Datapanik in the Year Zero | ||||
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Box set by | ||||
Released | 1996 | |||
Recorded | 1975–1982 | |||
Genre | Post-punk, experimental rock, avant-garde music | |||
Label | DGC (original release) Cooking Vinyl (reissue) | |||
Pere Ubu chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Rolling Stone | [2] |
Datapanik in the Year Zero is a 1996 box set by Pere Ubu, which catalogues their initial phase of existence up to their 1982 break-up (which later turned out to be merely a hiatus). The title was first used by the band for a 1978 EP which compiled their first singles; the name was "recycled" for this release. The name references the Cold War film Panic in Year Zero! (1962). [3]
This box set compiles the original EP of the same name, their first five albums (which were out of print at the time this set was released), along with a disc of live material, and another of related rarities. It omits "Use of a Dog" from Song of the Bailing Man , "Humor Me", "Not Happy" and "Lonesome Cowboy Dave" from Terminal Tower and the vocal version of "Arabia" from The Art of Walking . Since, according to David Thomas, Pere Ubu do not produce outtakes or alternate versions (aside from a few anomalies related to an early version of The Art of Walking [4] ), the rarities disc is unique in that it features groups that were sometimes only tangentially related to Ubu, in an effort to present an overview of the mercurial Cleveland scene out of which they grew.
In 2009, Cooking Vinyl released a remastered version of the box set. It restores "Use of a Dog" but omits the fourth disc of live recordings. [5]
All tracks by Pere Ubu
Disc 1:1975-1977
Disc 2:1978-1979
Disc 3:1980-1982
Disc 4:390 Degrees of Simulated Stereo, Volume 2
Disc 5:Terminal Drive (Ubu-related rarities)
David Lynn Thomas is an American singer, songwriter and musician, now based in the UK. He was one of the founding members of the short-lived proto-punkers Rocket from the Tombs (1974–1975), in which he played under the moniker "Crocus Behemoth," and of post-punk group Pere Ubu. He has also released several solo albums. Though primarily a singer, he sometimes plays melodeon, trombone, musette, guitar or other instruments.
Pere Ubu is an American rock group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. The band had a variety of long-term and recurring band members, with singer David Thomas being the only member staying throughout the band's lifetime. They released their debut album The Modern Dance in 1978 and followed with several more LPs before disbanding in 1982. Thomas reformed the group in 1987, continuing to record and tour.
The Modern Dance is the debut album by American rock band Pere Ubu. It was released in January 1978 by record label Blank.
Across the Great Divide is a box set by Canadian-American rock group The Band. Released in 1994, it consists of two discs of songs from the Band's first seven albums, and a third disc of rarities taken from various studio sessions and live performances. The set is now out of print, having been replaced by the five-CD/one-DVD box set A Musical History which was released in September 2005.
Dub Housing is the second album by American rock band Pere Ubu. Released in 1978 by Chrysalis Records, the album is now regarded as one of their best, described by Trouser Press as "simply one of the most important post-punk recordings."
The Best: Sittin' In Again is a greatest hits album by American singer-songwriter duo Loggins and Messina, released on May 24, 2005. This release was timed to preview the duo's subsequent reunion tour. It contains most of their hit singles and provides a retrospective view of their music from 1971 to 1974. The 18 tracks appearing on the collection were personally selected by Loggins and Messina. Six of the tracks are from their debut album Sittin' In, six are from their sophomore album Loggins and Messina, four are off their third album Full Sail, and two are featured on their fourth album Mother Lode. No tracks from either of their last two studio albums are included.
New Picnic Time is the third album by American rock band Pere Ubu. It was released in September 1979 by Chrysalis Records. Reportedly the album sessions were stressful and contentious, and after touring, the group disbanded. They would reform a matter of months later, with Mayo Thompson replacing founding guitarist Tom Herman. The lyrics for the song "The Voice of the Sand" are based upon the poetry of Vachel Lindsay.
The Art of Walking is the fourth full-length album by Pere Ubu. Mayo Thompson of the Red Krayola joined as guitarist for this album and slanted the proceedings further towards deconstruction and abstraction, and away from the primal rock that former guitarist Tom Herman had facilitated. The group would record one more album with Thompson, Song of the Bailing Man, before disbanding.
