Hardcore '81

Last updated
Hardcore '81
D.O.A. - Hardcore '81.jpg
Studio album by
Released22 April 1981
Recorded1981
Genre Punk rock, hardcore punk
Length18:56
Label Sudden Death
Producer D.O.A.
D.O.A. chronology
Something Better Change
(1980)
Hardcore '81
(1981)
War on 45
(1982)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]

Hardcore '81 is an album by the Canadian hardcore punk band D.O.A. [2] [3] [4] It is considered by some to be the first time that a certain style of punk rock was labeled hardcore. [5] [6]

Contents

In 2019, the album was named as the public vote winner of the Polaris Heritage Prize. [7] [8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Joey Shithead, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."D.O.A." 1:38
2."Unknown"Keithley, Chuck Biscuits 2:30
3."Slumlord" 1:55
4."Musical Interlude" 0:22
5."I Don't Give a Shit" 1:21
6."M.C.T.F.D." 1:38
7."Communication Breakdown" (Led Zeppelin cover) 1:57
8."001 Loser's Club"Brian Goble, Keithley, Dimwit, Werner1:54
9."Fucked Up Baby" 1:27
10."The Kenny Blister Song" 0:16
11."Smash the State" 1:32
12."My Old Man's A Bum/Bloodsucker Baby"Keithley, Dimwit1:41
13."Waiting for You" 0:45
CD re-issue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
14."General Strike"Keithley, Dave Gregg3:36
15."Race Riot" 1:06
16."A Season in Hell"Goble2:34
17."Burn It Down" 2:34

Personnel

Tracy Marks - acoustic piano on "Unknown" also engineered the album

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardcore punk</span> Aggressive and fast subgenre of punk rock

Hardcore punk is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk scenes in San Francisco and Southern California which arose as a reaction against the still predominant hippie cultural climate of the time. It was also inspired by Washington D.C. and New York punk rock and early proto-punk. Hardcore punk generally disavows commercialism, the established music industry and "anything similar to the characteristics of mainstream rock" and often addresses social and political topics with "confrontational, politically-charged lyrics."

<i>Prove You Wrong</i> 1991 studio album by Prong

Prove You Wrong is an album by American heavy metal band Prong, released in 1991. It is their only album with Troy Gregory on bass guitar. The album includes a cover of "(Get A) Grip ", originally by The Stranglers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Keithley</span> Musical artist

Joseph Edward "Joey Shithead" Keithley is a Canadian punk musician who is best known as the lead guitarist and vocalist of the punk band DOA. He was elected a city councillor in Burnaby, BC in the 2018 municipal elections as a member of the Burnaby Green Party. He was re-elected in the October 2022 municipal election.

D.O.A. is a Canadian punk rock band from Vancouver. They are often referred to as being among the "founders" of hardcore punk, along with Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, Angry Samoans, Germs, and Middle Class. Their second album Hardcore '81 was thought by many to have been the first actual reference to the second wave of the American punk sound as hardcore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nomeansno</span> 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.

<i>Subterranean Jungle</i> 1983 studio album by the Ramones

Subterranean Jungle is the seventh studio album by the American punk rock band Ramones, released by Sire Records on February 23, 1983. Overall, the album featured a return to a somewhat more hard punk rock style compared to the band's previous two albums End of the Century in 1980, and Pleasant Dreams in 1981, which were the most pop-focused of the band's career. This direction was encouraged by guitarist Johnny Ramone. The recording sessions saw disputes between band members, mainly due to struggles with alcohol addiction by Joey Ramone and Marky Ramone, and the drug addiction of Dee Dee Ramone.

<i>GI</i> (album) 1979 studio album by the Germs

GI, stylized as (GI), is the only studio album by American punk rock band the Germs. Often considered the first full-length hardcore punk album, it was released in the United States in October 1979 on Slash Records with catalog number SR 103. The album was later released in Italy in 1982 by Expanded Music with the catalog EX 11. The album's title is an acronym for "Germs Incognito", an alternate name the band used to obtain bookings when their early reputation kept them out of Los Angeles-area clubs. After (GI)'s release, the band would only undertake one more recording session, for the soundtrack album to Al Pacino's 1980 film Cruising. On December 7, 1980, a year after the release of (GI), vocalist Darby Crash died by suicide.

<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.

Sudden Death Records is a Vancouver, British Columbia based record label run by Joe "Shithead" Keithley, frontman of D.O.A.

<i>American Hardcore</i> (film) 2006 film

American Hardcore: The History of American Punk Rock 1980–1986 is a documentary directed and produced by Paul Rachman and written by Steven Blush. It is based on the 2001 book American Hardcore: A Tribal History also written by Blush. It world premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and was released on September 22, 2006 on a limited basis by Sony Pictures Classics. The film features some early pioneers of the hardcore punk music scene including Bad Brains, Black Flag, D.O.A., Minor Threat, Minutemen, SSD, and others. It was released on DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on February 20, 2007.

