All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt

Last updated
All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt
AllRoadsLeadToAusfahrt.jpg
Studio album by
Nomeansno
ReleasedAugust 22, 2006
Genre Punk rock
Length53:03
Label
Nomeansno chronology
One
(2000)		All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt
(2006)

All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt is the tenth and final studio album by Vancouver punk rock band Nomeansno. It was released by the band's own Wrong Records imprint, in conjunction with AntAcidAudio in North America and Southern Records in Europe, making it their first record not to be released by the Alternative Tentacles imprint since Mama in 1982. The album marked a return to shorter and less experimental songs than their previous efforts, Dance of the Headless Bourgeoisie (1998) and One (2000). [1]

Contents

Background and recording

Nomeansno split with their longtime label Alternative Tentacles in 2002, two years after the release of their ninth album, One . They began the process of re-releasing their albums on their own Wrong Records imprint, and issued their best-of album The People's Choice in 2004. [2]

The band began rehearsing a batch of new songs for their tenth album in 2004, around the time of touring in support of The People's Choice. The new songs contained more songwriting input from drummer John Wright than those on the band's previous albums. [3] The songs also were generally shorter than the band's recent work, and the group consciously wrote an album in this style in reaction to several of their previous albums. [2] John Wright remarked:

After One had come out, which was a fairly, well, not really dark album, but it was a "sit and listen to on your own" kind of record. With the longer songs, especially with "Bitches' Brew", I really enjoyed that and was really happy with it. I think it is one of our stronger records. But we thought, Dance of the Headless Bourgeoisie was a very obscure album and not our greatest effort, so Ausfahrt was like, let's do some short songs, 10 or 12 on the album, and keep it under 50 minutes, and just try to do something rocking...the group of songs we chose for Ausfahrt, it had a kind of flow – not earth shattering or really deep but that was a fairly conscious effort to do something that was a little more accessible. [4]

The band recorded the album at the Hive Creative Labs and Lemon Loaf Studios in Vancouver. Hive Creative Labs was larger and more advanced than the studios in which the band had recorded their previous albums. [3] They recorded 16 songs total during the sessions, including the 13 songs listed on the final album, the unlisted track "The Future Is the Past," and the outtakes "Perambulate" and "Black Silhouette." ("Perambulate" was later released on Tour EP 2 (2010).) The tracks were mixed at Hipposonic Studios and mastered at Gotham City Studios.

Release

All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt's title was inspired by the highway exit signs the band saw for Ausfahrt (German for "exit") while touring in Germany. The album art combined elements of German traffic signage and Telus typography, as well as photographs. According to Rob Wright, the working title for the album was Nihilism for Dummies.

The album was released on August 22, 2006 by the band's own imprint, Wrong Records. It was co-released and distributed in North America by AntAcidAudio and in Europe by Southern Records. The six-year gap between One and All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt was the longest between albums in the band's career.

The band embarked upon extensive touring in support of the record. In total, they played 172 shows on the supporting tour and enjoyed the greatest financial success of their career. [5] [6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [7]
PopMatters 6/10 [8]
Punknews.orgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [9]

The record was generally received well and appreciated for its return to a rawer punk sound. In a glowing review, AllMusic critic Jo-Ann Greene praised the album's "rapid-fire series of dramatic images and aural impressions that leave the listener exhausted and sated by the end" and "musicianship that inevitably leaves one's mouth gaping." With a comparatively somber appraisal, Dusted's Doug Mosurock wrote reverently of the band's longevity but argued that the band had lost its strength with a batch of dragging and redundant songs. [10] Similarly, PopMatters critic Ed Huyck praised the band's legacy but assessed the album as "extremely competent" but only "sometimes compelling" in a lukewarm review. [8]

Track listing

  1. "Wake Up" – 2:35
  2. "In Her Eyes" – 3:28
  3. "Mr. in Between" – 3:17
  4. "I See a Mansion in the Sky" – 6:31
  5. "Ashes" – 3:31
  6. "So Low" – 2:17
  7. "Faith" – 4:33
  8. "Heaven Is the Dust Beneath My Shoes" – 7:18
  9. "Mondo Nihilissimo 2000" – 2:41
  10. "The Hawk Killed the Punk" – 2:56
  11. "I'm Dreaming and I Can't Wake Up" – 3:56
  12. "'Til I Die" – 3:33
  13. "Slugs Are Burning" – 3:00
  14. (unlisted) "The Future Is the Past" – 3:27

