What's the third best Fugazi record?

[davy]

[donblood]

So The Argument is definitely not Fugazi's third best record?

[davy]

So The Argument is definitely not Fugazi's third best record?

It is definitely their best.

[Black Amnesia of Heaven]

Three-way tie between End Hits, In on the Kill Taker and Repeater.  Sorry davy.

[davy]

Just trying to decide what's next. I have The Argument, Red Medicine, and 13 Songs. I like the sound of the first two a LOT, but not so much the third.

[Maaik]

I voted for End Hits, but if you don't have Repeater yet, that shit's got some crucial songs on it.  The title song, "Blueprint," "Shut The Door" etc.

Also, the DVD of Instrument, if you don't already have it, is arguably over-long, but just stunning more often than not.  And Guy is really funny.

[Black Amnesia of Heaven]

Just trying to decide what's next. I have The Argument, Red Medicine, and 13 Songs. I like the sound of the first two a LOT, but not so much the third.

Go for End Hits

[ddillaman]

I voted Repeater, but if the question is "Which one will I like if these are my Fugazi preferences?", then, yeah, End Hits is the answer you're looking for.

Which reminds me: why am I not listening to Fugazi right now?

[Andrew_TSKS]

This thread is attempting to upend the Fugazi canon and I for one am not standing for it!

[davy]

Ha ha, what? Explain yourself!

[Killdozersnakeboy]

I've been meaning to start a Fugazi thread for a while
I’ve pretty much adored Fugazi like a religion since I was 14-15 (so that’s 17 years or so). I’ve been sitting here for a while trying to put the Fugazi albums in order and I’m struggling. Each one of these albums ruled my life at some point. Argument was my favourite for a few years after it came out but now I’m not sure.

Here’s a quick attempt that I'll not stand by 5 minutes from now.
1. Red Medicine
2. The Argument
3. In on the Kill Taker
4. End Hits
5. Repeater
6. Steady Diet of Nothing
7. 13 Songs
8. Instrument

But then I feel bat for putting Steady Diet so low as it’s a criminally underated Fugazi album.
I never got any of the live CDRs. Anyone here get some? There’s like 30 of them or some shit.

It should also be pointed out that no Fugazi album came even close to the beautiful, mind blowing, heart bursting, life changing power of the live experience.

[mriley]

You really just need to go back and listen to 13 songs again until you like it.

[davy]

You really just need to go back and listen to 13 songs again until you like it.

I like it fine, but I have a lot more appreciation for the stuff they were doing musically towards the end of their career. Generally speaking, I find the straight hardcore sound a little abrasive.

[Andrew_TSKS]

Ha ha, what? Explain yourself!

Riles and I appear to be espousing the same viewpoint. I do not buy into this whole "the later albums are better" zeitgeist. For me "13 songs", "Repeater", and "In On The Kill Taker" are the best ones. Actually, though, I voted for "Steady Diet Of Nothing" even though that's fourth-best on my personal list. THEN comes "The Argument", which, don't get me wrong, is really good for a latter-era Fugazi record--way better than the inconsistent "Red Medicine" and the mostly-lame "End Hits" and "Instrument". But yeah, all this talk that takes for granted that they were mediocre when they started and got better as they went on drives me nuts. You need to learn to appreciate the glory of their 1988-89 era work, by which I mean the self-titled and "Margin Walker" EPs, combined into "13 Songs", and the "Repeater" LP and "3 Songs" EP, combined into the "Repeater" CD. That's the SHIT right there. "Glue Man", "Bad Mouth", "Promises", "Shut The Door", "Repeater", "Song No. 1", and "Blueprint" are all fucking undeniable. In fact, so are a bunch more songs from those two CDs. In fact, fuck, now I need to listen to some early Fugazi.

EDIT: The "Furniture" EP was one of their last releases but is a big favorite of mine, probably because the title track was one of the first half-dozen or so songs they wrote, back in 1987 when they were still a 3 piece. I'm so glad they finally recorded it.

[Antero]

I think End Hits is my favorite in general.

[davy]

But yeah, all this talk that takes for granted that they were mediocre when they started and got better as they went on drives me nuts.

Oh man, I didn't mean for it to sound like I thought that stuff was mediocre. In fact, I regard the fact that I don't unreservedly love 13 Songs as a personal character flaw. I know that stuff is the shit, but I think the later stuff is the shit, too, it's just happens to be the shit that, personally, I like better.

