The Edge of the World

The Mekons

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 20, 1996)
• Original Release Date: 1986
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Quarter Stick
• ASIN: B0000037OB
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #187,206 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
From the days (1986) when The Mekons were starting to investigate both country music and the mythology of rock & roll comes this glorious piece of work, loose as a goose, wicked as sin, and touched as ever by the hand of God. They take on both the Everly Brothers and Hank Williams, and transform them into something that's definitely not what they were. So what is it? There's the real joy. When The Mekons reformed in 1994, they became a band outside of time and trend, willing and able to turn its hand to almost anything, yet still make the music sound like no one but The Mekons. So here you have the relative lushness of "Oblivion" and the tequila drunkenness of "Slightly South of the Border" rubbing shoulders with the very English "King Arthur" and "The Letter," which is, essentially, country & northern. But they're The Mekons. Whatever you expect, it'll be something quite different. The edge of the world is where they've always lived. --Chris Nickson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic, August 12, 2000

By	Philip Christman (St. Paul, MN) - See all my reviews

A fearsome cowpunk inferno that combines the ambling, drunken ambiance of country with punk's thundering energy. "Hello Cruel World" is a bitter but inspiring opener, "King Arthur" funny and sad, and "Oblivion" features the birth of that inimitable creature, Sally Timms; but it's the "Garage D'Or"/"Big Zombie" combo that puts this album over the top, compressing the album's themes of alienation and quiet anguish into "Garage"'s claustrophibic ball before blowing everything sky-high with "Zombie"'s opening chords, a thud of blazing self-destructive hatred that gives way to a manic and inspired John Langford vocal. Rarely is pop music this scary, funny or cathartic, and rarer still is a punk record so idealistic, even if the idealism is covered by a brittle humor that itself becomes part of the pathos. You need this album.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great way to get to know a little-known band, July 27, 2001

By	Jennifer Barger (Falls Church, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read about the Mekons recently in the New Yorker, and was intrigued by the idea of a country punk band. I've since learned that country-punk is but one of the Mekons many faces...but perhaps the best. This album sounds something like the Pogues Go to Nashville-just a fabulous, loopy, punky 1980s album that might make a Mekons fan of anyone. Oblivion, Hello Cruel World and other songs are simply classic. I'm still in the process of exploring this wacky group, but I have yet to find a disc I love as much as this one.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars unbelievable, October 22, 1999

By A Customer

simply one of the greatest musical entities in existence