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Frankenchrist

 
Album Review: Frankenchrist

  • Artist: Dead Kennedys
  • Rating: StarStarStarStar
  • Release Date: 1985
  • Total Time: 44:58
  • Type: Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rock

Review

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 Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Soup Is Good Food (Lyrics) Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys (4:18)
Hellnation Dead Kennedys, D.H. Peligro Dead Kennedys (2:21)
This Could Be Anywhere Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys (5:24)
A Growing Boy Needs His Lunch Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys (5:49)
Chicken Farm Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys (5:05)
Jock-O-Rama Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys (4:06)
Goons of Hazzard Jello Biafra, Dead Kennedys, East Bay Ray Dead Kennedys (4:24)
MTV-Get off the Air Jello Biafra, Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys (3:37)
At My Job Dead Kennedys, East Bay Ray Dead Kennedys (3:40)
Stars and Stripes of Corruption Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys (6:25)

Credits

Jello Biafra (Vocals), Jello Biafra (Vocals (Background)), Jello Biafra (Producer), Jello Biafra (Mixing), Jello Biafra (Visual Concept), Dead Kennedys (Main Performer), Klaus Flouride (Bass), Klaus Flouride (Vocals), Klaus Flouride (Vocals (Background)), Sweet (Vocals (Background)), Wild Bill (Vocals (Background)), Susan Caldwell (Vocals (Background)), Kris Carleson (Vocals (Background)), John Cuniberti (Engineer), John Cuniberti (Mixing), John Cuniberti (Digital Remastering), Jeff Davis (Vocals (Background)), Steve DePace (Vocals (Background)), Danielle Dunlap (Vocals (Background)), East Bay Ray (Synthesizer), East Bay Ray (Bouzouki), East Bay Ray (Guitar), East Bay Ray (Guitar (Electric)), East Bay Ray (Bellzouki), East Bay Ray (Digital Remastering), Gary Floyd (Vocals (Background)), Julie Hoffman (Vocals (Background)), Tim Jones (Keyboards), John Leib (Trumpet), D.H. Lipat (Vocals (Background)), Robyn Lutz (Vocals (Background)), Microwave (Vocals (Background)), Laura T.R. Muetz (Vocals (Background)), D.H. Peligro (Drums), D.H. Peligro (Vocals), D.H. Peligro (Vocals (Background)), Eugene Robinson (Vocals (Background)), Nina T.R. Stapleton (Vocals (Background)), Winston Smith (Art Direction), Newsweek (Photography), Lester Sloan (Photography)
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Wikipedia: Frankenchrist
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Frankenchrist
Studio album by Dead Kennedys
Released October 1985
Recorded Hyde St. Studios, May & July 1985
Genre Hardcore punk Length = 45:12
Label Alternative Tentacles
Producer Jello Biafra
Professional reviews
Dead Kennedys chronology
A Skateboard Party
(1983)
Frankenchrist
(1985)
Bedtime for Democracy
(1986)
Frankenchrist Poster
Poster included with Frankenchrist

Frankenchrist is the third album released by the American hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys in 1985 on Alternative Tentacles.

The album was a subject of controversy because of a poster inserted in the original record sleeve. The poster, H. R. Giger's Landscape #XX, or Penis Landscape, was a painting depicting rows of penises and vulvas. The band was brought to trial for distributing harmful matter to minors, and though the case did not result in a conviction, Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles was driven almost to bankruptcy. Only through the support of fans was the label able to stay alive. Biafra gained attention as a champion of free speech, and was subsequently one of the most active opponents of the Parents Music Resource Center. The cover itself depicts a Shriners parade.

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.

Track listing

  1. "Soup Is Good Food" – 4:18 (Jello Biafra)
  2. "Hellnation" – 2:22 (D.H. Peligro)
  3. "This Could Be Anywhere (This Could Be Everywhere)" – 5:24 (Jello Biafra)
  4. "A Growing Boy Needs His Lunch" – 5:50 (Jello Biafra)
  5. "Chicken Farm" – 5:06 (Jello Biafra)
  6. "Jock-O-Rama (Invasion of the Beef Patrol)" – 4:06 (Jello Biafra)
  7. "Goons of Hazzard" – 4:25 (East Bay Ray, Jello Biafra)
  8. "M.T.V. - Get off the Air" – 3:37 (Jello Biafra)
  9. "At My Job" – 3:41 (East Bay Ray)
  10. "Stars and Stripes of Corruption" – 6:23 (Jello Biafra)

Credits

  • Jello Biafra - lead vocals, producer, mixer
  • East Bay Ray - guitar, synthesizer, bellzouki, acoustic guitar in "MTV - Get off the Air"
  • Klaus Flouride - bass, backing vocals
  • D.H. Peligro - drums, backing vocals
  • John Leib - trumpet on "MTV - Get Off The Air"
  • Tim Jones - keyboards on "A Growing Boy Needs His Lunch"
  • Nina T.R. Stapleton - backing vocals
  • Laura T.R. Muetz - backing vocals
  • Julie Hoffman - backing vocals
  • Susan Caldwell - backing vocals
  • Danielle Dunlap - backing vocals
  • Robyn Lutz - backing vocals
  • Kris Carleson - backing vocals
  • Steve DePace - backing vocals
  • Wild Bill - backing vocals
  • Sweet - backing vocals
  • Wee Willy Lipat - backing vocals
  • Microwave - backing vocals
  • Gary Floyd - backing vocals
  • Eugene Robinson - backing vocals
  • Jeff Davis - backing vocals
  • John Cuniberti - engineer, mixer
  • Winston Smith - artwork

 
 
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Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Frankenchrist" Read more