Publication:
MaximumRockNRoll

Author:
Felix Von Havoc

MRR #221 compilation records
First I want to talk about Unity. Unity is a time-honored topic in hardcore music. Youth Brigade said we should Fight to Unite. Warzone stressed that we be United As One. Scream thought we should Fight,for a United Scene. Agnostic Front want us to be United and Strong. SOD advocated United Forces. There was a band called Unity. Infest asked us Where's the Unity? Crucial Youth were all about Unity. Only Raid questioned Unity saying "I won't Unite with what I despise." Unity, what does it mean in the hardcore context. Sounds like a thesis for some college kids paper but here goes. The punk scene is made up of a lot of independent minded, free thinking individuals. These individuals are set on doing their own thing, regardless of what society thinks of them, true non-conformists. The punk scene has always attracted people who wouldn't fit in anywhere else. It has also attracted every branch of political extremist from the far right to the far left. There are religious nuts, atheists, teetotalers, drug addicts, and every other variety of wild viewpoint expressed in punk music. How will we ever get these groups to unify? And once unified what would they achieve.

Going back to the early 80's when hardcore was much smaller and less broken up into sub genres I'd say there were a number of causes of friction that would make people want to unite. Punks versus Skins, Straight Edge vs. Drunks, Political vs. A political and Political Left vs. Political Right Religious vs. Atheist and Animal Rights vs. Meat Eaters. Most of these conflicts are still with us today. But I think there was a thought back then that the scene was still small enough and had enough in common that these schisms could be breached and everyone could come together for a United Scene. When I look at the scene today I see a lot of petty divisions that would've been ridiculous in the early days of hardcore. In Minneapolis there is a big split between "street punks" and "crusties" which makes me wonder. Whatever happened to being united against society? What does that say about punk? Has punk become so socially acceptable that no one wants to fight us anymore? ? Are we so out of people to fight that we have to fight other segments of the punk scene? Are we so out of people to fight that we have to fight other segments of the punk scene? But realistically, how are we going to reconcile the gulf that separates say, right wing Skinheads from anarchist crusties, militant vegan SE kids from beer guzzling meat feasting GG Allin fans? Unity sounds good in punk lyrics but put into practice it gets dicey. And once united, what would be achieved. What two punks can agree on anything, much less any sort of program for a united punk movement to undertake.

Now I'd like to talk about the compilation LP. This was an essential form in the early days of Hardcore. When things were moving fast and new scenes were rising up with distinct styles a comp or "sampler" was the most cost effective way of introducing the outside world to the new sounds. For what it's worth here are my picks for the 10 best comps of all time.

<ul>
<li>1. Welcome to 1984</li>
<li>2. Flex Your Head</li>
<li>3. PEACE comp</li>
<li>4. Cleanse the Bacteria</li>
<li>5. Thrash Til Death</li>
<li>6. Boston Not LA</li>
<li>7. Someone Got their head kicked in</li>
<li>8. Mortarhate comps</li>
<li>9. Punk and Disorderly series</li>
<li>10. Something to Believe in</li>
</ul>

Add the Mystic comps, SST comps, Thrasher comps, Crass records comps, Rat Music comps, Riotous Assembly, NY City Hardcore the Way it is, Grindcrusher, Hardcore Holocaust 1 and 2, Peaceville comps, Rot records comps, Flipside vinyl fanzines, Let them eat Jellybeans, Hardcore Unlawful Assembly, Propaganda records comps, Really Fast comps, Delcline of Western Civilization etc. etc. you have a pretty good sampling of punk/hardcore music in the 80's. It is often said that back in the day bands picked their best songs to go on comps to get the exposure whereas today they select the throwaway tracks for comps. There are more compilations coming out today than ever but so few seem to be memorable. Perhaps I'm old and jaded and living in the past but even the best comps today have a hard time measuring up to Welcome to 1984. At best a compilation is a snapshot of a time and place. Records like NYC Hardcore the way it is, Flex Your Head and Boston Not LA capture a distinct phase of the regional development of punk music in such a monumental way they are impossible to ignore. Can we say the same for the comp records coming out today. I'm not saying the compilation is dead, or not a valid form, but that we can do a lot better. Compilations that document a scene are great, if the scene has a lot of good bands. Also usually cool are theme comps. The Element Skate comps are great as all the bands write about.. Skating. Also impressive is the Deadly Sins comp. which is one of the most thought out comps I've ever seen. Label comps can be great or they can suck, depending on the label I guess. Some labels do el cheapo sampler CDs that I think are tacky as fuck but serve a commercial purpose I guess. One great trend has been the compilation of out of print classic punk in the Killed By Death and Bloodstains style. This has exposed whole new generations to the obscure genius of early punks and the meant to stay obscure stupidity of other early punks. Tribute comps started out as a good idea but I think have long since lost their interest. I mean these are strictly novelty records. How often to you listen to a tribute comp more than once? I mean stuff like "Ten of your favorite new school metal SE bands play their versions of Crippled Youth's demo" can only be interesting for so long. Not to say great comps aren't still being made. I was floored by the Sound Pollution comp Tomorrow Will Be Worse vol 2. But it is lost in a sea of comps that hit the floors every week. Should be classics with huge amounts of time invested in them such as the Iron Columns double LP comp are lost amid Fat Music for Fat Shoppers vol 16 specially priced CDs. So what am I getting at. Quality over quantity. If you are going to do a comp find a scene to document that is alive and vital. Or, bring together bands around a theme or cause. One last thing, if you are planning a comp for the 2004 election get started now as it will take that long for all the bands to send in their tapes and artwork.

Publication Date:
January 1, 1988

Previous | All articles in this category | Next