Payin the Dues

Hellacopters | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 19, 1999)
• Original Release Date: October 19, 1999
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Sub Pop
• ASIN: B00001QEGY
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #197,645 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Early Gem From The Punkified Garage Rock Masters, March 13, 2002

By 

Ken (Youngsville, LA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Payin the Dues (Audio CD)

Fans hear "high-energy rock-n-roll" as the descriptive phrase used the most on The Hellacopters. While that's a fairly decent description for those willing to rest on a simple phrase to describe the band's entire musical and philosophical direction, it's just the tip of the iceberg to those of us who know what the Hellacopters are really about.
Nick Royale (Andersson, really) and company have a really sincere, yet absolutely grandiose, task set aside for themselves. With each full length, they encompass and manifest elements from just about every decade in the history of recorded rock music. Nothing seems to be left out or overlooked on a Hellacopters album. They're all typically equal parts Chuck Berry, The Who, The Stooges, MC5, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ramones, Kiss, Sex Pistols... you name it, it's just a matter of which ones are prioritized on each subsequent release. There's an archetypal, subliminal knowledge of what constitutes simply great rock-n-roll that they've somehow inherited from who knows where. Obviously, and thankfully for the rest of us in need of a garage-rock fix, they've channeled the spirits of Rock Gods and put them to good use.
"Payin' The Dues", unfortunately the last to include the talents of guitarist Dregen, was the second Hellacopters full length album - and it succeeded in placing the `Copters even higher on a garage-rock pedestal. Their debut, "Supershitty to The Max", had been recorded in no time (under thirty studio hours from start to finish, which is outrageously quick) and it blew away anyone doubting the power of Rock in the 90's. With "Payin' the Dues", it was time for the band to prove that they were worth the hype - especially in their own country after having to answer for the Swedish Grammy (!) their debut won. And they did prove their worth... again and again, as a matter of fact.
The debut's punkish attitude and loud guitars (as always, right?!) were immediately recognizable on this follow-up. Likewise, that same raw, unpolished, and virtually unproduced quality permeated the album from start to finish, maintaining that infamous garage feel. Despite this, however, there's slightly less of a sense of abrasiveness and urgency, perhaps due to the fact that underneath, the actual writing is slightly more rock and less punk. That's a sentiment carried over into the lyrics, as well, with more verses on boredom, nihilism, desperation, frustration, anger... and how rock basically makes the world go round - making it all better.
Appropriately enough, many of the tracks on "Payin' The Dues" remained a part of the `Copters live shows for years. "Riot On The Rocks", "Soulseller", "Twist Action", and "Psyched Out & Furious", are all rip-roaring classics that have always felt right at home on stage as well as in the stereo. Equal parts simplistic and anthemic, they'll get you bouncing, shouting, and wishing they'd be coming to your town soon. By no means are these the only decent tracks on the album, mind you. "You Are Nothin'", "Looking At Me", "Like No Other Man", "Hey!", and the handful of tracks left are blues-based melodic rock-n-roll standards you'd only hear from obsessive purists bent on making everything they write an instant classic. As some have alluded, The Hellacopters began moving in a slightly different direction after this release. The next full length, "Grande Rock" is, by many accounts, the point in which Nick and company toned it down a little and polished the edges a tad. And while I still love the direction they went after that point, I have to agree they definitely moved forward in direction after "Payin' The Dues".
By the way, the version of the album as shown here is apparently still within the first pressing of 10,000, since the live disk is included. No matter if you love "Payin' The Dues" as much as I do, it's still worth the price of admission for fans to get the exceptional bonus disk. With that, you're bound to experience the `Copters shining on stage! A definite treat for garage-rock ears!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hot Damn Tamale!, November 29, 1999

By 

Marc E. Sterling - See all my reviews

This review is from: Payin the Dues (Audio CD)

I've been looking for a record like this for a long time! Tired of the fey whining that seems to be in vogue for "alternative" bands (alternative to what?), I read a review of this record and picked it up on a whim, and it hasn't been out of my CD -player since. Man! Ten songs, 28 minutes, and the length is perfect. What do you want, a five-minute "power ballad"? These guys pull over, drag you in the car, stomp on the gas, pimp slap you up and down and dump your sorry carcass out on the curb 28 minutes later. Imagine if Iggy and the MC5 made a record together with 90's production values. Never mind the less-than-stellar live CD. Payin the Dues is one enormous slab of aggro that steamrolls anything else out there... man, what's in the water over there?

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you are pretty, don't buy this disk, July 6, 2006

By 

K. Didion "Retired municipal rock star" (South of Canada, North of Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Payin the Dues (Audio CD)

cuz it will rip your face off. Current 'Copters tunes are polished and hook laden. Sure this disk has the hooks (Hey!) but zero polish. It's not a BMW, it's a '67 GTO in primer. Dig?

There have been references to the Detroit sound a la MC5/Stooges and sure enough, it's in there. I'm a sucker for pick slides and a good old Dunlop Cry Baby wahs. Color me rocked.