Frankenchrist [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Dead Kennedys | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 13, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 1985
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: MANIFESTO RECORDS
• ASIN: B00005NT4I
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,889 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #98 in Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > American Alternative

Track Listings

1. Soup Is Good Food

2. Hellnation

3. This Could Be Anywhere

4. A Growing Boy Needs His Lunch

5. Chicken Farm

6. Jock-O-Rama

7. Goons of Hazzard

8. MTV-Get off the Air

9. At My Job

10. Stars and Stripes of Corruption

Editorial Reviews

The second CD from 1982. 21 tracks including 'Government Flu', 'Terminal Preppie' and 'Buzzbomb & Riot'. Packaged with abonus Industrial Strength Records compilation CD. Standard jewelcase. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant and still relevant., September 12, 2005

By 

Michael Stack (North Chelmsford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frankenchrist (Audio CD)

To many, this is the album where the Dead Kennedys ended and Jello Biafra's politically charged vision fully took focus. To me, that may be the case, but it's not a bad thing.

Largely a response to Reaganomics and malaise amongst Americans lyrically, musically "Frankenchrist" is something altogether different. In the time they've recorded, a number of trends have come and gone, and the Kennedys seem to absorb bits from new wave and other post-punk movements while somehow maintaining their edge and their sound.

The best pieces are when this push in music and the lyrics are both at their extremes-- morbid, bizarre new wave-ish masterpiece "Soup is Good Food" (about unemployment and the destruction of the middle class), spastic environmentalist punk "Hellnation", white trash lambasts "Jock-O-Rama" (about the culture of high school football) and "Goons of Hazzard" (fairly self-explanatory) all are noteworthy. But as far as sarcastic lyrics and oddball arrangements, very little can possibly compare to the stunning "MTV- Get Off the Air". Lambasting conservative music (meaning not risktaking) being marketed as innovative and force-fed to willing consumers, it somehow succeeds in being both amusing and serious at the same time. And certainly closer "Stars and Stripes of Corruption", a punk summary of Biafra's concerns about the country, is catchy, intelligent, sarcastic and all in all just a blast.

All in all, "Frankenchrist" a great album, and its really no surprise that the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) chose to attack this album. What's perhaps most frightening is how relevant so many songs written about a time seem today. Recommended for punk fans, political thinkers, and people who just like a good record.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rate the album, not the packaging itself everyone, January 15, 2005

By 

TimothyFarrell22 (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frankenchrist (Audio CD)

This is a masterpeice, plain and simple. The second greatest punk album ever, next to the Kennedys' debut "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetalbes". It doesn't exactly click on the first listen, but subsequent listens prove it to be a flawless album. The accumulation of the trilogy that started with "Fresh Fruit", continued with "Plastic Surgery Disasters", and ended with this incredible document of protest rock that actually rocks (which is a rare thing). Like everyone else said, try to track down a used copy. But come on guys, review the actual album, not the packaging. "Soup Is Good Food" and "MTV Get Off the Air" are two of the greatest songs ever. However, the highlight of this album is definatly "Stars and Stripes of Corruption", the most well-written song I have ever laid my ears upon. Make sure to listen to all three albums mentioned in this review (you can skip over "Bedtime For Democracy").

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars To all the non-believers..., November 3, 2005

By 

Starved Down - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frankenchrist (Audio CD)

As much flak as this album has recieved, it still is, in my opinion, the best DKs album.

This album features eight of the best Dead Kennedys tracks ever: "Soup is Good Food", "This Could Be Anywhere", "A Growing Boy Needs His Lunch", "Chicken Farm", "Jock-O-Rama", "MTV-Get Off The Air!", "At My Job", and, perhaps the greatest DKs song ever, "Stars and Stripes of Corruption".

"Stars and Stripes of Corruption" is the greatest track off of this album, if only for the fact that it remains as relevant today as it did 20 years ago. All of the lyrics are as true today as they were yesterday, and that will probably the case for years to come.

If you've only heard "Fresh Fruit", you owe it to yourself to check out this album, the best in the DK catalogue.