| Wrong | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | Fall 1989 | |||
| Recorded | Summer 1989 | |||
| Studio | Profile Sound Studios, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 39:54 | |||
| Label | Alternative Tentacles | |||
| Nomeansno chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| Rolling Stone | (NR) [3] |
Wrong is the fourth full-length album by Canadian punk rock band Nomeansno. It was released in 1989 through Alternative Tentacles record label.
Wrong was described by drummer John Wright as the band's "most popular album by a country mile". [4] When asked to speculate as to the reasons why Wrong enjoyed such relative success, John Wright attributed it to the mainstream success of Nirvana and the rising popularity of alternative music:
The kind of music we were playing, and then Nirvana before they got popular, and that kind of alternative...Punk rock was getting to that point where a lot of bands were just starting to get into that commercial breakthrough, and when Nirvana did, well of course that spelled the end of it all. But it sort of simmered to that point, and then people wanted to hear bands like Nirvana, which weren't hardcore, not pop or rock, it was sort of more heartfelt music, and we were sort of caught up in that...In Europe especially, the music scene was just exploding. We completely attribute all of our success to going and playing in Europe. That's where all the buzz about us came from. We were touring throughout the States in the mid-80s, and we'd get a little bit of audience here and there, but after a couple of years in Europe, we started doing some big shows there, and all of a sudden, people in the States were coming out to our shows. And we went from getting paid $200 to getting paid $1000. It was just like that. You had to have the buzz, and then it all just kind of blew up. Every major label tried to sign every band, and then it became no longer an alternative, it sort of became co-opted by the mainstream and people moved on to hip hop and dub step and then everyone got sick of rock and roll and went to raves. [4]
The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal called it the band's best album, and rated the album as a 10 out of 10, stating, "Wrong was the mightiest merger between the hateful aggression of punk and the discipline of heavy metal." [5] Sean Carruthers, critic for Allmusic, declared that the album was the band's masterpiece, and features "some of the most complex instrumentation you're ever likely to find in good ol' punk rawk." [6]
In 2021, the album was named the public vote winner of the Polaris Heritage Prize at the 2021 Polaris Music Prize. [7]
Side one
Side two
Grunge is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of punk rock and heavy metal, but without punk's structure and speed. The genre featured the distorted electric guitar sound used in both genres, although some bands performed with more emphasis on one or the other. Like these genres, grunge typically uses electric guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals. Grunge also incorporates influences from indie rock bands such as Sonic Youth. Lyrics are typically angst-filled and introspective, often addressing themes such as social alienation, self-doubt, abuse, neglect, betrayal, social and emotional isolation, psychological trauma and a desire for freedom.
The Melvins are an American rock band formed in 1983, in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. They originally performed as only a trio but later also sometimes appeared as a quartet with either two drummers or two bassists. Since 1984, vocalist and guitarist Buzz Osborne and drummer Dale Crover have been constant members. The band was named after a supervisor at a Thriftway in Montesano, where Osborne also worked as a clerk; "Melvin" was disliked by other employees, and the band's members felt it to be an appropriately ridiculous name.
Alternative metal is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by heavily downtuned, mid-paced guitar riffs, a mixture of accessible melodic vocals and harsh vocals and sometimes unconventional sounds within other heavy metal styles. The term has been in use since the 1980s, although it came into prominence in the 1990s.
Sludge metal is a genre of heavy metal music that originated through combining elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. It is typically harsh and abrasive, often featuring shouted vocals, heavily distorted instruments and sharply contrasting tempos. The Melvins from the US state of Washington produced the first sludge metal albums in the mid-late 1980s.
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.
Sex Mad is the second full-length album by Canadian punk rock band NoMeansNo. Released in 1986, it is both the first Nomeansno LP to feature long-time guitarist Andy Kerr in addition to founding members Rob Wright and John Wright and the first Nomeansno album issued through Alternative Tentacles.
All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt is the tenth and final studio album by Vancouver punk rock band Nomeansno. It was released by the band's own Wrong Records imprint, in conjunction with AntAcidAudio in North America and Southern Records in Europe, making it their first record not to be released by the Alternative Tentacles imprint since Mama in 1982. The album marked a return to shorter and more conventional songs than their previous efforts, Dance of the Headless Bourgeoisie (1998) and One (2000).
