Frankenchrist [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Dead Kennedys | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 13, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 1985
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: MANIFESTO RECORDS
• ASIN: B00005NT4I
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #74,800 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Finally available again! This digitally remastered (by the original sound engineer) reissue of their classic 1985 DK album! This 2001 Manifesto release features 10 tracks.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rate the album, not the packaging itself everyone, January 15, 2005

By	TimothyFarrell22 (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frankenchrist (Audio CD)

This is a masterpeice, plain and simple. The second greatest punk album ever, next to the Kennedys' debut "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetalbes". It doesn't exactly click on the first listen, but subsequent listens prove it to be a flawless album. The accumulation of the trilogy that started with "Fresh Fruit", continued with "Plastic Surgery Disasters", and ended with this incredible document of protest rock that actually rocks (which is a rare thing). Like everyone else said, try to track down a used copy. But come on guys, review the actual album, not the packaging. "Soup Is Good Food" and "MTV Get Off the Air" are two of the greatest songs ever. However, the highlight of this album is definatly "Stars and Stripes of Corruption", the most well-written song I have ever laid my ears upon. Make sure to listen to all three albums mentioned in this review (you can skip over "Bedtime For Democracy").

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant and still relevant., September 12, 2005

By	Michael Stack (North Chelmsford, MA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Frankenchrist (Audio CD)

To many, this is the album where the Dead Kennedys ended and Jello Biafra's politically charged vision fully took focus. To me, that may be the case, but it's not a bad thing.

Largely a response to Reaganomics and malaise amongst Americans lyrically, musically "Frankenchrist" is something altogether different. In the time they've recorded, a number of trends have come and gone, and the Kennedys seem to absorb bits from new wave and other post-punk movements while somehow maintaining their edge and their sound.

The best pieces are when this push in music and the lyrics are both at their extremes-- morbid, bizarre new wave-ish masterpiece "Soup is Good Food" (about unemployment and the destruction of the middle class), spastic environmentalist punk "Hellnation", white trash lambasts "Jock-O-Rama" (about the culture of high school football) and "Goons of Hazzard" (fairly self-explanatory) all are noteworthy. But as far as sarcastic lyrics and oddball arrangements, very little can possibly compare to the stunning "MTV- Get Off the Air". Lambasting conservative music (meaning not risktaking) being marketed as innovative and force-fed to willing consumers, it somehow succeeds in being both amusing and serious at the same time. And certainly closer "Stars and Stripes of Corruption", a punk summary of Biafra's concerns about the country, is catchy, intelligent, sarcastic and all in all just a blast.

All in all, "Frankenchrist" a great album, and its really no surprise that the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) chose to attack this album. What's perhaps most frightening is how relevant so many songs written about a time seem today. Recommended for punk fans, political thinkers, and people who just like a good record.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A creative way to fight the power, June 28, 2000

By	Ed Martin (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frankenchrist (Audio CD)

The pioneer punk band the Dead Kennedys have never pulled their punches. Frankenchrist exemplifies this more than any other DK album. Lyrically, FC is the most bitingly critical album DK has ever released. The cynical lyrics are matched with a unique musical sound incomparable with any other DK album. Many of the songs are slow, heavy, and technotronic. Guitarist Ray's high pitched notes are supplemented and overlapped with Jello's cynical echoes and caustic lyrics. For the fan who prefers the old Kennedys style, there are some good hooks and fast paced songs that can be recommended such as "Chicken Farm and Stars and Stripes".

Probably the most notable song on this album is MTV-get off the air, which is a funny and easily understandable parody of the biggest fraud ever perpetuated by the music industry, the music video "revolution". But my personal favorite is Soup is Good Food, which is a song about turning obsolete factory workers into soup. "We're sorry, hate to interrupt, but its illegal to jump off this bridge. You'll have to go kill yourself somewhere else. A tourist might see you and we don't want that!" Folks, creative social criticism doesn't get any better than that.

Like everything Jello Biafra does, this album is a revelation of the "dark shattered underbelly of the American Dream". This final, and ultimately dooming album by the DK's is characterized by the driving force of creativity that formed the band. Something new to replace the old, but the message remains persistant. WE DON'T WANT YOUR DREAMS! Biafra continues to fight the nightmare it has become.