Welcome to Reality (EP)

Last updated
Welcome to Reality
Adolescents - Welcome to Reality cover.jpg
EP by
the Adolescents
ReleasedOctober 1981 (1981-10)
RecordedJuly 1981
Genre Punk rock
Length6:47
Label Frontier (101)
Producer Thom Wilson
Adolescents chronology
Adolescents
(1981)		Welcome to Reality
(1981)		 Brats in Battalions
(1987)

Welcome to Reality is an EP by the American punk rock band the Adolescents, released in October 1981 on Frontier Records. Recorded after guitarist Rikk Agnew left the group, it was their only release recorded with guitarist Steve Roberts. The band broke up in August 1981, and when the EP was released two months later it was not well received. When the Adolescents re-formed five years later, a new lineup re-recorded all three songs from Welcome to Reality for their reunion album, 1987's Brats in Battalions .

Contents

Background and recording

The Adolescents lineup of singer Tony Brandenburg (who used the stage name Tony Cadena), bassist Steve Soto, drummer Casey Royer, and guitarist brothers Rikk and Frank Agnew released their debut album, Adolescents , in March 1981 on Frontier Records. [1] [2] Though Rikk Agnew had contributed heavily to the album, tensions between him and the other band members were leading to frequent arguments. [3] Just a few months after the album's release, during a performance at the Starwood in West Hollywood, he abruptly threw his guitar and walked offstage, quitting the band. [2] [3] "Rikk and I began to have conflicting ideas and Rikk left, citing musical differences", said Brandenburg. [4] He was replaced by Pat Smear, formerly of the Germs. [1] [2] [4] The band was planning their first tour, to begin late that summer and last into the fall. "We needed to tour to survive", recalled Brandenburg. "We had been banned from every club in Hollywood that could hold us—the Starwood, the Roxy, and the Whisky—and a lot of people wouldn't go to Pasadena (Perkins Palace) or East L.A. (The Vex) to see us". [2] [4] Smear, however, did not want to tour, and so left the band in June after only three months to allow them to find a guitar player who would tour. [2] [4]

Smear's replacement was Royer's roommate Steve Roberts, and the new lineup recorded the Welcome to Reality EP that July. [1] [2] [4] It was produced by Thom Wilson, who had engineered and mixed Adolescents, and consisted of three songs. [5] [6] A fourth song, "Richard Hung Himself", co-written by Royer, was recorded and intended for the EP but was left off before release. [2] It was released 24 years later on The Complete Demos 1980–1986 . [2] The band broke up the following month, before Welcome to Reality was released and before the planned tour had begun. [1] [2] Brandenburg later cited disagreements over the band's direction and his personal discomfort with their sudden popularity as reasons for the breakup. [7]

Release and reception

Welcome to Reality was released in October 1981 on Frontier Records, but was not well received. [2] "It went over like a lead balloon and we threw in the towel", said Brandenburg. [4] In a retrospective review, Ned Raggett of Allmusic rated it two stars out of five, commenting that "the title track is a fairly indifferent fear-of-the-bomb rant, while 'Losing Battle' and 'Things Start Moving' have the same general pace of the band's best early songs, though not the same immediate memorability (even if the latter has an attractive, slightly droning guitar opening). It's a bit of a nothing way of bowing out." [8]

Legacy

After the Adolescents' breakup, Brandenburg formed a new band, the Abandoned, who released one album, Killed by Faith (1985). [1] [2] [9] Soto and Frank Agnew joined Los Angeles punk band Legal Weapon, playing on their 1982 album Death of Innocence ; Agnew remained with them for Your Weapon , released later that year, then moved on to Hvy Drt, playing on their 1985 Hvy Drt EP. [1] [2] Royer, meanwhile, started D.I., taking on the role of singer. [1] [2] He was joined by Roberts and Rikk Agnew for the D.I. EP (1983), which included a new version of "Richard Hung Himself" rewritten by Royer with new lyrics. Agnew then brought in his younger brother, Alfie Agnew, and the two remained in D.I. until 1987, playing on the albums Ancient Artifacts (1985) and Horse Bites Dog Cries (1986) and the Team Goon EP (1987). [1]

