X | Los Angeles (LP)

Vinyl LP pressing. Four decades after their inception, one thing is clear: X was not only one of the most influential bands to crash out of the punk movement of the late '70s, but the group's music continues to be sonically groundbreaking today. Songs written during the group's inception are as relevant and inventive today as they were in 1977. The band's early albums, Los Angeles, produced by Ray Manzarek of the Doors, Wild Gift, and Under the Big Black Sun explored dark love and an even darker L.A. with the unflinching eye of a Raymond Chandler novel. Subsequent efforts like More Fun in the New World found the band continuing to grow musically and politically, fearlessly mixing genres without ever losing it's center. "The quintessential L.A. punk band made the first great West Coast punk album with it's debut. Los Angeles is best known for it's city-defining anthem and the torrid "Johnny Hit and Run Paulene"; produced by Ray Manzarek of the Doors, it also shows that punk and classic rock can be occasional friends" - No. 287 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

John Doe (vocals, bass); Exene Cervenka (vocals); Billy Zoom (guitar); D.J. Bonebrake (drums). Additional personnel includes: Ray Manzarek (organ, synthesizer). Recorded at Golden Sound Studios, Hollywood, California in January 1980. Originally released on Slash (104). Includes liner notes by Kristine McKenna. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Since its release in 1980, X's debut album LOS ANGELES has rightfully gone on to be widely heralded as one of punk rock's true classics. Produced by former Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek, the album announced to the rest of the world the arrival of the West Coast punk explosion (which included such other acts as Black Flag, the Germs, Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks, Fear, etc.). But X was more than just your average, ordinary punk band, as they weren't afraid to inject rockabilly riffs and poetic lyrics into the punk rock stew, as exemplified throughout LOS ANGELES. The album spawned some of the quartet's best-known tracks, including "Johnny Hit and Run Pauline," "Nausea," "Los Angeles," and "The Unheard Music," while the 2001 Rhino Records reissue tacked on five extra bonus tracks. Of the newly included tracks, standouts include the forgotten early demo "Delta 88," as well as an early take of "Adult Books," which would be reworked on their sophomore release, WILD GIFT.

Tracklist

A1        Your Phone's Off The Hook, But You're Not
A2        Johny Hit And Run Paulene
A3        Soul Kitchen
A4        Nausea
A5        Sugarlight
B1        Los Angeles
B2        Sex And Dying In High Society
B3        The Unheard Music
B4        The World's A Mess; It's In My Kiss

*Audio and/or tracklist may vary slightly from the vinyl version.

Label: FAPO
Rel. Date: 02/22/2019
UPC: 767981169514
 

• Genre: Alternative
• Format: Vinyl
• Released: 02/22/2019
• Format Detail: LP