390° of Simulated Stereo is a live album featuring recordings from Pere Ubu's first few years of existence. In general, the recordings featured are lo-fi in nature. The album was out of print for decades, but was reissued for Record Store Day 2021.
Terminal Tower: An Archival Collection is a compilation album by American rock band Pere Ubu. Released in 1985, the album compiles several of the band's early singles and B-sides, including the Hearthan singles recorded with founder Peter Laughner that were initially compiled on the Datapanik in Year Zero EP, and continuing through later sides recorded with Mayo Thompson.
The Tenement Year is the sixth studio album by American rock band Pere Ubu, and their first album after reuniting following their 1982 break-up. 'Classic lineup' members Tony Maimone and Allen Ravenstine, along with fellow Cleveland scenester Jim Jones and Henry Cow percussionist Chris Cutler found themselves playing with David Thomas for his 1987 album Blame the Messenger, and, discovering they sounded much like Pere Ubu, began incorporating a few Ubu numbers while touring for that album. Eventually, an official reunion was pursued, original drummer Scott Krauss was contacted, and thus the new lineup was completed and the old mantle assumed. The Tenement Year found the group veering in a loose, freewheeling, and decidedly more pop-oriented direction than in the past, although the pop leanings would become even more pronounced on subsequent albums. The album is a farewell to their hometown of Cleveland.
Cloudland is the seventh studio album by American rock band Pere Ubu. Released in May 1989, the album was produced by Stephen Hague. The single "Waiting for Mary", the video for which achieved some MTV exposure, netted Pere Ubu their only Billboard chart success to date, reaching number 6 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. Cloudland is a village in north-western Georgia between Summerville and Chattanooga on a spur of Lookout Mountain. In the early 20th century, it was a summer getaway for Floridians.
One Man Drives While the Other Man Screams is Pere Ubu's second live album, covering the years 1978-1981. After remaining out of print for many years, the album was reissued in 2004.
Why I Hate Women is the 13th studio album by Pere Ubu, released in 2006. Keith Moliné stepped in for departed longtime guitarist Tom Herman, making this the first Pere Ubu studio album not to feature any of the group's founders either as members or as guests. Explaining the title, Thomas claimed that Why I Hate Women is a tribute to an imaginary book that Jim Thompson could have written.
Worlds in Collision is the eighth album by American rock group Pere Ubu. The album continues in the shift away from their more experimental early work to emphasize the relatively conventional pop found on their previous studio album, Cloudland. For this album, Eric Drew Feldman takes over from departing original member Allen Ravenstine on synthesizer, though Ravenstine makes some guest appearances.
Story of My Life is Pere Ubu's ninth studio album. Eric Drew Feldman left the band prior to recording, reducing Ubu to a quartet. Prior to touring on this album longtime bassist Tony Maimone left as well. This is the final release to feature both Maimome and founding drummer Scott Krauss. According to a conversation between David Thomas and Frank Black included on the b-side of the "Kathleen" single, the album's working title was Johnny Rivers Live At The Whiskey A Go Go.
Ray Gun Suitcase is the tenth album by the American rock group Pere Ubu.
Pennsylvania is an album by the American band Pere Ubu, released in 1998. The album marked Tom Herman's return to Pere Ubu's studio work after a twenty-year absence. It is a loose concept album about geography, travel, and road trips.
Apocalypse Now is Pere Ubu's third live album, and their first to document a single performance. The show in question, recorded on December 7, 1991, at Schubas Tavern in Chicago, was performed semi-acoustically, with synth-man Eric Drew Feldman instead handling an upright piano, and Jim Jones playing an amplified acoustic guitar.
"30 Seconds Over Tokyo" is the debut single by American post-punk band Pere Ubu. It was written by David Thomas, Peter Laughner and Gene O'Connor, during their stint as members of Rocket from the Tombs in 1974. Released on Thomas' independent Hearthan Records in 1975, the song received very little airplay but has earned high praise in the years since.
The inspiration for the title was a movie, a sci-fi vision of a dysfunctional future called Panic In The Year Zero. In 1978 Johnny & I were intrigued by the notion of Too Much Information. We felt that information had become a sedative, an info-sedative. That deprived of their info-sedative people become restless and unhappy. Info-sedative is painless and requires nothing of the user. Strangely prophetic in light of the internet today.