Customer Reviews

Day Everything Became Nothing / Small Parts

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

 

 

NMN's best album for me (most think 'Wrong'(!)) - mostly slow, ploddy, experimental, utterly superb - I have read that they latterly regarded the production as a little bit pretentious which presumably accounts for the excellent rawness of the subsequent 'Wrong'. However, this mix of the EP 'The Day Everything Became Nothing' and the LP 'Small Parts Isolated and Destroyed' is a perfect marriage and shows NMN at the height of their creativity and their early days obsession with social order and its many strands (`Metronome' on `Sex Mad' is a good example on a previous album). They made entire albums exploring this at the individual and macro level, epitomised by the wonderful opening line to `The Day..': `The day everything became nothing, I was standing underneath a street light, wishing I had a cigarette'. The totally incredible and the ultra normal in two great lines. The song is about a sudden loss of meaning (or at least the sudden realisation of a gradual loss of meaning) and is a big statement on modern living. The wonderful `Dark Ages' ponders the subtle control of an information-dominated society whilst `Junk' extends the idea to the human obsession of naming everything till there's so much junk (switch off your camcorder!). `And that's Sad' picks up on the "order" issue in a different way: we act the way in which is expected of us and we expect nothing more or less - And that's Sad! Then there's `Victory': easy to dismiss as a morbid song but perhaps should be seen as a realisation of personal blunders and ultimately growth - the final punch is positive ("We're a paaarrrsitive band" they self-mockingly say on `Live and Cuddly' but they mean it): "So maybe I should just tell you/what I hope and believe/For every defeat there will be a victory/../In defeat/Victory". Oops, nearly forgot the unbelievable `Brother Rat/What Slayde Says'. The former knocks male pal-iness and wallows in betrayal and then segues into the astonishing second part: `WSS' is a great piece about the dialogue between right and wrong (sounds simple) but then makes it turns out that this is all within ("I hear him in my sleep, I see him in my dreams.../And then I face a mirror and he steps in between") the micro of social order - our conscious decisions, our fights against "f*ck `em all" when we're feeling tired and selfish and negative, and the ultimate victory of our good side which we present to the outer world ("I'll never listen to what Slayde says")- positive again! So, yes, I rather like it!!!!

For what it's worth I'd describe NMN as the "Rush of Hardcore Punk": go on, stone me but: they are a bass-led, Canadian 3-piece, with an intelligent drummer (how often??!), tight as a gnat's, lyrically very clever (but not as mushy moral!), and they stick out from the rest like a sore thumb, often sounding too clever and thoughtful to be writing music and probably should have stopped when Andy Kerr left.

Actually a combination of "The Day Everything Became Nothing" and "Small Parts Isolated And Destroyed", this is one of the darker albums from the Brothers Wright. This album has a great many classics on it. "Forget Your Life" is dismal yet enticing, "Dark Ages" is bleak but bouncy, "And That's Sad" is scary (especially with the backing vocals), and everything in between is simply indescribable. Not what you'd listen to at a party, this is more of a personal experience that you'd probably listen to with headphones, in the dark. Party music this is not, but you'll dig it anyway.

An excellent album with a strong mix of styles and moods, ranging from the hardcore of "Dead Souls" and "Teresa, Give Me That Knife" to the dark and moody "Forget Your Life" and "Real Love." The music is challenging at times but still delivers a lot of energy and is a great emotional release.

Lyrically this album is fantastic and eminently quotable, e.g.: "I couldn't remember my name / so I called myself Bob / it's weird being a Bob / but I'll get used to it, I HAVE TO!"

Like many NoMeansNo albums the mixing leaves something to be desired - for example the drums are immersed in this annoying reverb that really detracts from the sound and performance. Not quite as bad as on 0+2=1 or Sex Mad though.

For a better introduction to NoMeansNo I highly recommend Wrong which IMO is their strongest recording. But if you're looking for the next one to get, definitely get this one.

in my opinion this is the best from nomeansno
not as catchy as others like wrong or sex mad
more hardcore than later offerings such as worldhood of the world etc
it has a sustained interest; top baselines (dark ages)
cynical, intelligent and inspiration lyrics
ahh just buy it you'll see
and pray that they play these songs when you see em live

Singles to buy:
The Day Everything Became Nothing
Beauty and the Beast

Solid songs:
Junk
And that's Sad

This album suffers from not enough surgery. Some great music themes are hampered by being too long or repetitious. Others seem like Brother Rat seem to be formalized studio dick-arounds.

This album proved to me that it's OK to be off-center and unclassifiable. Even the punk scene wasn't totally sure what to make of Nomeansno. These Canadians seemed too brainy, too frenetic, too able to play their instruments and spin off-kilter narratives while pogo-ing around the scene with endless energy to fit exactly into any scene. Their take on human nature was dark, to be sure, but there were big, fat tongues in cheek while they let their edgy, heavy, and dare I say funktastic satire cascade over the music scene.

This album - well, fusion of two EP's - still carries the intensity of their live shows while staying musically complex. It set me on a path of challenging music for the rest of my life. Utterly essential, incredibly influential, hopelessly classic.