sxejustin's Full Review: I Heard They Suck Live!! by NOFX
NOFX - I heard they suck live review
Putting out a live album may not seem like a punk thing to do, but it's actually fairly prevalent amongst punk bands. The Descendents, Bad Religion, Pennywise, and many other bands have put out live albums, and so did NOFX in 1995, shortly after the release of their arguably best album, "Punk in Drublic".
This album is a collection of the best parts of two live shows NOFX played in Hollywood. NOFX plays a good set with a lot of songs off their "Punk In Drublic" and "White trash, Two Heebs and a Bean". They mix it up with a few songs off "Ribbed", and a couple of songs off their older albums "S&M Airlines" and "Liberal Animation". They even manage to throw in a song off the "Longest Line" EP and a cover of the Rudimentary Peni song "Nothing but a nightmare".
MUSIC: 4/5 Stars
The sound quality of this recording is exceptional, espescially compared to other live albums which usually sound sub-par. Fat Mike mentions in the liner notes that the recording rig cost an excessive amount of money to rent out, and the cost shows. You get all the sloppy flavor of a live show without the poor recording quality, which is definitely a plus. I actually prefer the live versions of many of NOFX's songs to the album versions. They're faster, more vulgar, and a lot more "punk rock", and to my ear it sounds a lot better. The sound of this album is basically NOFX from the "Punk In Drublic" era (where in my mind they reached their peak) covering their older songs in that style and playing the Punk In Drublic ones sloppier. Also, the repetoire between the band members and the crowd is quite funny as well, and should be a treat for any NOFX fan.
LYRICS: 4/5 Stars
NOFX's lyrical style, aside from their earlier works, is quite good. They manage to be both clever and funny at the same time, and can manage both thought provoking and hilarious lyrics. Lyrically, most of the songs on "I Heard they suck Live" are pretty decent, with the notable exception of "Six Pack Girls" and "Beer Bong", off NOFX's first Epitaph album which are quite old and stupid. With so many great songs over the years it is beyond me why NOFX chose to play a few of their worst songs for this album, but whatever. "Punk in Drublic" was also NOFX's peak in terms of lyrical content, and a number of the songs on this album are culled from that release, so it's all good.
AESTHETICS: 3/5 Stars
The cover of the album is one of NOFX's best. It sports a very nice little cartoon by Coop, featuring his interpretation of a NOFX live show. Inside the liner notes are a few live shots, and a picture of the lineup poster for the shows, presumably. That poster gets extra points because it features a scene from Evil Dead 2 on it. The rest of the liner notes consist of a hand written explanation of the album by NOFX front man/bass player, Fat Mike. Nothing special here, just well laid out liner notes.
ORIGINALITY: 2/5 Stars
In all honesty, this is one of the most unoriginal things NOFX has done. A live album?!?! Come on now. I bought this a few years back, and when I think about it these days it kind of seems like NOFX exploited my devotion to their band by selling me an album containing only ONE song you can't find on their other albums, and that's just a sh*tty cover of a Rudimentary Peni song I could care less about. In fact, I used the defense that NOFX ripped me off with this album to justify my pirating of the "Decline" EP and the "Pump up the Valuum" album. After spending actual money on this, I felt NOFX owed me something in return.
STAND OUT TRACKS:
3. Moron Brothers: Lightning fast version of this classic off the "Ribbed" album.
6. Life of Reilly: Much improved, actually "in tune" version of the best song from "S&M Airlines". It has a nice ska groove.
11. Kill all the White Man: El Hefe totally kicks out a beautiful version of this Eddie Murphy routine, I believe, also found on the "Longest Line" EP
15. Nowhere: Great, trimmed down version of the song off "Ribbed" about the cold war, with a few adapted lyrics. Very nice, espescially considering the fact it starts immediately after the much slower and quite vulgar "Together on the Sand"
I would recommend this album to any serious fans of NOFX, ie those serious enough to spend the money on this album for the sole purpose of sloppier versions of songs they already have and some funny crowd banter. I think this album is more interpreted for people just getting into NOFX, as a sort of sampler of NOFX's works Pre-1995. If you don't have the albums "Ribbed", "Punk In Drublic", "Liberal Animation", "S&M Airlines", "The Longest Line", or "White Trash, Two Heebs, and a Bean" and want to sample a few of the songs before you purchase them, then this is the album for you.
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