The Skulls were an early Vancouver punk rock band, whose members would later found two of the area's bands: D.O.A. and The Subhumans. They toured heavily and issued a demo, but never released any albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Roy Goble</span> Musical artist

Brian Roy Goble,, also known as Wimpy Roy or Brian "Sunny Boy Roy" Goble, was a Canadian singer and musician. He played bass and sang for several Vancouver punk bands. After starting with Stone Crazy, Brian then began playing punk rock, playing bass with The Skulls, before becoming lead singer for The Subhumans when The Skulls split. After the demise of Subhumans, Brian joined D.O.A. in the early 1980s as bass player and second singer. After playing and singing on a number of D.O.A. albums, he quit in 1996 after the Black Spot tour. He would later reunite with The Subhumans in 2006.

<i>13 Flavours of Doom</i> 1992 studio album by D.O.A.

13 Flavours Of Doom is the sixth album by Canadian hardcore punk band D.O.A. It was released in 1992 on band member Joe Keithley's own record label, Sudden Death Records, and also in the UK on Alternative Tentacles. In spite of its title, the album actually had fourteen tracks – the last one not being numbered on the CD inlay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randy Rampage</span> Canadian singer and bassist (1960–2018)

Randall Desmond Archibald, better known by his stage name Randy Rampage, was a Canadian musician and founding member, bass player and vocalist of the hardcore band D.O.A. They are often referred to as the "founders" of hardcore punk along with Black Flag, Bad Brains, Angry Samoans, the Germs, Negative Trend, and Middle Class. Their second album Hardcore '81 was thought by many to have been the first actual reference to the second wave of the American punk sound as hardcore. Hardcore 81 included a fourth member of the lineup Dave Gregg.

<i>Something Better Change</i> 1980 studio album by D.O.A.

Something Better Change is the debut album by Canadian punk rock band D.O.A. The album was recorded between 1977 and 1980 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and was released in 1980 on the label Can. Friends..

<i>Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors</i> 1990 studio album by Jello Biafra & D.O.A.

Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors is a punk album by Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys and Canadian band D.O.A., released in 1990. It is notable for "Full Metal Jackoff," a furious 14-minute song that touches on then-relevant topics such as Willie Horton, the Iran-Contra Affair, Oliver North, the crack epidemic, and many others.

The first punk rock bands in Canada emerged during the late 1970s, in the wake of the US bands Ramones, The New York Dolls, and Blondie, and the UK band Sex Pistols. The Viletones, the Diodes and the Demics were among the pioneers, together with the Skulls from Vancouver, and Hamilton's Teenage Head, whose records and live shows earned them the nickname "Canada's Ramones". Vibrant local punk scenes sprung up in Toronto and Vancouver and other Canadian cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian hardcore punk</span>

Canadian hardcore punk originated in the early 1980s. It was harder, faster, and heavier than the Canadian punk rock that preceded it. Hardcore punk is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A. may have helped to popularize the term with the title of their 1981 album, Hardcore '81. Hardcore historian Steven Blush said that the term "hardcore" is also a reference to the sense of being "fed up" with the existing punk and new wave music. Blush also states that the term refers to "an extreme: the absolute most Punk."An article in Drowned in Sound argues that 1980s-era "hardcore is the true spirit of punk", because "after all the poseurs and fashionistas fucked off to the next trend of skinny pink ties with New Romantic haircuts, singing wimpy lyrics", the punk scene consisted only of people "completely dedicated to the DIY ethics". One definition of the genre is "a form of exceptionally harsh punk rock."

<i>Talk-Action=0</i> 2010 studio album by D.O.A.

Talk - Action = 0 is the 17th studio album by Canadian punk rock band D.O.A. It was released on June 8, 2010. The title had already appeared as the slogan on the back of their 2002 album Win The Battle. All songs are written by Joe Keithley except where noted.

<i>Win the Battle</i> 2002 studio album by D.O.A.

Win The Battle is the 12th studio album by Canadian punk rock band D.O.A. The Slogan on the back cover was later used as the title for their 2010 release. All songs are written by Joe Keithley except where noted.

References

  1. Allmusic review
  2. "D.O.A."
  3. Stegall, Tim (April 14, 2020). "These 15 punk records from 1981 have some of the year's best music". Alternative Press .
  4. Guides (Firm), Rough (July 3, 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN   9781858284576 via Google Books.
  5. Paul Rachman (director), Steven Blush (writer), Dez Cadena (starring), Dave Smalley (starring) (2007-02-20). American Hardcore (flv) (Documentary). United States: Sony Pictures. Retrieved 2008-12-18. Joey "Shithead" Keithley of D.O.A.: "We had one big show up there [Vancouver]. It was us, Black Flag, and 7 Seconds, and it was called Hardcore 81, so it was the first time anyone really used that term."
  6. Blush, Steven; Petros, George (October 19, 2010). American Hardcore (Second Edition): A Tribal History. Feral House. ISBN   9781932595987 via Google Books.
  7. Karen Bliss, "D.O.A. and Oscar Peterson Win Polaris Heritage Prize for Classic Albums". Billboard , November 5, 2019.
  8. "Vancouver punk rockers DOA earn Polaris Prize heritage award". Vancouver Sun.