The Minor Threat, as we know, are a truly legendary band and one of the most influential and important formations in the entire history of rock, and I'm certainly not exaggerating. Born from the ashes of the already seminal Teen Idles, the Minor Threat from Washington are the hardcore band par excellence, not the only one, not the first, but THE hardcore band.
The first two EPs definitively established and declared this genre, leading to a series of genesis and evolutions, among them thrash metal which undoubtedly owes much to this degeneration of classic punk; especially the first 8-track EP was extraordinarily significant: in addition to presenting violence condensed into very few seconds rarely heard before, it also led to the famous subgenre/current "Straight Edge," which (in theory) proclaimed values contrary to the classic commonplaces of rock, namely aversion to excesses and excesses, although some currents think it's just an extreme form of nihilism.
In any case, in this EP, and along with the second one, reside, if not the true Minor Threat, certainly the wilder and more primordial ones; but the career of Minor Threat did not end there, a career as brief as it was intense, although at that time the band already seemed finished.
Less than a year after starting out, the group indeed had already disbanded, the second EP "In My Eyes" was released under these conditions, but it was only a temporary disbandment; in 1983 the band reformed with the addition of new bassist, Steve Hansgen, to create what would finally be their first, and only, LP. The arrival of the new bassist allowed the previous role holder Brian Baker to switch to guitar, experimenting with what would later be his role in Bad Religion.
The album "Out Of Step" presented certain elements of change, albeit slight, compared to the past, elements that had already emerged in half of "In My Eyes." In the second EP, in fact, 2 out of 4 tracks for the first time exceeded 2 minutes presenting also more elaborate arrangements than usual. Even in this "Out Of Step," the first thing that immediately stands out to the eyes and ears is the duration: in 4 out of the 8 tracks the duration exceeds 2 minutes, and in 2 even surpass the 3-minute threshold; one of those 2 is the first "Betray": it is definitely a more punk rock than hardcore track and slower, although not completely denying the parent matrix, it also features hard rock influences particularly in the initial riffs, the result is excellent.
"It Follows" starts with a bass riff and returns partially to hardcore; the subsequent "Think Again" and "Look Back And Laugh" (the longest track on the album and second longest of the band, 3 minutes and 16) start with pure heavy metal riffs, the first one stands as a middle way between the 2 previous ones, the second instead is almost Sabbath style: it is one of the less violent and at the same time more polished episodes of the group's discography.
"Sob Story", "No Reason", and "Little Friend" (whose central bass solo is very similar to "No One Knows", sped up) confirm this "new" style, while remaining very aggressive and fast they move away from the purest and most uncompromising hardcore of the beginnings, they are however almost impeccable tracks technically; while remaining 100% Minor Threat they tread the path of the evolution of their own genre, a genre, hardcore, in many ways fantastic but also limiting in others.
After this album, the band will dissolve definitively and in '85 the last EP "Salad Days" will be released posthumously, the definitive step towards the end of this project and for the beginning of the new, even shorter, Embrace experience before the immense and famous Fugazi.
At the end of the work, however, there is room for the last true pure hardcore track in the career of the 5: the title track "Out Of Step", starts with words spat in the listener's face "don't smoke, don't drink, don't fuck", extreme manifesto of the Straight Edge philosophy, words later also scaled down by the leader Ian McKaye; musically it is in my opinion the best of all, the true manifesto of Minor Threat and the whole movement, even more than "Filler", which many consider as the true symbolic song of the band. This devastating piece is, as mentioned before, the only one in old style from the work and this is due to the fact that it came from the previous EP "In My Eyes".
In conclusion, surely to all those who were interested in savoring the unique experience of Minor Threat, the Complete Discography is recommended, because ultimately their entire production is to be considered as a whole, yet this was their only LP and it shows a band at the full height of their creativity. In some ways inferior to the first EP, in others superior due to the greater care of arrangements, I side with the former, without anyway taking anything away from this extraordinary album.
The only LP from a simply essential band.
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Betray (03:04)
Maybe it was no one's fault
I know it wasn't mine
But now that you've moved along
I guess I'm next in line
I thought we had the same ideas
But you, you proved me wrong
I've been played the fool before
But never for quite so long
Betray!
So what now? Do we shake hands,
And go on our seperate ways?
Or do I open my mind
And bump you into the haze?
No, I'll see you tomorrow
Same channel, same time, same place
I'm not going anywhere
'Cause I quit your fucking race
Betray!
Goddammit, we were supposed to stay young
And now it's over, it's finished, it's done
Normal expectations, they were on the run
But now it's over, it's finished, it's done
It's over, it's finished, it's done!
02 It Follows (01:50)
I thought
I had left it behind
In another fucking time
When boys were boys,
Girls were girls
And faces were hard ot find
It followed me!
It followed me!
It followed me!
It followed me!
