Customer Reviews

Record

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Fear is not just one L.A. Punk's finest groups ever, Fear is one of L.A.'s finest over all groups of all time. Lee Ving & Company has been one of the rare bands that is as explosive on stage as on vinyl. After seeing Fear perform live in 1982, I was blown away with what a tight and kinetic set they lashed out. Where groups like Black Flag brought out the anger in people, Fear came of more like pranksters in overdrive, bringing out the sheer Loco & Chaos in people. I bought this album, wondering how close it was to their performance.

"The Record" did not disappoint, and best catches the essence of Fear. These folks were a unique brand of punk for its day; there were plenty of excellent groups ranting about anger, politics, society. On this album, Lee Ving rants in sort of a Speed-Racer-Villain style, more cussing at the world with a grin on his face and a middle finger extended. L.A. Punks often sounded desperate and defiant; Fear came off as jubilant and defiant.

"There's So Many Of Us" is the perfect start to an album, belting out vocals immediately. It's a fun song saying "Let's Have A War!" No deep analysis, no pseudo-intellectual philosophy, just a loud and simple Guajardian cry for a war just to crank up the stock market and so "you can go die!"

It gets better. Way better! "Beef Boloney" has no redeeming value in a beautiful way, and "Camarillo" is one of those very short, very explosive, and totally unforgettable tunes you will find yourself playing repeatedly.

Perhaps the crowning glory is "I Love Living in the City," one of the catchiest obscene songs I have heard in my life. When I say obscene, I mean no-holds-barred obscene. Nothing abusive, nothing evil, just a song that paints one big nasty picture that will stick in your head. Ratty as the lyrics are, I would lay odds that even the most easily offended clergyman would find himself humming the tune after hearing it only once.

From start to finish, "The Record" is pure adrenaline. There is no resting on this album, just energy and talent from beginning to end. Of all the veteran L.A. Punk bands, Fear is high on top of the heap. And what a glorious heap of music L.A. Punk is!

Fans of the Germs will love Fear, and vice versa. Dead Kennedys used punk to show their politics, Descendents used punk to show their angst, and Fear and the Angry Samoans used punk to offend people. Like all great punk albums, this one doesn't last too long (under thirty minutes), but all the songs are full of anger and are just a kick in the face. In addition to being angry and offensive, Fear are funny! Women, New Yorkers, and gays fall victim to Lee Ving. While I strongly dissagree with everything this band stands for, they do it in such a funny way that I don't manage to care. One of the dozen or so hardcore punk classics to come out of LA.

.... and maybe that's why Fear's Record is so damn irresistable. Be warned: Punk rawk prudes and poseurs will die from exposure to Fear. Nothing is sacred--homophobic, sexist, pro-violence, and just plain dirty, this is the album that haunts Tipper Gore in her sleep.

Truth be told, I view Fear as a second-tier West Coast hardcore band--Lee Ving & Co. didn't have Greg Ginn's insane guitarwork and Rollins' cathartic rage and angst, Jello Biafra's social consciousness and political satire, or X's deliriously dark and menacing vibe; nor did they release anything of particular note after this album. However, Fear did have a rad rhythm section in the form of Derf Scratch (bass) and Spit Stix (drums), and a rigid, precise, and aggressive sound that belied their hilariously nihilistic, f--k you persona. Lee Ving was both a complete arsehole and awesome frontman (with a very distinctive, rant-like style of delivery), who had a habit of antagonizing the audience and turning concerts into all-out riots. A total parody of punk, a big joke, though you'd have to be a stick in the mud to care.

Anyway, about three-quarters of this album is filled with incredibly entertaining assaults on common decency, such as the timeless Let's Have A War ("... so you can go DIE!!!"), Beef Bologna, New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones, I Love Livin' In The City, and Foreign Policy.

The only reason why this album is getting a three instead of a four is that Record doesn't capture the intensity of their live sound. Handled by a producer used to AOR bands, Fear sound anemic in the studio instead of bone-crushing. But that still doesn't ruin this album. If you want intelligence or subtle P.C. social commentary, pick up a Bad Religion or Fugazi release; but if you want a no-holds barred, middle-finger-in-the-air party, grab yourself some cheap beer, throw on Record, and crank the volume 'till your neighbors start running for cover. Aww yeah.

I can't think of any other scene in the world that put out such consistently great records as the U.S. hardcore scene of the early 1980's (nor have many other scenes gone down hill so quickly.) Fear's "The Record" is just one of those fine pieces. It is punishing. It takes no prisoners. It offends most people, animals, and clergymen in one way or another. And that's what's so great about it. In an age when most punk consisted of anti-government, anti-social harrangues, which actually worked by the way, these guys had a truly warped sense of humor. Soundwise, think of a heavier, more offensive version of the Circle Jerks, who can actually play their instruments. Thats right, these guys aren't content to just play around with 3 chords, they can play. So in short, they had talent, intelligence, and awicked sense of humor. If you can't handle it, you should go and have a heart attack.

These guys were definitely PUNK with a capital P! With a volatile mix of killer musicianship and Lee Ving's Angry Cookie-Monster rant style of singing, FEAR left no target unscathed and did so with so much vitriolic glee and abandon!