The Adolescents lineup of Brandenburg (now using the stage name Tony Montana), Soto, Royer, and Rikk and Frank Agnew played a reunion show in April 1986 at Fender's Ballroom in Long Beach, California which led to the band re-forming. [1] [2] They played more shows and began working on material for a new album, but Frank Agnew left the band after a few months and was replaced by his younger brother Alfie, then Royer left the group that August and was replaced by Sandy Hanson, formerly of the Mechanics. [1] [2] [4] "Casey wanted to keep D.I. going, and I lost interest", said Frank. [2] The new lineup recorded the Brats in Battalions album that summer, including new recordings of all three songs from Welcome to Reality. [10] Songs from Welcome to Reality are performed on each of the band's live albums: All three songs appear on Live 1981 & 1986 (1989), "Welcome to Reality" and "Losing Battle" appear on Return to the Black Hole (1997), and "Welcome to Reality" and "Things Start Moving" appear on Live at the House of Blues (2004). [11] [12] [13] The Welcome to Reality tracks were re-released on the compact disc version of Adolescents published by Frontier Records in 1990. [6]

Track listing

Writing credits adapted from the EP's liner notes. [6]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Welcome to Reality" Steve Soto, Tony Cadena, Frank Agnew 2:10
2."Losing Battle"Soto, Cadena, Agnew1:32
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
3."Things Start Moving"Cadena, Agnew, Steve Roberts3:05
Total length:6:47

Personnel

Credits adapted from the EP's liner notes. [6]

Band
Production
Artwork

Related Research Articles

The Adolescents are an American punk rock band formed in Fullerton, California in 1980. Part of the hardcore punk movement in southern California in the early 1980s, they were one of the main punk acts to emerge from Orange County, along with their peers in Agent Orange and Social Distortion. Founding bassist Steve Soto was the sole constant member of the band since its inception, with singer Tony Reflex being in the group for all but one album.

<i>Adolescents</i> (album) 1981 studio album by the Adolescents

Adolescents, also known as The Blue Album due to its cover design, is the debut studio album by American punk rock band the Adolescents, released in April 1981 on Frontier Records. Recorded after guitarist Rikk Agnew and drummer Casey Royer joined the band, it features several songs written for their prior group, the Detours, including "Kids of the Black Hole" and "Amoeba", which became two of the Adolescents' most well-known songs. Adolescents was one of the first hardcore punk albums to be widely distributed throughout the United States, and became one of the best-selling California hardcore albums of its time. The band never toured in support of it, and broke up four months after its release. The Blue Album lineup of Agnew, Royer, guitarist Frank Agnew, bassist Steve Soto and singer Tony Brandenburg reunited several times in subsequent years, but only for brief periods.

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Brats in Battalions is the second studio album by the American punk rock band the Adolescents, released in August 1987 on SOS Records, the band's independent record label. It followed a reunion of the band after a five-year breakup, and subsequent lineup changes which saw drummer Casey Royer and original guitarist Frank Agnew replaced, respectively, by Sandy Hanson of the Mechanics and by Agnew's younger brother, Alfie Agnew. Brats in Battalions explores several styles of punk rock and features new recordings of all three songs from 1981's Welcome to Reality EP, as well as cover versions of the traditional folk song "The House of the Rising Sun" and the Stooges' "I Got a Right". Singer Tony Brandenburg left the band after this album, and the Adolescents recorded one more album without him, 1988's Balboa Fun*Zone, before breaking up for another 12 years.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Huey, Steve. "Adolescents Biography". allmusic.com. Allmusic . Retrieved 2016-10-16.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Reflex, Tony; Agnew, Frank; Soto, Steve (2005). The Complete Demos 1980–1986 (CD liner notes). Sun Valley, California: Frontier Records. 31076-2.
  3. 1 2 Jackson, Nate (2014-06-20). "Rikk Agnew: Adolescent No More". OC Weekly . Costa Mesa, California: Duncan McIntosh Co. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Reflex, Tony (1989). Live 1981 & 1986 (CD liner notes). Hollywood, California: Triple X Records. 51015-2.
  5. ↑ Welcome to Reality (EP liner notes). Sun Valley, California: Frontier Records. 1981. 101.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Adolescents (CD liner notes). Sun Valley, California: Frontier Records. 1990. 31003-2.
  7. ↑ Blush, Steven (2001). American Hardcore: A Tribal History . New York City: Feral House. p. 90. ISBN   0-922915-71-7.
  8. ↑ Raggett, Ned. "Review: Adolescents – Welcome to Reality". allmusic.com. Allmusic . Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  9. ↑ Blush, pp. 90–91.
  10. ↑ Mason, Stewart. "Review: Adolescents – Brats in Battalions". allmusic.com. Allmusic . Retrieved 2016-10-16.
  11. ↑ Rabid, Jack. "Review: Adolescents – Return to the Black Hole". allmusic.com. Allmusic . Retrieved 2016-10-16.
  12. ↑ Raggett, Ned. "Review: Adolescents – Live 1981 & 1986". allmusic.com. Allmusic . Retrieved 2016-10-16.
  13. ↑ "Adolescents: Live at the House of Blues". Allmusic . Retrieved 2016-10-10.
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