NOFX - E Is For Everything On Mystic Records / Maximum Rocknroll

NOFX - E Is For Everything On Mystic Records / Maximum Rocknroll (1989)

E Is For Everything On Mystic / Maximum Rocknroll is an album by NOFX that compiles early singles and demo songs. It was released in 1989 by Mystic Records without the band's consent. Maximum Rocknroll was released as an LP, CD, and cassette. The cassette album was given a different title, E is for Everything..., although the track listing was identical to the other formats. E is for Everything is currently out of print.

NOFX's lo-fi debut is mid-'80s SoCal punk in the vein of other bratty, mile-a-minute punk bands. While most of the sonic characteristics that later defined the group's sound (including Bad Religion-influenced vocal harmonies) are missing, Maximum Rock'n'Roll proves that NOFX's goofball humor was in effect from day one (see "Six Pack Girls," "Cops and Donuts," and "Shitting Bricks"). Perhaps best of all is the band's cover of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man." The liner notes include a June 1991 Maximum Rock 'n' Roll interview with Fat Mike, in which he gives props to bands like Snuff and Green Day. Amusing and historically interesting, but only for serious fans.

The Germs - Germicide: Live At The Whiskey 1977

The Germs -
Germicide: Live At The Whiskey 1977

Although punk rock was initially said to be one-dimensional and devoid of instrumental technique, many bands proved to be adept at both playing their instruments and writing songs (X, the Minutemen, the Police, the Dead Kennedys, etc.). As evidenced on the live release Germicide: Live at the Whiskey 1977, California's the Germs were not one such band. This lo-fi live set shows that the group barely knew how to play their instruments, play in time, keep a steady tempo, or truly function as a live band. But due to their in your face attitude and confrontational live performances, the Germs became one of the most influential punk bands ever — Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Jane's Addiction, and the Offspring have all admitted their admiration. Even though Iggy Pop had laid the groundwork for such punk shockers as Germs singer Darby Crash years before, audiences often had hostile reactions toward the band. Throughout Germicide, Darby is heard taunting the audience with insults as the crowd showers the band with debris. The Germs soldier on nonetheless, attempting to perform such classics as "Forming," "Sex Boy," "Let's Pretend," and tracks that are unavailable elsewhere ("Suicide Machine," "Teenage Clone," etc.). Although 1993's (MIA): The Complete Anthology is superior, Germicide