Plastic Surgery Disasters | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 1982 | |||
Recorded | June 1982 | |||
Studio | Hyde St. Studios and Möbius Music in San Francisco | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 42:56 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | ||||
Dead Kennedys chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
About.com | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Austin Chronicle | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Drowned in Sound | 8/10 [4] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Kerrang! | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
OndaRock | 7/10 [7] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 4/10 [9] |
Plastic Surgery Disasters is the second full-length album released by punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Recorded in San Francisco during June 1982, it was produced by the band and punk record producer Thom Wilson, with Geza X getting a "special thanks" underneath the DK's/Wilson credit for additional production. (DK's guitarist East Bay Ray redundantly added his own name to the production credits on Manifesto reissues of the album.) The album is darker and more hardcore-influenced than their debut album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables as a result of the band trying to expand on the sound and mood they had achieved with their 1980 single "Holiday in Cambodia". [10] It was the first full-length album to feature drummer D.H. Peligro, and is frontman Jello Biafra's favorite Dead Kennedys album. [11]
According to Jello Biafra, the main musical influences for the album were Bauhaus, Les Baxter and the Groundhogs. [12]
The album's cover features the band's name superimposed over the black-and-white photograph "Hands" by photojournalist Michael Wells. Wells's photo depicts the emaciated forearm and hand of a malnourished Ugandan child in the palm of a European missionary to highlight the horrors of famine in parts of the African continent during the 1970s and 80s. The same image was used by another San Francisco-based punk band called Society Dog for their 1981 EP .....Off of the Leash..
Most pressings of the album include a booklet containing lyrics and pieces of collage artwork by Biafra and Winston Smith that thematically tie in to the lyrics of each song on the album.
On the album's original vinyl and cassette releases, the A-side comprises tracks 1–8, ending with “Winnebago Warrior”, and the B-side tracks 9–13, kicking off with “Riot”. Some reissues parse out Melissa Webber's spoken intro to the album from the opening song, "Government Flu", and list it as a separate track entitled "Advice from Christmas Past". Similarly, Webber's spoken outro after "Moon Over Marin" revisits "Advice from Christmas Past" and is listed as such on some editions of the album.
All tracks are written by Jello Biafra, except when specified
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Advice from Christmas Past" | 0:55 | |
2. | "Government Flu" | 2:04 | |
3. | "Terminal Preppie" | 1:30 | |
4. | "Trust Your Mechanic" | 2:55 | |
5. | "Well Paid Scientist" | 2:21 | |
6. | "Buzzbomb" | Biafra, East Bay Ray | 2:21 |
7. | "Forest Fire" | 2:22 | |
8. | "Halloween" | Biafra, Ray | 3:35 |
9. | "Winnebago Warrior" | 2:09 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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10. | "Riot" | Dead Kennedys | 5:57 |
11. | "Bleed for Me" | Dead Kennedys | 3:24 |
12. | "I Am the Owl" | Dead Kennedys | 4:51 |
13. | "Dead End" | Ray | 3:56 |
14. | "Moon Over Marin" | Biafra, Ray | 4:29 |
Total length: | 42:56 |
The compact disc of the album has been reissued to include the EP In God We Trust, Inc. as eight tracks added onto its end and also appear on streaming versions of Plastic Surgery Disasters.
Chart (1982) | Peak position |
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New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [13] | 40 |
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [14] | 2 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United Kingdom (BPI) [15] | Gold | 100,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run.
Eric Reed Boucher, known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and political activist. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys.
Frankenchrist is the third album by the American hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys, released in 1985 on Alternative Tentacles.
Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 in San Francisco, California. It was used by Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single "California Über Alles". After realizing the potential for an independent label, they released records for other bands as well. Dead Kennedys guitarist East Bay Ray and vocalist Jello Biafra formed Alternative Tentacles, but Biafra became the sole owner in the mid-1980s. Alternative Tentacles no longer owns the rights to Dead Kennedys recordings after a 2000 lawsuit.
Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death is a compilation album by the American hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys. It was released in June 1987 through front man Jello Biafra's record label Alternative Tentacles.
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is the debut studio album by the American punk rock band Dead Kennedys. It was first released on September 2, 1980, through Cherry Red Records in the United Kingdom, and I.R.S. Records in the United States. It was later issued by Jello Biafra's own Alternative Tentacles label in the United States. It is the only Dead Kennedys studio album to feature drummer Bruce Slesinger and guitarist Carlo Cadona.
