Generic [Original recording reissued]

Flipper | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 10, 1999)
• Original Release Date: 1982
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000JT3Y
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #342,516 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Ever

2. Life Is Cheap

3. Shed No Tears

4. (I Saw You) Shine

5. Way of the World

6. Life

7. Nothing

8. Living for the Depression

9. Sex Bomb

Editorial Reviews

The first record from San Francisco's legendary Flipper, originally released in 1982. Post-hardcore? Post-punk? Art-rock? Despite being a part of SF's punk scene Flipper were really only punk in spirit, eschewing conventions and making no concessions. Sludgy, distorted, atonal, noise rock jams that sound as urgent and heavy as they must have 25 years ago. A huge influence on bands such as Nirvana and The Melvins (their current lineup includes Krist Novoselic on bass). Album - Generic Flipper contains the classics Sex Bomb, and Life. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All time classic, August 2, 2004

By 

DisturbedMonkey (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Generic (Audio CD)

Flipper were, without a doubt, one of the best eighties punk bands. You've never heard of them? Thats quite surprising considering Kurt Cobain freqeuntly mentioned them in interviews, REM covered sex bomb and Jello Biafra once stated that Flipper were one of the best bands in the punk scene.

It is a shame this band gets almost no recognition, because they really do stand out from the generic thrash hardcore that the punk scene almost entirely consisted of at the time. Instead of playing speed punk, Flipper took the hardcore sound of bands like black flag, minor threat and the germs and slowed it down. The music may take awhile to get into as it sounds so different from anything else. I didnt like Flipper when I first heard them, but I gave them a few more listens and now I love them.

What you hear once you play this album is loud basslines against Ted Falconi's quiet, distorted guitar, with Steve DePace hammering away at the drums. Over all this you hear either Bruce or Will ranting about the meaningless of existence in a cruel and uncaring universe. Just take a look at some of the lyrics to Way of the World: "There are eyes that cannot see and fingers that cannot touch. Thats the way of the world. There are dreams left empty and blank and legs that have ceased to walk. Thats the way of the world." The mood of every song on this album is the same, apart from sex bomb, where Bruce Loose Tries to shake listeners out of the depression that listening to the other songs are likely to have caused by playing a happy song.

This is, qutie simply, one of the best albums ever recorded. Pity its out of print. But then again, not many people are aware of Flipper's existence. If you want to hear generic hardcore, go and buy a CD of some band called Negative Youth or something like that. If you want to hear a band who dared tobe different, then check out Flipper. Every song on this album is great.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Flipper- Generic? Like no other, July 3, 2001

By 

Roger Kummert (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Generic (Audio CD)

I saw the band on tour for this album. I also had the pleasure of seeing them several other times. A Flipper show was always an experience. Always a party atmosphere. I remember Bruce standing up and announcing that the show would start once someone bought the band a round of pitchers of beer. After about five minutes of ranting at the audience someone gave in a bought the round. Bruce proceeded to chug his down before going into a brilliant rendition of "I Don't Want to Live If I Can't Get Drunk". The whole band had obviously been partying prior to the show and before the end of the set the only member of the band on stage was Will. The rest of the band had either passed out or fallen off the stage only to be replaced by a member of the audience. One of the best rock shows ever!

This album captures the true spirit of the band better than any other material they released- except maybe the "There was an Old Lady" single. "Sex Bomb" is one of the greatest rock songs ever recorded and the rest of the album is just as good. The musicianship is minimal and incompetent, the lyrics are insightful and the album should only be played at maximum volume. It is even better if you are drunk.

This band was one of the most important in all of hardcore. When this music first came out the hardcore scene was quite diverse and the music had not yet developed into a "formula". Bands took different paths to reach the intensity and chaos that this whole movement represented. Flipper took the route past the keg of beer at your backyard barbeque.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Altamont distilled, February 20, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Generic (Audio CD)

Generic Flipper is not a hardcore/teen punk record, the genre it was lumped in when it first came out. The music captures the dark side of the counterculture--it plays like a bad acid trip. Flipper creates a very disturbing, paranoid drone that really gets under your skin as it forces you take a look at the futility of life. If you aren't ready to make this journey, I wouldn't recommend Generic Flipper. If you are, brace yourself because it's a bumpy ride. I saw Flipper live once and the crowd quickly assumed Rolling Stones at Altamont mode--dazed, drunken, stoned and violent. It was one of the greatest rock shows I've ever attended--Sonic Youth are the Monkees by comparison.