"Let's Have A War" just by itself is guaranteed to rile the most oversensitive PC types and simultaneously have you on the ground laughing uncontrollably with its potent arguments for a domestic war (like jacking up the Dow Jones, cleaning up New Jersey and making lots of money by selling the rights to the networks)! Other classics lke "Camarillo", New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones" (featuring a saxophone solo by bassist Derf Scratch that sets the art of saxophoning back 500 years!), "Foreign Policy" and "I LOve Livin' In The City" and "Disconnected" show the band's blazing musicianship and over-the-top listener baiting. Special kudos go to guitarist Philo Cramer for his whacky metal/blues style with LOTS of whammy bar and drummer Spit Stix for holding it all together at such insane tempos.

Easily offended? Turn and run! Need a good high-volume laugh at insane tempos, FEAR-The Record may be just what the doctor ordered!

When I was in high school we bought this record because we had a little punk rock air band which we would pretend we were playing songs at high school dances. We were Iowa kids in the early 80's and we thought punk was wild, silly music like Devo and the B-52's. This record (or should I say THE RECORD) was a rude awakening.

After we listened to it in my friend Joel's living room none of us wanted to keep it. We thought it the most vile, corrupt thing we had ever heard. Now, 20 years later it has lost none of it's bite, but through the years my friends and I have become MASSIVE FEAR fans, if for no other reason than the band's extremism has a somewhat charming quality, and the moment we first listened to that record will forever be enshrined as a moment when we lost our innocence.

You know how they always say music gets worse and more violent with each passing generation? I wouldn't agree. This is probably the most aggressive, violent stuff I've eaver heard. Stand out tracks include "I Love Living in the City" "We Destroy the Family" "Let's Start a War" "I Don't Care About You" and "FORIEGN POLICYYYYYYY"

...just look at the people who's sensibilities are still shaken. Fear were all about pissing you off. Its cool to see they still manage to do that despite this record being almost thirty.

I don't care about you...

I used to play this album at full volume back when I was in junior high just to piss off my parents. Fear are never going to be mentioned in the same breath as hardcore greats like Black Flag or the Circle Jerks, but if you want a good time punk album by a band with a sense of humor, pick this up.

Lee Ving and the boys 1st LP is their most cohesive. Although they were an L.A. band, they had a New York sound and attitude (even though Lee says he hates N.Y. in the song New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones)in which nothing is sacred (politics, sex, homophobia, homelessness, on and on). Lee Ving has one of the best voices in punk, Philo Cramer (guitar)was a tremelo bar titan who could bend the strings til they sounded warped, and the rhythm section Derf Scratch (bass) and Spit Stix (drums) were a precision timekeeping machine. The songs have atmosphere that often reflect subject matter such as in the song Camarillo, which was written about an experience the band had playing at a mental institution, that has a midsection where Lee sounds like he may belong there and the aforementioned NY's Alright which has a New York no wave sound (as does Getting the Brush), and Disconnected which sounds very disconnected.
My personal favorites are the LP's opener "Let's Have a War", "No More Nothing" and "Foreign Policy". The song "We Gotta Get Outta This Place is another New York no wave sounding song which was a cover of the hit by Eric Burdon and the Animals.
F**k Christmas is a novelty song that was originally released as a 7" back in the '80s, I guess they tacked it on as a bonus track. It starts out with a wistful sounding Ving wailing about Christmas to a slow bluesy backing and all of a sudden the tempo starts thrashing while Lee howls the title a few times.
The band were way more ferocious live often inciting riots and turning the audience against them by Lee's antagonistic between song banter and when they played Saturday Night Live on the Halloween show in 1981 (at John Belushi's request, he was a huge fan) they brought punks to slam dance and wouldn't stop playing until the plug was pulled. You can check out a bit of their live antics in Decline of Western Civilization, a movie made Penelope Spheeris that also has the Germs, X, the Circle Jerks and many other great bands from a time when punk was punk and pop was pop.

The Record is a proudly erect middle finger to all those who hold political correctness dear, to those humorless drones who would determine what is and what is not acceptable. It's an hilarious, nihilistic, apolitical f*ck you to punks, society and anyone who got in Fears way: "Lets start a war, so you can go die!" These boys were about stirring up the anthill and pissing off as many people as they could, punks and otherwise. Either you were in on the joke or you weren't, Fear didn't give a f*ck either way. These guys have a lot more in common with the Sex Pistols anarchistic brand of punk than Amerikkan bands like the Dead Kennedys. Lunk heads? Not really, these guys are far too sarcastic and ironic to be taken very seriously and if you did take them seriously you were either a lunkhead yourself or a humorless drone, see above.

Musically Fear were one of the best punk bands on the planet. Their drummer Spit Stix is unbelievable. The riffs are lightning fast, the rhythms just blistering. These boys are way tight and play some fast agressive music unlike any of their contemporaries. Combine the amazing music with Lee Vings growl and hilarious lyrics and you've got one of the best debut albums of early '80s punk ever made.