Personnel

Nomeansno

Additional musicians

Production and design

Related Research Articles

Nomeansno Canadian alternative rock band

Nomeansno was a Canadian punk rock band formed in Victoria, British Columbia and later relocated to Vancouver. They issued 11 albums, including a collaborative album with Jello Biafra, as well as numerous EPs and singles. Critic Martin Popoff described their music as "the mightiest merger between the hateful aggression of punk and the discipline of heavy metal." Nomeansno's distinct hardcore punk sound, complex instrumentation, and dark, "savagely intelligent" lyrics inspired subsequent musicians. They are often considered foundational in the punk jazz and post-hardcore movements, and have been cited as a formative influence on the math rock and emo genres.

The Hanson Brothers were a Canadian punk rock band formed in 1984 in Victoria and later based in Vancouver. The group included John and Rob Wright and Tom Holliston, all members of the punk rock band Nomeansno. The Hanson Brothers' band name references characters in the cult ice hockey film Slap Shot.

Tom Holliston

Tom Holliston is a Canadian punk rock musician. Primarily associated with the bands Nomeansno and The Hanson Brothers, he also leads the side project Showbusiness Giants, and has released four solo records since 2002.

<i>Wrong</i> (album) 1989 studio album by Nomeansno

Wrong is the fourth full-length album by Canadian punk rock band Nomeansno. It was released in 1989 through Alternative Tentacles record label.

<i>Sex Mad</i> 1986 studio album by Nomeansno

Sex Mad is the second full-length album by Canadian punk rock band NoMeansNo. Released in 1986, it is both the first Nomeansno LP to feature long-time guitarist Andy Kerr in addition to founding members Rob Wright and John Wright and the first Nomeansno album issued through Alternative Tentacles.

<i>Why Do They Call Me Mr. Happy?</i> 1993 studio album by Nomeansno

Why Do They Call Me Mr. Happy? is the sixth full-length album by Vancouver punk rock group Nomeansno. Released in 1993, it is their second album recorded by the original two-piece lineup of brothers Rob and John Wright following Mama (1982), and first after the departure of longtime guitarist Andy Kerr. Here the band mostly replaced its hardcore punk sound with slower songs influenced by heavy metal and progressive rock. The album was well-received by critics and praised for its balance of heaviness and subtlety, showcasing the dynamics of the band in its original incarnation.

<i>0 + 2 = 1</i> 1991 studio album by Nomeansno

0 + 2 = 1 is the fifth full-length album by Canadian punk band Nomeansno. Released in 1991, it was the fourth and final studio album to feature Nomeansno's longtime guitarist Andy Kerr. The proper follow-up to their most popular album, Wrong, the record was somewhat polarizing but generally well received by critics.

<i>Dance of the Headless Bourgeoisie</i> 1998 studio album by Nomeansno

Dance of the Headless Bourgeoisie is the eighth full-length album released by Canadian punk rock band Nomeansno. It was initially released on Alternative Tentacles in 1998 as a 10-track CD and 12-track double LP. The band's own label Wrong Records, along with distributors Southern Records, re-released the 12-track version of the album in 2007, 2010, and 2014 with modified track order and art.

<i>One</i> (Nomeansno album) 2000 studio album by Nomeansno

One is the ninth full-length album by Vancouver punk rock band Nomeansno. Released in 2000, it was their penultimate album and last of eight albums issued through the Alternative Tentacles imprint. Its long, ponderous songs generally pleased critics and longtime fans, with All Music critic Tom Schulte assessing the album's "intense and heavy collegiate punk" as one of the band's finest efforts since their seminal 1989 album Wrong. It features a cover of the Ramones song "Beat on the Brat" and a reworking of the title track of Miles Davis's Bitches Brew album. Because of the ambiguity of the album cover layout, the album has been understood at times by the press to be called No One.

<i>Mama</i> (Nomeansno album) 1982 studio album by Nomeansno

Mama is the debut album by Victoria, British Columbia punk rock band Nomeansno. Featuring the band's original incarnation comprising brothers John and Rob Wright, the album was released independently on LP in 1982. Nomeansno reissued a remastered version the album in 1992 on their own Wrong Records imprint, coupled with the tracks from their Betrayal, Fear, Anger, Hatred EP of 1981.

