End Hits [Vinyl]

Fugazi | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (April 28, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Dischord
• ASIN: B000005ZGY
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #159,734 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Option

End Hits is exactly what you’d expect: thick punk rock with jarring mathematics, the odd humble melody, the classic brotherly chant and the old inimitable gut-punch that may only kick in hard about halfway through.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A CD You Can Listen To Over And Over Again, December 23, 1999

By 

M. Snelling "MS" (CA - USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: End Hits (Audio CD)

I guess this is a punk album, but it is one of those rare albums that doesn't deserve a category. It is simply excellent music. Some albums have a definite emotion they draw from the listener. This one is too complex to label with just one. There are parts of this album that make you stop whatever you are doing and just listen. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A PUNK FAN TO LOVE THIS ALBUM.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars intense, cerebral, subtle post-punk rock, October 19, 2000

By 

Jay Thompson (seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: End Hits (Audio CD)

I love Fugazi. Red Medicine - the album where Fugazi started branching out and slowing down - initially was the most off-putting thing I'd ever heard, but now I love it. End Hits, its followup is now one of my favorite records.

I admire the band's early classics like "Repeater," "Waiting Room," "Merchandise," "Nice New Outfit" or "Margin Walker," but this record tops those excellent punk numbers by moving on from deliberate abrasion.

"In On the Kill Taker" had the band tinkering out with complex rhythms and structures, but often they couldn't break free of feedback-and-screaming while doing so. This CD throws all that out the window - "Floating Boy" is pure dub, "Five Corporations" is the only punk song in 7:4 time I've ever heard, "Break" and "Recap Modotti" are downright funky.

Of course, the lyrics are always superb (especially the anti-borders Jeremiad "Place Position") and Fugazi's performances have finally caught up completely with their songwriting. Buy this awesome album!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Total about-face, August 12, 2001

By 

HUSKY BOY SUPERMODEL - See all my reviews

This review is from: End Hits (Audio CD)

Fugazi, along with NoMeansNo, are pretty much the only innovative "punk" bands left in the music world today. Whereas once punk was eclectic & vibrant, it has now become a cartoon, loaded with Bad Religion and Green Day sound-alikes. Amazingly, Fugazi have completely transformed their sound and still been able to remain interesting. Gone are the dub-style bass lines, the amped-up funk drumming and the choppy power riffs. This would be the death knell for most groups, but Fugazi get away with it. Instead, I now hear a band that injects artiness and experimentation into their rock-out jams, as well as exploring their more ambient, spacious sound. "Break" is a classic Fugazi album opener, displaying a tightness that only comes with years of playing together. "Foreman's Dog" starts off with some classic rock riff, but quickly delves into a mid-pace display of tricky guitar lines. It also features the best example of their contrasting dual vocal stylings. Guy Piccioto has a sinister, minor-key delivery and a lyrical obsession with body parts, while Ian MacKaye delivers anthemic choruses and themes in his sing-songy yelp. Their songs are deceptively simple. The band aren't the greatest musicians, but have the inventiveness to take their limited abilities and combine all these simple elements into unique compositions filled with time changes and unusual chord progressions. The instrumental "Arpeggiator" sounds like it should be the theme to the Charge of the Light Brigade, it has a familiar feeling to it, like you've heard it before in a classical music piece. "Recap Modotti" is a laid-back, moody number that could easily be used in a movie somewhere, featuring bassist Joe Lally on lead vox. The band is light years ahead of any of their contemporaries. Even their fans have to catch up to the band's constant, gradual style transitions. "Guilford Fall" utilizes feedback and droning one-note chords, but somehow remains catchy as hell. Granted, songs like "Floating Boy" & "Pink Frosty" go nowhere, but as long as Fugazi keep one-upping themselves, even the lacklustre tunes become bearable. I'm totally not into their personal politics, but they are to be admired for doing whatever they feel like, fans and foes be damned. It's as if they knew that they'd eventually lose a large chunk of their fan base whether they sold out or not, and decided to at least amuse themselves. They've gone from rhythm-driven crowd-pleasers to more guitar and vocal based aural soundscapes. The rhythm section is more subdued but still very involved, ocassionally breaking into their well-worn, but still fun, formula (see "Five Corporations"). "End Hits" & "Red Medicine" are worlds apart from their debut ep's & "Repeater", and the end results of this evolution have been staggering. It's almost like one great band has split into 2 amazing bands. Fugazi are an awesome group that have been criminally ignored, due to their refusal to affiliate with corporate-driven labels and radio/video stations. Instead of taking the money and running, they've stuck to their guns and become an important piece of musical history. Give them a chance. It'll take a few listens, but when they grow on you, they are a pleasant surprise in the copycat music world.