Bedtime for Democracy is the fourth and final studio album by American punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Released in 1986, songs on this album cover common punk subjects often found in punk rock lyrics of the era such as conformity, Reaganomics, the U.S. military, and critique of the hardcore punk movement. The album's title refers to the 1951 comedy film, Bedtime for Bonzo starring Ronald Reagan and also reflects the band's weary bitterness from the trial they were undergoing at the time over the controversial art included with their previous album. By the time recording of Bedtime for Democracy had begun, the Dead Kennedys had already played what would be their last concert with Jello Biafra and announced their breakup immediately after the release of the record, whose opening track is a cover of David Allan Coe's "Take This Job and Shove It."
Darren Eric Henley, better known by his stage name D. H. Peligro, was an American punk rock musician, most commonly known as the drummer for Dead Kennedys along with a brief stint as the drummer for Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Raymond John "East Bay Ray" Pepperell is an American musician who plays guitar for the San Francisco Bay area-based punk band Dead Kennedys. His guitar work was influenced by jazz and rockabilly. Alongside Jello Biafra's astute lyrics and unique vibrato-based vocal style, East Bay Ray's playing was one of the defining factors of the music of the Dead Kennedys, and by extension, of the "second wave" of American punk. He is also the only Dead Kennedy to remain a constant member of the band since its formation.
In God We Trust, Inc. is an EP by hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys and the first of the group's releases with drummer D. H. Peligro. The record is a screed against things ranging from organized religion and Neo-Nazis, to the pesticide Kepone and government indifference that worsened the effects of Minamata disease catastrophes. In God We Trust, Inc. is also the first Dead Kennedys album released after the presidential election of Ronald Reagan and features the band's first references to Reagan, for which they—and hardcore punk as a genre—would become notorious.
Mutiny on the Bay is an album of live recordings by the Dead Kennedys. The album’s material was compiled from a number of concerts in 1982 and 1986 in the band’s hometown of San Francisco with an additional track taken from the band’s final show in Davis, California before their break up in 1986.
"Police Truck" is a song by the American punk rock band Dead Kennedys. It was originally released in May 1980 as the B-side of the "Holiday in Cambodia" single and later released in June 1987 as the opening track on the band's compilation album Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death.
"Too Drunk to Fuck" is the fourth single by Dead Kennedys. The record was released in May 1981 on Cherry Red Records with "The Prey" as the B-side. Both songs from this single are available on the rarities album Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death (1987).
Live at the Deaf Club is a live album released by the Dead Kennedys in 2004 and had a limited edition re-release 2013 in the UK on Let Them Eat Vinyl. The actual performance took place at the San Francisco Deaf Club on March 3, 1979.
"I Kill Children" is the ninth song on the Dead Kennedys album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. It is sung from the first person perspective of an unnamed murderer of children. It satirizes America's twin obsessions with extreme violence and conservatism. Jello Biafra had said on his spoken word tours that he wrote the song when he was 18 years old after thinking about how and why people became serial killers, and actually considers it one of his weakest songs.
Bruce Slesinger, better known by his stage name Ted, is an American musician and architect who was the first drummer for Dead Kennedys.
Sieg Howdy! is the second album by Jello Biafra and The Melvins. It consists of songs recorded during the same sessions that produced their first collaboration Never Breathe What You Can't See but not used on that album, plus remixes of four songs from the first album.
Prairie Home Invasion is a collaborative studio album by Jello Biafra and Mojo Nixon, backed by Nixon's backing band the Toadliquors. Released in 1994 by Biafra's record label Alternative Tentacles, the album's lyrics predominantly deal with political themes, as well as criticism of corporate rock and country pop.
The Sky Is Falling and I Want My Mommy is an album recorded by Jello Biafra with the Canadian punk band Nomeansno. The project came about after Nomeansno and Biafra had collaborated for the soundtrack to the underground film Terminal City Ricochet. The title track is a new recording of "Falling Space Junk" with amended lyrics. Jello wrote the lyrics to "Bruce's Diary" from the perspective of his Ricochet character Bruce Coddle, but did so after the movie was released, so the song is only featured on this album.
Milking the Sacred Cow is a compilation album by San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Released in 2007, it comprises songs recorded between 1979 and 1985 that originally appeared on the band’s various studio albums and singles. The compilation also contains two previously unreleased live versions of songs from the band’s Frankenchrist album. Notably, Milking the Sacred Cow contains no material from the Dead Kennedys’ final studio album, Bedtime for Democracy.
Interviewer: "Who else influenced you?" Jello Biafra: "...When I wrote Plastic Surgery Disasters, the main stuff I was listening to was Bauhaus, Les Baxter and The Groundhogs."