Customer Reviews

...And No One Else Wanted To Play

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

 

 

This is great. I saw SNFU the first time in 1984, back in the day when they were still playing "Real Men Don't Watch Quincy" & "Strip Search". Every track cooks, even though BYO's production values leave alot to be desired. This was the band at its most intense.

I don't understand why BYO has to ruin the packaging for every one of their old releases put onto CD. They obviously didn't have the rights to use the original Diane Arbus photograph "Boy with toy hand grenade". They seem to go the cheapest possible route in their reissues, leaving out photos,etc. that were originally there.

This is a five star album but docked one star due to the lame-o practices of BYO.

Phoar; FINALLY hearing this album for the first time was some kinda breathtaking experience. I saw SNFU play right around 1996/ 1997 and have never forgotten them; stop-on-a-dime tight, wicked runaway-freight-train energy level and Mr. Chi Pig playing with all manner of toys onstage. If I recall, they included boxing hand puppets and a plastic squeaky steak he proceeded to set on fire. "She's Not On The Menu" is catchy to the point that I STILL remembered it clear as a bell and could almost sing along after hearing it precisely once at that show. "Cannibal Cafe" and blazing opener "Broken Toy"- which has perhaps become a little ironic and/ or telling in light of Mr. Chi Pig's unfortunate later difficulties- are easily as memorable. Really not a weak song in the bunch and relentless in the best way possible. Not quite as speedy as, say, the Boston-Not-LA folks with 15-second-long songs; maybe more comparable in tempo to Minor Threat and/ or a few Fang songs. Couple breakdowns/ slower parts and a nice thick very-slightly-metal-flavored guitar sound. The only SNFU records I'd heard previously were later Epitaph ones, but I don't remember them holding a candle to this whole thing. It's pretty well owned the stereo for the last three days and made driving the speed limit VERY challenging. Now somebody please put me in a time machine so I can experience that show all over again and take some pictures this time. Or better yet, get SNFU playing out in the States again!!

Dude, this album is a must have for any punk rock afficianado. Fast riffs, great lyrics....a total classic. Canada can be proud of Chi Pig and SNFU

Listening to these clips reminds me of seeing SNFU in Edmonton, in a sweaty old community hall, packed to the rafters with people. Ken Chin would have some gimmick like being inside a card board refrigerator box, shaking in it more and more, as the drawn out momentum of one of their old songs would build and build (i.e. bodies in the wall). The anticipation grew, with the song getting faster and faster. Then Ken Chin would burst out the box singing, the pit would go crazy, people stage diving, guitarist's jumping in the air, and the entire venue would explode! It was well deserved that SNFU live show in the old days was rated best of the year in 1989 (ahead of the Red Hot Chillies) by the old punk mag Flipside!!

I remember when this first came out on byo in 84-85 in limited editionred wax,wich i still own A great h.c album like d.o.a and sons of ishmael,and the neos,dayglo abortions,canadas finest early h.c bands at that time so you kiddies pick this one up and enjoy...............

Wasn't this album origionally called "And Nobody Else Wanted to Play"? Anyways, great album from a great Canadian hardcore band. I highly recommend it.

I recall a very thick-headed and misled writer for MAXIMUMROCKNROLL decrying Canada in print sometime in the mid-'90s, claiming that no worthwhile musical contributions ever emerge from north of the border, as compared to those of the U.S. and U.K. How so completely NOT TRUE!! Just talking strictly punk, Canada has produced some absolute greats such as D.O.A. and Dayglo Abortions, and more recently the likes of Sum 41 and Simple Plan (I do also appreciate some good mainstream pop-punk, so shoot me).

Continuing this tradition is Edmonton, Alberta's SNFU, and their debut "...And No One Else Wanted To Play" remains a milestone for Canadian punk.

The glory years of hardcore punk could said to have roughly been between 1978 (when L.A.'s Black Flag and Middle Class first appeared) and 1984 (when the likes of Agnostic Front and Battalion of Saints released their essential debut LPs). (As a sidenote, I am also a big fan of vintage slasher movies, and note that the original slasher era existed at pretty much exactly the same time.) "...And No One Else Wanted To Play" was recorded in December of 1984, and I consider it to be one of the last great records from the original punk era. (One could consider the absolute end to have been when the Dead Kennedys broke up in 1986 though.)

This album contains some brilliant tracks. The two best songs are the first ones on sides one and two of the original LP, "Broken Toy" and "Misfortune," respectively. The second side may be even stronger than the first, as it also contains classics such as "Loser At Life/Loser At Death."

It's hard to say who these guys sound like because they really do have their own style. What I can tell you is that you can expect 29 minutes of nonstop raw, fast and vintage punk rock.

I ordered this CD after seeing it praised highly on a "Listmania" list from a Canadian fan here on Amazon; I really do appreciate the recommendation (another one of the reasons Amazon is the best site around). Hopefully this review will serve to further spread the word.

A near masterpiece for mid-'80s punk and further proof that Canada has indeed made many worthwhile contributions musically in relation to the country's size.