Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the top 5 all-time best soCal punk albums, October 18, 2005
I initially wasn't going to write a review on this album since it's legacy speaks for itself... but after seeing another review here where someone ignorantly slagged this album without backing up their diatribe with anything substantial, I just had to jump in and state the obvious... THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST AMERICAN PUNK ROCK RECORDS OF ALL TIME.
The proof is in the pudding... listen for yourself! I mean... maybe if you grew up listening to Aztec Camera then of course you're probably gonna hate this, but I grew up listening to this album.
Short, sweet, simple, and raw is how some of us like it.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
bold and beautiful, December 9, 2003
By A Customer
When I first purchased the vinyl LP back in 1982, I was already well versed with much of what had come previous by such bands as Black Flag, Necros, MDC, Minor Threat, Negative Approach, SSD, etc...In the early 80's, hardcore punk was raw, frenetic, angry, and urgent. I remember my first impression after listening to this album was that the descendents were perhaps the boldest band during that time. They didn't write songs about how much they hated Reagan or about unity or how much they hated the cops. They wrote songs about unrequitted love and the pressures of being a teen in the suburbs. Not the usual hardcore agenda at all. I went to see them in the fall of 1984 when they came to my town. Again I was floored by their sheer bravado because they looked like 4 nerds!!! But when they took the stage and sang songs such as "Myage" and "Jean is Dead", the entire club nearly came crashing down as the dancefloor became one huge violent whirlpoor of swinging fists and stomping combat boots. The music is raw and passionate, full of yearning. The kind of desperate yearning other aching hearts will surely recognize as undiluted soul seeking truth. Many people regard the descendents as the fathers of modern day punk/brat rock. I disagree. The descendents were the real thing and they stand head and shoulders above all those who would follow decades later, and "Milo Goes to College" is their shining moment in the sun.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you don't like punk, you won't like this...otherwise, this album is brilliant, May 2, 2006
First off, I can't stand people who don't like punk and yet insist on writing a review about a punk album just so they can bash the hell out of it, call it "generic", "uninspiried", and "unoriginal" (and any other empty rhetoric you can think of), and feel better about themselves. This is punk. If you don't like punk, then you won't like this, so why bother commenting on it. I don't comment on death metal albums because I don't like death metal. Let punk be already.
With that out of the way, this album is absolutley brilliant. It is a precursor to pop-punk, but make no mistake (as the kid below me did), this does not sound like the "very crappy generic" punk garbage you hear on the radio nowadays. The riffs are fast and edgy, but not as abrasive and harsh as a lot of hardcore bands from the 80s (i.e. Husker Du, Minor Threat, although I like them a lot too). Milo's voice is perfect for the music, and his lyrics, while they seem simple, are actually quite unique and incredible. Songs like "Suburban Home", "Parents", "I'm Not a Loser", and "Bikeage" are all excellent social commentaries about suburban environments, class struggles, and drug addictions. These guys sing about what they know, and they do it well. They didn't sing so they could get on MTV, like all those terrible "punk" bands do today. They're genuinely angst-filled and anger-driven, and should be praised for their musical honesty.
Lastly, yes the song titles have the suffix -age in them and "I'm Not a Punk" and "I'm Not a Loser" do sound like similar titles, but did it ever occur to you, fellow reviewer below, that this was done intentionally, maybe to give the album a sense of unity and continuity. There is such a thing as a theme on a music album, you know, it doesn't exist exclusively in literature. This album isn't overrated. In fact, I think it's underappreciated. Only 80s punk fans and people from SoCal really know about the Descendents, which is just a shame. It's some of the best punk ever made, no question about it. If you like this, get "Everything Sucks" and "I Don't Want to Grow Up".
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