Dangerhouse, Vol. 1 [Original recording reissued]

Dangerhouse (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 6, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Frontier Records
• ASIN: B000055YW5
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,004 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

In 1977, Dangerhouse was one of the first independent labels to jump into the fray and document the burgeoning West Coast punk rock scene, and all these years later their taste and judgment seems damn near faultless -- they released records on many of California's finest first-wave punk bands, including X, the Avengers, the Weirdos, and the Dils, and future members of Wall of Voodoo and the Gun Club were lurking among the members of Dangerhouse's other acts. Thankfully, the folks behind the label were also mindful of production quality, and were able to make great sounding records despite limited means -- their stuff simply sounded better than what most indie labels were offering in the early stages of the game. Dangerhouse, Vol. One collects 12 classic cuts released between 1977 and 1979, including stone classics like X's original recording of "Los Angeles," the Avengers' anthemic "We Are the One," the Dils' blazing "Class War," Black Randy and the Metrosquad's superbly perverse "Trouble at the Cup," the darkly hilarious "Let's Shoot Maria" from the Deadbeats, the peerless Weirdos' "Solitary Confinement," and what may have been the label's true anthem, the Randoms' "Let's Get Rid of New York." Even the lesser-known bands contribute strong material, and this disc's only real flaw is that it is too short -- especially since all the stuff from this album and the second volume (released a year later) would easily fit on one CD. But beyond that quibble, Dangerhouse, Vol. One is a raucous and wildly entertaining look at what was one of America's most vital punk rock scenes, and few collections can match this for sheer power and lunatic joy. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars K-Tel does west-coast punk, April 6, 2005

By 

Ferrara Brain Pan (San Francisco CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dangerhouse, Vol. 1 (Audio CD)

Man, there are some classic songs here for sure - But what a rip-off - Less than 30 minutes of music here on a CD fer crapsakes - So why didn'cha include the great B-sides from these 45's? (like Black Randy's "Loner with a Boner" & "Sperm Bank Baby") - Oh yeah, then you woulda hadda buy the rights to those songs, too, cutting into the profits you'd make on this collection... Yeah, whatever, my friend burned me a copy of this so it's not like I hadda pay for it...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing collection, though wish it were complete, August 11, 2010

By 

Brucifer (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dangerhouse, Vol. 1 (Audio CD)

Still I'm going to give it 5 stars because it's the only way to get many of these recordings on CD, and that other Amazon review herein is unfair, so it needs to be counterbalanced. Between this volume and the second are some of the best late 70s punk recordings ever. No early US punk label had such a consistently great output (though there were some other great ones: Drome, VVV, No Threes, Trap, Bomp!, Slash, and others), with classic singles from X, Dils, Avengers, and Weirdos (the most well-known bands who released singles on the label) along with some amazing lesser-knowns like Eyes, Deadbeats, Bags, Rhino 39, Alleycats, Randoms, and local scene star Black Randy and his Metrosquad. Every track on these two volumes is great early punk (well, except Howard Werth, though it's still pretty enjoyable new wave) and there are a few tracks unreleased back in the day from Eyes ("Eniwetok"), Bags ("We Will Bury You"), and Deadbeats ("Let's Shoot Maria"). But it is true that this is a frustratingly incomplete collection. Though the two volumes do include all of the Dangerhouse single sides from Weirdos, Dils, Randoms, Rhino 39, and Alleycats - and you can buy separate collections to get those missing X, Avengers, and Black Randy recordings - there's still no sign on CD of the herein missing Dangerhouse recordings from the Bags ("We Don't Need the English" from the Yes L.A. compilation), Eyes (the excellent "TAQN/Topological Lies" singe), or Deadbeats (their entire classic EP). What I hope Frontier will do is release a volume 3 that fills in all of the gaps (save perhaps the Black Randy album which would take up too much space and has been elsewhere reissued). The ideal Dangerhouse collection should have EVERY single side released on the label, the COMPLETE contents of the Yes L.A. compilation, and any other unreleased studio tracks that may be still hiding out there...