Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime
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Free Music Notes for Double Nickels on the Dime
Free Music Review: The only album you really need!
Hit: 5 Stars
I bought the LP in 1985 and fell in love; already had PROJECT MERSH, but it barely prepared me for DOUBLE NICKELS ON THE DIME. I agree with the politics--not everybody does. You'd have to be tone deaf, though, not to hear the pure superiority of these 3 guys. Mike Watt alone just makes me want to pound my head on the floor in amazement. He and George are even ahead of Foxton and Buckler in the early-80s rhythm section sweepstakes, and if you know those names you know what I mean. But D. was the front man and he put it over the top, with guitar, vocals, and lyrics. They covered every base except maybe the old fashioned love song. The only downside here is the limitation to the CD version. The LP is still in print, still sounds flawless, and has all the songs. The pictures are bigger too! The price of a good second-hand turntable is justified to get the whole package, so make amazon.com stock the LP, and get it. My personal CDs are copies of that same old 17 year old LP, and I'm luckier than you are. I still remember the feeling I had when I heard about D. and I still can't believe this was supposed to be an answer to Husker Du's double album, and the Minutemen didn't even need a 14 minute instrumental to pad it out. Better than EXILE ON MAIN ST., better than THE BLANTON-WEBSTER BAND, better than THE SUN SESSIONS, better than PIANO QUINTET IN F MINOR OPUS 34. It's better than ROCKET TO RUSSIA!! If you don't understand, you lose.Free Music Review: our band could be your life
Hit: 5 Stars
"our band could be your life" are the lyrics that are sung/spoken by d. boon at the opening of "history lesson part II" and honestly, no truer words have been spoken than that. at the time, i never realized what an incredible impact this band and this record in particular would have on my life. with this record, mike watt taught me how to play bass. the minutemen taught me the meaning of "jam econo". some of the greatest albums ever recorded when you look back at them only reflect where you were at that particular time in your life. they make you think about old friends and girlfriends, old jobs and experiences...etc. "double nickels on the dime" however brings me back to where i learned about the importance of friendship in music and being brave enough to do your own thing both musically and with your own lifestyle in general. things that aren't just moments in time, but lessons learned that if you are lucky will stick with you for the rest of your life.
when i am on my way to gigs now with my own band and i start to feel the gitters of insecurity creeping in on me this is the cd i reach for. i pop it in and it elevates me above it all. the minutemen were the ultimate do it yourself band that paved the way for others with ideas and hopes of doing something different and they elevate me like that every time. if you give them a chance, they'll do it for you too.
Free Music Review: One Reporter's Opinion
Hit: 5 Stars
What could be romantic to Mike Watt? Or to D. Boon and George Hurley, for that matter? On DNOTD, Hurley pounds the 'skins like a man possessed, Watt twangs the hell out of his 'ol four-string, and D. Boon brings it on home with a staccato guitar and a "take no prisoners" singing voice. In epic scope on a "model railroad" scale, this album rivals the entire 'oeuvre' of Pink Floyd;
In single album stylism and range it rivals the Clash's seminal _London Calling_, ranging from thrash to instrumental to jazzy jams to popular theme music appropriated by the show "Jackass" (_Corona_) and some Nissan commercial (_Love Jam_);
In originality, it rivals Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, and Louis Armstrong; masters of the past, and carries their legacy in spirit, if not in form;
And in brevity, their strongest suit? The equivalent would be like a femtosecond snapshot in the life of a U-235 atom. (Postscript: a femto- is a verrrrry short period of time).
Five star ratings are often handed out like grocery receipts on this website, but I feel that this album and this band (like only a scattered few others) are truely worthy of the attention. DNOTD is the Minutemen's best album, it is perhaps the best album from the California punk scene of the late 70s- early 80s, one of the best albums of the entire genre of punk, and, well,...you get the progression.
43 songs in under 55 minutes? How could you go wrong?
Free Music Review: Dig This Big Crux:
Hit: 5 Stars
There are a few albums which -- I'm ashamed to admit -- really did change my life: "All Mod Cons" by the Jam, "Radio City" by Big Star, "Pet Sounds" by the Beach Boys, and, somewhat incongruously, this record. To be honest, the first five or six times I heard it, my reaction was more along the lines of "what the f*ck is this?" than the gushing praise you'd get from me today. The fact, however, is that this album has the rare ability to transcend musical genres and burrow its way into your brain, infecting/liberating the way you think as it goes. High praise? A bit weird? Yeah, but true. I find myself wanting to reprint the album's entire lyric sheet just so I can convince you -- but that wouldn't work, either. You need to listen to it yourself.Oh, hell, I can't resist at least one needle-drop -- this is from "Do You Want New Wave (Or Do You Want the Truth)":
"I stand for language. I speak for truth. I shout for history. I am a cesspool for all the sh*t to run down in..."
Also, my all-time favorite song title is on this album, namely: "The Roar Of the Masses Could be Farts."
Which makes the Minutemen sound like a bunch of scatological in-jokesters, or dadaist Howard Stern fans, or something. Well, they're not. Like I said, you have to listen to them for yourself.
Long live the Minutemen.
Free Music Review: Simply Beautiful
Hit: 5 Stars
While I hate that this CD is missing 2 songs, the 43 tunes (74.17 minutes) remaining are definitely worth it. This is easily one of the best albums out there, and a really useful demonstration of the breadth and depth of the punk movement, at least in the US. The core of the album is in the trademark stripped-down sound of the Minutemen, and their lingering jazz and funk influences.It is a seamless, smart, and spellbinding masterpiece. There is so much variety on this CD that I don't think it's possible to get tired of it. I particularly like "Cohesion" (although would have liked it deeper in the playlist), "Maybe Partying Will Help," and "No Exchange" (which just builds so nicely). But in truth, I love all of the songs, so many of which manage to be softly scathing, which requires far more finesse than simply screeching.
For people who think punk was (is) about leather jackets, chains, mohawks, and stomping up and down, I would suggest you avoid this album, but not because this album doesn't rock -- because it definitely rocks -- but it does it in a truly punk way, which is to defy definition itself. And it does it masterfully and intelligently. Makes me sad that d. boon died so young (27, of course), given what he was capable of. This CD is well worth your time.