make the Music Go Bang" serves up some of the best slices of X that you'll hear. Heck, you might even want to finish off and get the rest of the X discography after this introduction.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars X hits the spot, January 24, 2006

By 

C. Boerger (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best: Make the Music Go Bang! (Dig) (Audio CD)

Actually, it's five stars for the first disc, three stars for the second.

For the uninitiated, or for nostalgists such as myself, this compilation serves as either a great introduction or a great recap of one of the finest careers ever in the punk/pop genre. In case you don't already know, X were a Los Angeles band that combined fast guitar riffs, country and rockabilly attitude, lovely harmonies and sensitive lyrics to create a totally original rock and roll package. They were a band in the truest sense of the word, with each member making a strong contribution, and are as vital now as they were then.

The first disc captures the most illustrious part of their career, which encompasses their first four albums, the striking debut Los Angeles followed by three undeniable classics, Wild Gift, Under the Big Black Sun(their best album) and More Fun in the New World. The song selection is uncannily savvy, almost invariably picking the very best cuts from these albums. My only argument is with the quality of some of the demos(the album version of Adult Books is much better) and with some of the selections from More Fun in the New World. For instance, why call the album Make the Music Go Bang, and then fail to include that song, one of the band's best? I also would have preferred Painting the Town Blue, Drunk in My Past and I See Red over some of the other cuts, but this is a minor grumbling. The chance to hear Your Phone's Off the Hook(But You're Not), In This House That I Call Home, I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts, Blue Spark, Riding With Mary, White Girl, Breathless, Motel Room in My Bed, We're Having Much More Fun, The Unheard Music, Some Other Time, Hungry Wolf and Universal Corner all on the same disc is an indescribably euphoric listening experience.

The second disc shows a serious drop in quality. I've never heard the album Ain't Love Grand in its entirety, but based on the selections here I'm not missing much. See How We Are is a vast improvement, but its watered down roots rock sound doesn't hold up as well today as it did when the album was released, perhaps because, in this format, it is presented side by side with their far superior earlier music. The best part of the second disc is the live tracks(I saw X in concert once and still have fond memories of that evening, one of the best shows I've seen), and some of the later studio tracks that close the album. Good stuff overall, but not up to the quality of the first disc.

My first recommendation would be to get X's first four albums, especially 2-4, in order to get a clear sense of just how great a band they were, to really experience the songwriting talents of Exene Cervenka and John Doe. But as compilations go, it's hard to ask for much more than what this set delivers.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good overview of a great band, November 16, 2004

By 

Nicholas C. Carlson "nixie224" (Fairfield, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best: Make the Music Go Bang! (Dig) (Audio CD)

But there are 5 songs missing (mostly from their first four seminal albums) They are(in chronological order:)1.Sex and Dying In High Society 2.Year 1 3.Come Back To Me 4. Dancing With Tears In my Eyes (Both from "Big Black Sun" and nice change of pace tunes) and (probably the most egregious omission) 5. True Love Part 2. You could make a case for including the first two albums in toto (if not the next two). The Go-Go's and Los Lobos will get more RnR Hall consideration, but I feel X is just as deserving...