Why Do They Call Me Mr. Happy? is the sixth full-length album by Vancouver punk rock group Nomeansno. Released in 1993, it is their second album recorded by the original two-piece lineup of brothers Rob and John Wright following Mama (1982), and first after the departure of longtime guitarist Andy Kerr. Here the band mostly replaced its hardcore punk sound with slower songs influenced by heavy metal and progressive rock. The album was well-received by critics and praised for its balance of heaviness and subtlety, showcasing the dynamics of the band in its original incarnation.
Small Parts Isolated and Destroyed is the third full-length album by Vancouver punk rock band Nomeansno. It was their second album with longtime guitarist Andy Kerr and first recorded after signing with the prominent punk rock label Alternative Tentacles. The album is highly experimental both sonically and compositionally, and ranks among the band's most challenging works. It was released on LP in 1988, and issued on the CD compilation album The Day Everything Became Isolated and Destroyed with the EP The Day Everything Became Nothing, recorded during the same sessions.
Live + Cuddly is a live album by Canadian punk rock band Nomeansno. Released in 1991, it featured live recordings from European performances in support of the band's album Wrong (1989). Live + Cuddly has been praised as one of the best punk rock live albums ever recorded. The cover photo features band members John and Rob Wright as children, alongside their father.
0 + 2 = 1 is the fifth full-length album by Canadian punk band Nomeansno. Released in 1991, it was the fourth and final studio album to feature Nomeansno's longtime guitarist Andy Kerr. The proper follow-up to their most popular album, Wrong, the record was somewhat polarizing but generally well received by critics.
Dance of the Headless Bourgeoisie is the eighth full-length album released by Canadian punk rock band Nomeansno. It was initially released on Alternative Tentacles in 1998 as a 10-track CD and 12-track double LP. The band's own label Wrong Records, along with distributors Southern Records, re-released the 12-track version of the album in 2007, 2010, and 2014 with modified track order and art.
One is the ninth full-length album by Vancouver punk rock band Nomeansno. Released in 2000, it was their penultimate album and last of eight albums issued through the Alternative Tentacles imprint. Its long, ponderous songs generally pleased critics and longtime fans, with All Music critic Tom Schulte assessing the album's "intense and heavy collegiate punk" as one of the band's finest efforts since their seminal 1989 album Wrong. It features a cover of the Ramones song "Beat on the Brat" and a reworking of the title track of Miles Davis's Bitches Brew album. Because of the ambiguity of the album cover layout, the album has been understood at times by the press to be called No One.
Mama is the debut album by Victoria, British Columbia punk rock band Nomeansno. Featuring the band's original incarnation comprising brothers John and Rob Wright, the album was released independently on LP in 1982. Nomeansno reissued a remastered version the album in 1992 on their own Wrong Records imprint, coupled with the tracks from their Betrayal, Fear, Anger, Hatred EP of 1981.
You Kill Me is an EP by Canadian punk rock band Nomeansno. Recorded in 1985, it is the first Nomeansno record to feature the band's three-piece lineup, with guitarist Andy Kerr joining founding members Rob Wright and John Wright. Originally issued on the Undergrowth label, it was later re-released on CD with the Sex Mad album on the Sex Mad/You Kill Me compilation CD and cassette released by Alternative Tentacles.
Generic Shame is an EP from Vancouver punk rock band Nomeansno. Released in 2001 on Wrong Records, the three-song EP was recorded during the same sessions which yielded in the album One.
Sex Mad/You Kill Me is a compilation of two records by Canadian punk rock band Nomeansno. Released in 1991 on the Alternative Tentacles imprint domestically and Cargo Records internationally, the album compiles the You Kill Me EP from 1985 and the Sex Mad album from 1986. These two records were the band's first recordings with longtime guitarist Andy Kerr.
Would We Be Alive? is an EP by Vancouver punk rock band Nomeansno. Its title track is a cover of a song by the avant-garde group The Residents, from their Intermission: Extraneous Music from the Residents' Mole Show record. The EP also features a new version of the song "Big Dick" from the Nomeansno album Wrong, as well as two new tracks.
Tour EP 1 is an EP from Vancouver punk rock band Nomeansno. Released in 2010 on the band's Wrong Records imprint, the four-song EP was issued as a thumb drive and 12" vinyl EP in support of Nomeansno's 2010 touring. Tour EP 1 and its sequel Tour EP 2 were originally intended as the first half of a four-EP series, but this series was never completed. They were Nomeansno's final releases before their 2016 breakup.
"Dad/Revenge" is a single by Canadian punk rock band Nomeansno. Recorded in 1985, it features two tracks from Nomeansno's 1986 album Sex Mad. "Dad" was a minor college radio hit.
