Vs. [Original recording remastered]

Mission Of Burma | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 21, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Matador Records
• ASIN: B001T46UDM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,862 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Secrets

2. Train

3. Trem Two

4. New Nails

5. Dead Pool

6. Learn How

7. Mica

8. Weatherbox

9. The Ballad Of Johnny Burma

10. Einstein's Day

11. Fun World

12. That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate

13. Forget

14. OK/No Way

15. Laugh The World Away

16. Progress

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Album of the Eighties. Period., April 11, 2002

By 

Peter F. Stubbs (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vs. (Audio CD)

While sounding like neither, this album captures the epic struggle between the band's two yin and yang main influences, Pere Ubu and the Stooges. Tearing through outright punk rockers like "That's how I escaped my certain Fate" with authority, they still manage to sculpt delicate beauties like "Trem Two" and "Einstein's Day". A thinking band that rocked, Burma was unmatched on these shores and equaled only by the best worldwide (Gang Of Four's "Entertainment"). And even their equals couldn't cover the breadth of material these guys seemingly effortlessly spun on a regular basis. This album dwarfed all that came before & altered all that would follow, leading the way for bands like Husker Du & The Minutemen to release masterworks of their own a year later. That Burma never recorded another album supplies post-punk with a tragedy on a scale (musically speaking) with Buddy Holly's death.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is an essential for any music collection, July 3, 2004

By 

Alex Fencl (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vs. (Audio CD)

Mission of Burma is without a doubt one of the most exciting, intense, cerebral, inticing, and genius groups to ever live. This disc is proof of that. Songs like "Trem Two" and "Weatherbox" show off the groups' more avant-garde leanings, whereas gems like "Mica" and "That's How I Escaped my Certain Fate" are pure, unpretentious art punk. The range of musical diversity in this one album is absolutely mind-blowing. "Vs." was originally released in 1982 and it sounds as if it could have been recorded today. A truly remarkable feat in independent music by 1982's or 2004's standards. My advice: buy this album and study it. Listen to it many, many, many times for not only the songs, but the song structures, as they are the most exciting part of any Burma song. I truly believe that no one has been able to top Burma yet, and no one ever will be able to for that matter. And it is an absolute miracle that they reunited and are playing live once again. It almost makes me believe that there is a god if such a talented band could join forces again after a 22-year hiatus. So listen, learn, and rock out as hard as you possibly can because life is too short to listen to watered-down "punk rock" like Blink 182 or NOFX. If you want the real deal, the real gritty in-your-face intelligent kind of stuff, then you have come to the right place.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Punk rock doesn't get any better than this, March 8, 2001

By 

Frank Grimes (LaPalma, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vs. (Audio CD)

Mission of Burma is probably the best kept secret in old school punk rock. Next to the Clash, they are probably my favorite punk band of all time. And Vs. is the undeniable masterpiece.

I call Mission of Burma a punk band, but if it was released today, it would problably just be labeled as indie rock. You are not going to mistake this album for the Dead Kennedys or even the Sex Pistols for that matter. But Vs. is often just as intense and visceral as any album by those punk bands. One of the biggest differences is the instrumentation. Most of their songs are mid tempo, and have dense layers of jangly guitar lines. Infact, some of their songs don't sound all too different from REM's instrumentation. However, what makes this album so gripping is it's ability to invoke feelings of nervousness, paranoia, and great urgency. I think the only band that I can compare Mission of Burma to is Gang of Four. There are 16 tracks on this album, and every song is performed with incredible conviction. My personal faves are "Secrets", "New Nails", "Weatherbox" and "Fun World".

Long story short, if you like indie rock or punk rock, it doesn't get much better than Vs. Also, I strongly recommend checking out the Signals Calls, and Marches EP. (It contains the fantastic "academy fight song" as well as "That's when I reach for my revolver.")