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Out of Step | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | April 1983 | |||
Recorded | January 1983 at Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, Virginia | |||
Genre | Hardcore punk | |||
Length | 21:36 | |||
Label | Dischord | |||
Producer | Don Zientara and Minor Threat | |||
Minor Threat chronology | ||||
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Out of Step is the only studio album by American hardcore punk band Minor Threat. It was released on 45 RPM vinyl in April 1983 through Dischord Records. Although Out of Step has only been released on CD in limited quantities, it has been repressed on vinyl as recently as 2010. [1] All tracks from the album are available on Minor Threat's 1989 compilation album Complete Discography .
It is considered a critical release in punk rock, particularly the hardcore subgenre. Many critics and magazines have cited it as one of the best progressions in the history of rock music, which specifically helped shape the path of many genres of underground musical currents alternative music). Its influence is notorious in future bands that would boost the youth crew movement, also in other genres such as grunge, post-hardcore, 1990's skate punk and thrash metal, as well in the development of the New York hardcore music scene and aesthetics style.
This album’s increased complexity in songs, with more elaborate riffs and arrangements, is its main distinguishing factor compared to the band’s previous recordings.[ citation needed ] The bass octaves retain the dynamics of the guitar line. Brian Baker became second guitarist for the album, and Steven Hansgen joined the bass.
The lyrics of most songs focus on themes like self-reflection, youth frustration, personal problems, and difficulties with friendships. This is in contrast to Minor Threat's first recordings, which had a politically critical message and did not revolve around drug use.[ citation needed ]
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After a temporary break-up in 1982, Minor Threat entered Inner Ear Studios in January 1983 to record Out of Step. The album was produced and engineered by Don Zientara. The lyrics on Out of Step deal mainly with friendships and problems associated with them, unlike their previous recordings which were an outlet for MacKaye's message.[ citation needed ] The album artwork was drawn by Cynthia Connolly.
In May–June 1983, Southern Studios founder John Loder traveled from England to New York where Minor Threat would play a show, and there he offered the band to release Out of Step in the UK. The band knew that he was working with Crass which led them to accept the offer, starting a long-standing relationship between Dischord Records and Southern Studios. [2]
The first vinyl pressing of the album (with plain black cover) appears on the Complete Discography compilation. After the second pressing, the band remixed the album and this version remained in print on vinyl until the 2000s. The latter is distinguishable by a colored stripe with suggested retail price across the front, and "Dischord 10 UK" and "Utopia" in the dead wax. The biggest differences between the original mix and the remixed version are in the songs "Out of Step" and the initially untitled "Cashing In".
In the mid-2000s, the album was remastered on vinyl by Chicago Mastering Service, with no stripe.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [4] |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10 [5] |
Out of Step was met with positive reviews and ratings. Ned Raggett of AllMusic awards it four-and-a-half out of five stars and states: "Building on the promise and fire of the band's earlier singles, Out of Step instantly became iconic for American hardcore, not to mention for the D.C. scene, for years to come, as well as any number of bands who conflated personal and social politics." [3]
Out of Step has received a number of accolades and is cited as a landmark album of the hardcore punk genre. It is mentioned in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die .
Publication | Accolade | Rank |
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Pitchfork Media | Top 100 Albums of the 1980s | 100 [6] |
Spin | Ten Reasons Why We Wish SPIN Had Started in 1984 | 9[ citation needed ] |
Loudwire | Top 80 Hard Rock & Metal Albums Of The 1980s | 19 [7] |
FACT | The 100 Best Albums of the 1980s | 7 [8] |
NME | The 15 Best Hardcore Albums of All Time | unranked list [9] |
All songs written by Minor Threat.
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Betray" | 3:04 |
2. | "It Follows" | 1:50 |
3. | "Think Again" | 2:18 |
4. | "Look Back and Laugh" | 3:16 |
5. | "Sob Story" | 1:50 |
6. | "No Reason" | 1:57 |
7. | "Little Friend" | 2:18 |
8. | "Out of Step" | 1:20 |
9. | "Cashing In" (uncredited track on original vinyl version) | 3:43 |
Total length: | 21:36 |
Production
Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1980 in Washington, D.C., by vocalist Ian MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson. MacKaye and Nelson had played in several other bands together, and recruited bassist Brian Baker and guitarist Lyle Preslar to form Minor Threat. They added a fifth member, Steve Hansgen, in 1982, playing bass, while Baker switched to second guitar.
Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye is an American musician. Active since 1979, he is best known as the co-founder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label, and the frontman of hardcore punk band Minor Threat and post-hardcore band Fugazi. MacKaye was also the bassist for the short-lived band the Teen Idles, and frontman for Embrace, and Pailhead, a collaboration with the band Ministry. MacKaye is a member of The Evens, a two-piece indie rock group he formed with his wife Amy Farina in 2001 and in 2018 formed the band Coriky with Farina and his Fugazi band mate Joe Lally.
Minor Threat is a compilation album by the American hardcore punk band Minor Threat. It was released in March 1984 through Dischord Records. The compilation consisted of the group's first and second extended plays, Minor Threat and In My Eyes. The 1984 Minor Threat LP featured the same cover as the 1981 Minor Threat EP, depicting vocalist Ian MacKaye's younger brother Alec. The image has been imitated by punk bands such as Rancid on their album ...And Out Come the Wolves and in the Major Threat ad campaign by Nike.
Fugazi was an American post-hardcore band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consisted of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They were noted for their style-transcending music, DIY ethical stance, manner of business practice, and contempt for the music industry.
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Embrace is the debut record and the only release by the American post-hardcore band Embrace.
The Teen Idles were an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C., in September 1979. Consisting of teenagers Nathan Strejcek, Geordie Grindle, Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, they recorded two demo sessions and the 1980 Minor Disturbance EP before breaking up in November 1980. The influential independent record label Dischord Records was originally created with the sole purpose of releasing The Teen Idles Minor Disturbance 7" record. They were an early landmark in the D.C. hardcore movement, and MacKaye and Nelson would later form the seminal punk rock outfit Minor Threat.
State of Alert was an American hardcore punk group formed in Washington, D.C., in October 1980, and active until July 1981. S.O.A. was fronted by Henry Rollins, then using his original surname Garfield.
Steady Diet of Nothing is the second studio album by American post-hardcore band Fugazi, released in July 1991 by Dischord Records. Although a persistent rumor alleges that the title is an allusion to a quote by the late American stand-up comedian Bill Hicks, the album title predates the Hicks quote by several years and was actually thought up by bassist Joe Lally.
Washington, D.C. hardcore, commonly referred to as D.C. hardcore, sometimes styled in writing as harDCore, is the hardcore punk scene of Washington, D.C. Emerging in late 1979, it is considered one of the first and most influential punk scenes in the United States.
Skewbald/Grand Union, also known as 2 Songs, is the eponymous archival EP featuring the only studio recordings by American hardcore punk band Skewbald/Grand Union.
In on the Kill Taker is the third full-length studio album by the American post-hardcore band Fugazi. It was released on June 30, 1993, through Dischord Records and was recorded at Inner Ear Studios and produced by Ted Niceley and Don Zientara. In on the Kill Taker captured the aggressiveness of the band's earlier releases while displaying a more diverse range of influences.
Complete Discography is a 1989 compilation album released by the American hardcore punk band Minor Threat on the band's own Dischord Records. As the name implies, it contains the band's entire discography at the time, including their three EPs, the Out of Step album and Flex Your Head compilation tracks. Some tracks were unreleased at the time and didn't appear on this compilation, but were later released. This includes the songs "Understand" and "Asshole Dub" from 20 Years of Dischord.
Margin Walker is the second EP by the American post-hardcore band Fugazi. It was originally released in June 1989 on vinyl and again in the same year on the compilation release 13 Songs along with the debut EP Fugazi. The 12" vinyl went out of print, but was remastered and reissued by Dischord Records in October 2009.
The Evens is the self-titled debut album from The Evens, a duo formed by Ian MacKaye on baritone guitar and Amy Farina on drums. Consisting of songs that the pair had been writing since August 2001, the songs would be performed live several times and even demoed before being recorded at Inner Ear Studios with Don Zientara during the summer of 2004. A reaction against what MacKaye had perceived to be the commercialization of rock music driven by the industry's "idea of youth", the album's "post-post-hardcore" sound is more stripped-down, minimal and personal in comparison to his work with Fugazi. The more direct and politically-charged lyrics, penned by both members, deal mainly with "the loss of community and the struggle to recapture it", though some of them feature romantic themes as well.
Void was an American hardcore punk band formed in Columbia, Maryland, in 1980. The group was a pioneering force in the thriving Washington, D.C., hardcore scene during the early 1980s, successfully combining elements of punk with heavy metal in a style that was accepted by the scene's otherwise exclusive community. Void's punk metal fusion sound was marked by guitarist Bubba Dupree's innovative guitar work and the "unhinged" vocals of John Weiffenbach, which resonated in the band's chaotic but popular live performances. Like many of their contemporaries, Void had a short-lived recording career, limited to the split album Faith/Void Split with the Faith on Dischord Records. However, they have enjoyed an enduring cult following among hardcore aficionados.
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