Search - Various Artists :: 20 Years of Dischord

Some killers but a lot of mediocre music too

Reggie Charan | Philadelphia, PA | 05/08/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I've had this box set in my CD player for a month now. As much as I hoped it would grow on me, it has not yet. As brilliant as Minor Threat and Government Issue were, the reason why you probably never heard of a lot of these bands is simply because their songs weren't very good. I doubt many people will hit repeat on their CD player to hear the generic noise of Gray Matter or the insufferable Rites of Spring multiple times. That said, there are some good singles strewn throughout like Marginal Man's "Missing Rungs," Circus Lupus' "Pop Man," and Embrace's classic "Money." Dischord is an unassailable indie label, so it is no surprise that they would choose to democratically showcase all the artists on their roster rather than focus in on a few popular bands. Still, much of this music simply makes no impact at all."

Stick it to the man, man

terrorx1 | wdc | 06/04/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"why are you buying this from amazon? oh, just because its cheaper than buying it from the friggin' label. come on guys let's stick it to the man...or save money."

Great! wonderful! pow!!!

Ryan | california | 04/21/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"On the basis of the ambitiousness of this project alone, "20 Years of Dischord" should garner a really high star rating. Now, while I'm not too keen on some of the bands on the second disc -- it's just not my taste -- I LOVE the majority of tunes on the first and third discs. The huge, beautiful full color booklet is a great touch too. Makes for nice bathroom reading. ha.Anyway, one thing I really enjoyed about this set is the chronological order that shows a very clear evolution in "the DC sound." First you get the primitive hardcore of Teen Idles and Untouchables. These are great bands, but they lead up to the real meat of the first disc: The CLASSICS from Minor Threat, GI, SOA, Void, Youth Brigade and Faith. But the neatest thing about it is as soon as the Faith song is finished, you can tell the DC sound had reached a turning point. "20 Years of Dischord" really demonstrates, as never before to those who weren't there in the early years of harDCore, how important Faith was to the scene. They're the true roots of the "emo" style that would develop later, with introspective lyrics, more complicated and melodic guitar work, and less harsh vocals. They're still a hardcore band, yeah, but they do mark a departure from the straightforward thrash of Minor Threat and the others.After Faith, things get more melodic, with Marginal Man, Embrace and the impeccable Rites of Spring. There's plenty of just "what the hell" type stuff from the "Revolution Summer" era too... take Beefeater's almost metallic funk-punk and The Snakes' silly "Snake Rap." Other mid-era highlights include Gray Matter and Dag Nasty. Towards the end of disc one it's evident that Dischord has outgrown the hardcore trappings it started with and is focussed on independent music of any kind in DC. It's cool, but not exactly my steez, if you get me. So I usually only listen to a few tracks on disc two (Nation of Ulysses, Slant 6 and The Make-Up are great, and of course, Fugazi has to be mentioned).And disc three is great icing on the cake, with unreleased/rare songs from (mostly early hardcore) bands. There are some video clips too that I haven't been able to figger out how to play on my comp, blast it!"20 Years of Dischord" is the most bang, and band, for your buck you can get. Three discs and a huge booklet for less than most new DVDs? Snap this up. Great history lesson on one of the most influential and important record labels in HISTORY."