<i>You Kill Me</i> (EP) 1985 EP by Nomeansno

You Kill Me is an EP by Canadian punk rock band Nomeansno. Recorded in 1985, it is the first Nomeansno record to feature the band's three-piece lineup, with guitarist Andy Kerr joining founding members Rob Wright and John Wright. Originally issued on the Undergrowth label, it was later re-released on CD with the Sex Mad album on the Sex Mad/You Kill Me compilation CD and cassette released by Alternative Tentacles.

<i>Betrayal, Fear, Anger, Hatred</i> 1981 EP by Nomeansno

Betrayal, Fear, Anger, Hatred is the first EP by Canadian punk rock band Nomeansno. Released in 1981, it and the "Look, Here Come the Wormies / SS Social Service" 7-inch split single from the previous year are the two official Nomeansno releases from their origins recording in their parents' basement before becoming a live band. Originally self-released in a limited vinyl run, the EP since has been re-released by the band's Wrong Records imprint on 7-inch and included on reissues of the band's 1982 debut album Mama.

<i>0 + 2 = 1 ½</i> 2010 compilation album by Nomeansno

0 + 2 = 1 ½ is a compilation album by Vancouver punk band Nomeansno. Recorded in 1991 and released as a digital album in 2010, it includes five outtakes and four demo tracks recorded for 0 + 2 = 1, Nomeansno's fifth full-length record and final album to feature Nomeansno's longtime guitarist Andy Kerr.

Generic Shame is an EP from Vancouver punk rock band Nomeansno. Released in 2001 on Wrong Records, the three-song EP was recorded during the same sessions which yielded in the album One.

Sex Mad/You Kill Me is a compilation of two records by Canadian punk rock band Nomeansno. Released in 1991 on the Alternative Tentacles imprint domestically and Cargo Records internationally, the album compiles the You Kill Me EP from 1985 and the Sex Mad album from 1986. These two records were the band's first recordings with longtime guitarist Andy Kerr.

Would We Be Alive? is an EP by Vancouver punk rock band Nomeansno. Its title track is a cover of a song by the avant-garde group The Residents, from their Intermission: Extraneous Music from the Residents' Mole Show record. The EP also features a new version of the song "Big Dick" from the Nomeansno album Wrong, as well as two new tracks.

In the Fishtank 1 is an EP by Vancouver punk rock band Nomeansno. Recording during the band's 1996 European tour, it was the first release in the In the Fishtank series, in which the Netherlands-based De Konkurrent label provided bands with two days of studio recording time and released the final results.

Tour EP 1 is an EP from Vancouver punk rock band Nomeansno. Released in 2010 on the band's Wrong Records imprint, the four-song EP was issued as a thumb drive and 12" vinyl EP in support of Nomeansno's 2010 touring. Tour EP 1 and its sequel Tour EP 2 were originally intended as the first half of a four-EP series, but this series was never completed. They were Nomeansno's final releases before their 2016 breakup.

Tour EP 2 is an EP from Vancouver punk rock band Nomeansno. Released in 2010 on the band's Wrong Records imprint, the four-song EP was issued as a thumb drive and 12" vinyl EP in support of Nomeansno's European tour late in 2010. It was reissued in 2013 and distributed by Southern Records. Tour EP 2 and its predecessor Tour EP 1 were originally intended as the first half of a four-EP series, but this series was never completed. They were Nomeansno's final releases before their 2016 breakup.

"Dad/Revenge" is a single by Canadian punk rock band Nomeansno. Recorded in 1985, it features two tracks from Nomeansno's 1986 album Sex Mad. "Dad" was a minor college radio hit.

References

  1. ↑ "I Am Wrong: An Interview with Nomeansno's John Wright". The Big Takeover. October 10, 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Nomeansno All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt". Exlcaim!. September 1, 2006.
  3. 1 2 "Rob Wright interview". MarkPrindle.com. 2006. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  4. ↑ O'Connor, Shawn. "Interview With John Wright of Nomeansno". St. Louis Music Press. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  5. ↑ "I Am Wrong: An Interview with Nomeansno's John Wright". The Big Takeover. October 10, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  6. ↑ Burien, Al (October 1, 2012). "Going Gray with Nomeansno". Vice .
  7. ↑ Greene, Jo-Anne. All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt at AllMusic. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  8. 1 2 "Nomeansno – All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt". PopMatters . October 13, 2006.
  9. ↑ "Nomeansno All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt". Punknews.org. August 29, 2006. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Dusted Reviews: Nomeansno: All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt". Dusted. August 3, 2006. Archived from the original on February 26, 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2016.Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.