I may have mentioned it several hundred times before, but NoMeansNo are the most important group to me musically or otherwise and this post fits the journal since just about all of their releases have shaped my life. My
admiration extends beyond music, but maybe I'm just overreacting. Still, I can't just disregard the feelings.
This is my comprehensive study excluding Wrong that I already talked about.
Mama, 1982
Their first album is perhaps their most tightly knit and reserved and the quirkiest. A couple tracks feature guitar and piano but for the most part it's a stripped down drum and bass take on jazz influenced post punk, with efficient basslines and mad drum chops galore.
Sex Mad/You Kill Me, 1986
Didn't find a video that included the album and EP but I'm talking about them both here. Guitarist Andy Kerr had found a home with the band now and along with him came a raw and noisy dimension and increased aggression. Nostalgia cuts include Dead Bob, Metronome, Body Bag, and Hunt the She Beast.
The Day Everything Became Isolated and Destroyed, 1987
Failed again to find a combo video. They Stepped up their game here with a highly forward thinking version of what they already had going. In turn this is the most atmospheric and cathartic of the Kerr era, presenting more challenging structure and length. Either way, Victory is a jam of all time.
0+2=1, 1991
Into the 90s with the successor of their most celebrated album and the last with Andy Kerr. It was a turning point stylistically no doubt, but their most eclectic and progressive album up to this point. Kerr's guitar really rules some of these tracks, namely Mary. People started saying they're stuff was going too long but people are retarded. They originally dismissed the experimentation, but this is actually one of their catchiest works, and most satisfying instrumentally. It's also quite unique even in their own discography with subtle dance elements all about.
Why Do They Call Me Mr. Happy?, 1993
Critics that knock the previous album go on to praise this exponentially more demanding and dirging and far reaching album like the posers they are. It's the most mature up to this point, and the noisy hardcore output had been toned down in favor of long form and progressive noodles of dense jazziness. Back to just the two brothers, we ended up with something even more expansive and full, utilizing multiple guitar tracks and sampling. As well as musically, it is a lyrical triumph. Incredibly dynamic in both aspects, intelligent in every way. The River goes harder than you could imagine.
The Worldhood of the World (As Such), 1995
Tom Holliston joined the group on guitar and has been a part of it ever since. This album's tight as it takes the general musical approach of the previous one but tightens it up for a more succinct work. Also it stretches somewhat further sonically, but the straight ahead delivery and catchiness make it so so fun. Many rocking numbers here as well as multi-faceted art punk jams with the same lyrical dynamic we've come to know and love, but in a more sing song presentation. My Politics is a possible candidate for favorite NMN song.
Dance of the Headless Bourgeoisie, 1998
Interestingly one of the most nostalgic romps as we had this CD and it received regular play time. It's underrated, unfortunately, people saying the repetition/"monotony" is going to far and that these songs end up
going nowhere, but I cherish it madly and would rank it as perhaps my second favorite NMN release. It's got it all, all we've grown so attached to, in heaps. The somber dynamic is increased a bit though. The title track rocks but it definitely goes a little bit overboard, all the while the last few minutes are brilliant. The World Wasn't Built in a Day is pure atmospheric and stripped down poetry with very few ideas to keep the attention of losers that don't like that stuff, but it's one of my absolute favorite and a lyrical opus.
One, 2000
This is the peak of their advancing style of hypnotic, dark, wordy and skeletal form of art punk, much to many folks' dismay, but **** em. Probably their most challenging album, but even beneath all the repeating themes this jams so tough and never loses my attention. The variation is subtle, rather focusing on a mesmerizing idea as deep and cryptic lyrics combined with indeterminate and shifting musicality. I can understand the negative opinions, but it's a work I love deeply nonetheless.