All the stupid thinking
The stupid people thought
The rules that we lived buy
The friends that we bought
The asshole with a strong arm
In the shape of floating friends
The young ladies and their secrets
In the soap that never ends
It followed me!
It followed me!
It followed me!
It followed me!
I thought I had outrun
When I crossed the tracks
I thought I had gotten away
When it tapped me on the back
It followed me!
It followed me!
It followed me!
It followed me!
05 Sob Story (01:50)
Life's not been good for you
It's just not fair
You did nothing to deserve it
You did nothing at all
Sit back and watch
It turns from bad to worse
No matter how loud you cry
It always Hurts
Boy I'm glad I'm not in your shoes
How could things
Get any worse for you?
You're so fucking alone
How could things
Get any worse for you?
I don't blame you
When you piss and moan
Everybody gets
What you should've got
Everybody takes
Your opporatunities
Everybody gets
The breaks that belonged to you
Everybody takes
Your jusy desserts
Life's not been good for you
It's just not fair
I've got some news for you
Nothing is fair
I wish there was a way
To make it all better
I pray for a way
To make you happy
'Cause I'm sick and I'm tired
Of your whining, complaining, bitching, etc.
06 No Reason (01:57)
So you hate me
That's the way it goes
What the fuck?
I guess I'll never know
If it makes you feel better,
Then I guess it's just as good
You know I'll never accept it,
'Cause I never thought you could
Sit in the same room
We look the other way
Fuck conversation
We've got nothing to say
I'm sure we both hate to be ignored
Haven't we met someplace before?
What's the problem?
Is it justified?
Or are we dealing
With our fucking pride?
Do you really want to leave it alone?
I don't know what it's worth to you,
It's all I fucking own
Sit in the same room
We look the other way
Fuck conversation
We've got nothing to say
I'm sure we both hate to be ignored
Haven't we met someplace before?
Haven't we met before?
07 Little Friend (02:18)
There are no words
For what I want to say
No description
For what I feel
It's a non-emotion
It's something gray
Way down
Inside of me
You could call it anger
You could call it fear
You could call it frustration
That's as close as you'll get
Now I'm waiting
For security
There's something racing
Inside of me
I'm waiting, I'm waiting
For a sign
Waiting for something
Got nothing but time
You could call it anger
You could call it fear
You could call it frustration
That's as close as you'll get
And you could call it anger
You could call it fear
You could call it frustration
And you'd still be wrong.
And why not?
I said I'm waiting
Waiting for a sign
Just me and my little friend
He's deep inside
08 Out of Step (01:20)
(I)don't smoke
I don't drink
I don't fuck
At least I can fucking think
I can't keep up!
Can't keep up!
Can't keep up!
Out of step with the world!
(I) don't smoke
I don't drink
I don't fuck
At least I can fucking think
I can't keep up!
Can't keep up!
Can't keep up!
Out of step with the world!
Listen,
this is no set of rules
I'm not telling you what to do
all i'm saying, is that i'm bringing up like three things
that are like so important to the whole world,
that i don't have to find , much importance in
because of these things, whether it's fucking or playing golf,
i feel that...
I can't keep up!
Can't keep up!
Can't keep up!
Out of step with the world!
09 Cashing In (03:43)
How do you do, I figure we've met
My name is Ian, and I'm from Minor
Threat
You know, I count on music to be a good bet
??? after every
cent
(Yeah, yeah)
We don't care
We don't pose
We'll steal
your money
We'll steal your shows
I've got some money, and I'm
feeling fine
A couple of dollars, everything in time
Well you know, I'm
gonna be all right
With the money I'm making off of YOU
tonight
(Sucker!)
We don't care
We don't pose
We'll steal
your money
We'll steal your shows
(You know something?)
The
trouble with money, is that I want more
So let's, let's raise the price at
the door
How much tonight, three dollars or four?
You know we'll make a
million when we go on tour
(Yeah, that's the way I've been thinking
about it)
We don't care
We don't pose
We'll steal your
money
We'll steal your shows
(You know that's the way it is, man,
it's dog-eat-dog, ha ha!)
I'm taking a walk on the yellow brick
road
I only walk where the bricks are made of gold
My mind and body are
the only things I've sold
I need a little money 'cause I'm getting
old
(Well, that's the way it goes, isn't it? Yeah!)
We don't
care
We don't pose
We'll steal your money
We'll steal your
shows
Yeah, you don't care and we don't pose
We'll steal your money,
we'll steal your shows
That's the way it is in this world...right?
Ain't
that right?
Boy, you had us pegged all along...damn!
There's no place
like home
There's no place like home
There's no place like home
So
where am I?
There's no place like home
There's no place like
home
There's no place like home
So where am I?
There's no place
like home
There's no place like home
There's no place like home
So
where am I?
There's no place like home, right?
There's no place like
home
So where am I?
There's no place like home
There's no place
like home
So where am I?
Cashing In
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