Dead Kennedys - Frankenchrist (1985) [Original + SHM-CD Remaster] RESTORED

Frankenchrist is the third album released by the American hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys in 1985. The album is an example of the progressive, psychedelic side of the Kennedys' musical personality. The spaghetti western soundtrack influence is also noticeable in the horn parts and in East Bay Ray's atmospheric guitar work. Frankenchrist is noted for its relative lack of traditionally 'hardcore' material. Most of the songs are slower and longer than the majority of other Dead Kennedys songs. "M.T.V. − Get off the Air" is notable for its pointed slam of the music establishment and "Stars and Stripes of Corruption" for its exegesis of Biafra's political philosophies.

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Dead Kennedys - Frankenchrist (1985) [Original + SHM-CD Remaster] RESTORED

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Released after a three-year studio hiatus, this album picks up right where Plastic Surgery Disasters left off. As always, the lyrics are among the most literate and angry in all of rock & roll. "Goons of Hazard" scores the culture of guns and the rednecks who love them, utilizing full-textured hard rock to set the verses. "Soup Is Good Food" lacerates the concept of disposable people in disposable jobs, pairing this idea with repeated guitar riff-based music that suggests a nightmare version of 1960s songs. "Jock-O-Rama" excoriates organized sports and macho attitudes; musically, the outer sections wed rockabilly and hardcore influences, sandwiching a slow middle section that spoofs martial numbers like Barry Sadler's "Ballad of the Green Berets". "This Could Be Anywhere" has critical lyrics about racism and classicism set to music highly reminiscent of the Sex Pistols. "Hellnation" has garbled, wide-range, muckracking verses set to stun-speed punk that recalls numbers from In God We Trust Inc. The excellent "MTV – Get Off the Air" lambastes the corporate influences on rock & roll; musically, the song exhibits a tripartite structure, using a vacuously poppy opening, a speed hardcore central section, and a mid-tempo rocking finale that prominently features trumpet (a very brief coda reprise of hardcore ends the number). The finest selection on this album (and perhaps in the whole Dead Kennedys' canon) is the anthemic "Stars and Stripes of Corruption." This number also utilizes a three-part construct, consisting here of a hard-rocking midsection flanked by faster, punk-oriented material. The verses here are stunningly detailed, describing what the band believes is wrong with the United States and what the solutions should be. This wonderful and challenging album is very highly recommended.

~ David Cleary, all media guide

Tracklist:

01. Soup Is Good Food
02. Hellnation
03. This Could Be Anywhere (This Could Be Everywhere)
04. A Growing Boy Needs His Lunch
05. Chicken Farm
06. Jock-O-Rama (Invasion Of Beef Patrol)
07. Goons Of Hazzard
08. M.T.V. - Get Off The Air
09. At My Job
10. Stars And Stripes Of Corruption



Produced by Jello Biafra. Engineered by John Cuniberti
Mixed by Jello Biafra & John Cuniberti
Recorded at Hyde St. Studios, San Francisco, Ca. in May & July 1985

• Jello Biafra - lead vocals
• East Bay Ray - guitar, synthesizer, bellzouki, acoustic guitar on "8"
• Klaus Flouride - bass, backing vocals
• D.H. Peligro - drums, backing vocals

Original Release Date: October 1985
These versions Re-Released: January 1993 / August 2008
Format: Original Recording Reissued / Original Recording Remastered
Label: Alternative Tentacles / Imperial Records (Japan)
Catalog No.: VIRUS 45CD / TECI-26495