Why buy anything else? - Angry Samoans are great... and now all the greatness of Inside My Head and Back From Samao is boiled down to this, The Unboxed Set. Take a look. There s nothing good missing here.
The Unboxed Set - Angry Samoans-The Unboxed Set ****1/2The Angry Samoans are sort of like a smarter version of The Ramones. Easentaily the music and the formula are the same but the lyrics are more intelligent here then on your average Ramones record. Infact during the time of this release The Ramones were actually trying to sound more like hardcore punk bands then their selves anyways.Songs like Right Side Of The Mind, Im A Pig, and My Ol Mans A Fatso are hardcore classics. Gas Chamber and Homo-Sexual were really what hardcord and this brand of socialy concious punk is all about. Issues and the D.I.Y. attitude.The Unboxed Set is one of the crowning achievments in the hardcore genre. So for anyone interested in that style of punk rock then Angry Samoans, and especially this, The Unboxed Set are for you.
The Unboxed Set - Five stars for the first 30 tracks on here (is that enough?!). This has MOST all of the Angry Samoans you ll ever need, although I would much, MUCH rather have the Queer Pills E.P. on here than the STP NOT L.S.D. LP.The early Angry Samoans records -- Inside My Brain (the Classic! the EP version I mean, although there are some great tracks on the B-side of that re-issue LP, which are here as tracks 7-11, with tracks 10 and 11 later issued on the Live at Rhino Records LP.(not a great LP, its highlight is right here, Right Side of My Mind)A perfect place to start: the original version of the incredible song which opens this disc (apparently inspired by The Shadows Of Knight s I m Gonna Make You Mine, one of the great lost 60s garage classics). But here, this AIN T no love song, ha ha! There is more joy at the release of anger here to enjoy than on say, Bodies by the Sex Pistols! just leave a man to his guitars, it s our way of expressionAt times the lyrics verge on poetry on this album, I ain t kidding!But who cares about that, with lyrics like there s nothing holding me back, and I listen to you, [...]!! -- with music just as exhilaratingly liberating!! Its as much fun as quitting a job you really hated!Gimme Sopor? twisted. what can you make of lyrics like got a dog, got a dog dog dog, I m a hog--and You re a frog? Great song!Hot Cars? Roky Erickson s favorite Sex Pistols song, or so he said! (Nah,it s an original). Inside My Brain and You Stupid [...]? these songs helped me seriously in high school! the former has such lines as I see black christmas trees, barbed wire, funeral homes, I see your face, forest fires, rats in the street gnawing at your bones (now that s what I meant by poetry! Ya gotta admit, it s a lot more clever than your average band!)The latter, hell, the best line in the world 1,2, I m looking at you and there ain t nothing I missed, 3,4 I m closing the door cause you no longer exist! Then follows the perfect lines at [...] who doesn t deserve nothing man.Then a rant against Rodney Bigenheimer, a guy who helped more bands in the L.A. area than one can think of at one time (hence the Queer Pills moniker on the E.P.) all I can say is...GREAT SONG!!! ha haThis whole E.P. has a style that should appeal to anybody into early 80s L.A. punk, [...] classic, man.The extras from that include the hilarious I m A Pig, which has been a personal fave by them since first hearing it. (the line about a two-tub turkey, a tribute/nod to The Dictators). The early version of My Old Man s A Fatso has some additional lyrics than the first released version, from Back To Samoa, this has a slower tempo, which suits it better. Carson Girls is clearly an inside-joke tribute to, once again,one of their biggest influences, The Dictators. (Metal Mike s singing was probaly most influenced by The Thirteenth Floor Elevators, I m guessing, tho any number of 60s band probably did it).Too Animalistic was originally done by Vom, a band which had Metal Mike on drums, and Gregg Turner too, with Richard Meltzer singing (talk about a Dictators connection!). Their E.P. was cool and I wish I never lent it to Kat, she kept it and moved, the [...]! (the highlight there was I m In Love With Your Mom).Back From Samoa is an uneven effort (recorded at I forget How many studios), but with enough instant (oh No! he s gonna write) classics on it to make it pretty essential. Gas Chamber, The Todd Killings (which, like They Saved Hitler s and You Stupid Jerk, are re-makes from the Queer Pills E.P., missing is Time To [...]).You Stupid Jerk (later covered by the Muffs, but without that [...] singing), and Not Of This Earth (I LL PUT YOUR HEAD IN A MILK BOTTLE!!!) are both also highlights.But the real Masterpiece here, is The Ballad Of Jerry Curlan!Man, talk about one hilarious song! I can t even print the words from this one here! Completely filthy! Was really dissapointing when they later played it live and left out the good parts to do it as a medley with Decadent Jew (originally by The Nuns).For those who question how (ahem) politically correct this band, who sang about Hiltler s penis could be, Homosexual is credited to Jerry Falwell, ha ha!Part three, the Yesterday Came Today EP, really aint that great, it s not bad, it s certainly different. It s actaully a pretty depressing record.STP Not LSD just is plain lousy, with only the first two songs on it decent, it made me hesitant to give this five stars, but just consider it bonus tracks or something and you ve still got one HELL of a terrific CD!Really, a must for anybody into mid-tempo punk, or early L.A. punk, or snotty punk, or funny punk...just a must.If you like the Circle Jerks first album, 60s garage rock, and psychotic lyrics, you ll love this.
Confirms that they really only needed ONE rerelease - I had 2 Angry Samoans records--Back from Samoa and STP Not LSD, and I had always favored the first over the second. _STP Not LSD_ actually fell to the near-bottom of my pile after a while, because I wouldn t pull it out to play or even use it for mix tapes.And this unboxed set, though very witty as a concept, just confirmed for me that Back from Samoa is by far their best work. All of their best elements are at play--nasty humor, abrasive attitude and that grand desire to tick-off undesirable elements. From the chilling call to violence with their classic Lights Out to the toilet humor and direct offensiveness of They Saved Hitler s C*ck, to the wonderful simplicity of anger with My Old Man s a Fatso (a better version than the one found on Inside My Brain), Angry Samoans were clearly hoping to ruffle feathers. The recording too was sharper and the playing tighter.But the other releases included (and, let s face it, always the ingrained downfall of complete rather than selective rereleases) have only spotty successes and are overall rather bland. By the time they got around to putting out Yesterday Started Tomorrow, Angry Samoans were just no longer angry--maybe at each other, but not in an interesting way, and the last two releases kind of showed me that they really were over at that point.So my advice would be to get the one hot album all on its own and relish in good Samoans. That they couldn t keep their own fuel going shouldn t matter to you anymore. Just grab your fork and make the first attack.
A career-spanning record from one of the the stupidest, most important punk bands ever. - This is a record truly worthy of five stars. Every song is catchy, anthemic, and hilarious. My Old Man s A Fatso and Lights Out are worth the price of admission alone, but there are a ton of tracks here. Really The Unboxed Set will take care of any Angry Samoans need you could possibly have in just one record. That s value folks. If Hitler s cock could talk, it would tell you to buy this record.