[Killdozersnakeboy]

Usually when talking about bands that are in some way “punk” people will usually pick earliest releases as the best. I think is says something about Fugazi that it’s not the case with them. They genuinely kept on progressing as a band. You don’t often hear the “the early stuff was good, but then they went sucky” statement apart from a few hardcore purists who think Minor Threat were better*.

As for this statement:

the inconsistent "Red Medicine" and the mostly-lame "End Hits"

WFT! Seriously Andrew, we agree on most stuff I think, but that’s most wrong-headed thing I’ve ever seen you say here. When I get home tonight I’ma put both those albums on and tell you just how wrong you are.

*These people are fools and I’ve never considered Fugazi a hardcore band in any way, shape or form. Including 13 Songs.

[davy]

Yeah, I'm a novice, but I when I listen to Red Medicine, I don't think "inconsistent."

[Andrew_TSKS]

I definitely think Fugazi are a hardcore band, but I am not at all a purist about hardcore. I actually hate the purist attitude that as soon as it stops being three chords and a 1-2-1-2 fast beat that it's not hardcore anymore. To me that's bullshit.

But that's not my beef with later Fugazi. Yes, I do think "Red Medicine" is inconsistent. I find "Version" to be horribly annoying, and in fact, if I don't remember to skip it, it kills the flow of that whole record for me. "Fell, Destroyed" and "By You" are not so much songs I don't like, but I think they're a bit too quiet and should maybe have been placed at a different point. Between those two songs being at the wrong spot in the album and "Version" being downright awful, that three song stretch really hurts the album for me. I think I'd like it a lot better if it just went from track 6 to track 10. Oh, and the singsongy quality of "Birthday Pony" kinda gets to me as well. Really, most of that album is awesome, and a resequencing of it plus the elimination of "Version" would probably put it on the level of the records that came before it for me.

"End Hits", though... that's way different. I like "Place Position", "Five Corporations", "Caustic Acrostic", "Arpeggiator" and one other song that I can't remember which one it is. But that's about it. Most of the songs on that record don't sound much like Fugazi at all to me, and I have tried and tried to listen to it but have just never been able to appreciate it. Based on how little I liked that album, I was really surprised when I turned out to like "The Argument" as much as I did.

[davy]

Ha ha, man, I kinda like "Version!" It reminds me of Gang of Four for some reason.

As for "By You," the only quiet parts are the first 30 seconds and the bridge. Everything else is pretty loud and screechy.

[davy]

I split the difference and ordered both Kill Taker and End Hits.

[YojimboMonkey]

I actually hate the purist attitude that as soon as it stops being three chords and a 1-2-1-2 fast beat that it's not hardcore anymore. To me that's bullshit.

And not that this is what you are saying, but 13 Songs hardly fits in with that aesthetic.

You really just need to go back and listen to 13 songs again until you like it.

basically I'm agreeing with this

[Andrew_TSKS]

I actually hate the purist attitude that as soon as it stops being three chords and a 1-2-1-2 fast beat that it's not hardcore anymore. To me that's bullshit.

And not that this is what you are saying, but 13 Songs hardly fits in with that aesthetic.

Right, but Killdozer said he didn't consider Fugazi hardcore, and I was saying that I did even though they don't sound like that.

You really just need to go back and listen to 13 songs again until you like it.

basically I'm agreeing with this

Me too, I just did it in my typical overly verbose manner.

Davy, you're right, "By You" is really only quiet at the beginning, but Joe's vocals are always quiet so I guess that's how I tend to remember it. It really just suffers for me because of where it is on the record.

Really, I guess I just wish that "Fell, Destroyed", "Version", and "Birthday Pony" weren't on "Red Medicine". I'd love it if that were the case.

[davy]

That's crazy to me. I love "Fell, Destroyed" especially. I bet you'd like 'em if they weren't Fugazi songs! "Birthday Pony" is not all that great, it's true.

I'm actually listening to 13 Songs right now and really digging it. Still, I like the more recent sound better. It was never the case that I didn't like the record, though, just that this is a band with more than one approach, and I like The Argument-style the best.

[Black Amnesia of Heaven]

The slinky main-riff in "Birthday Pony" is ass-movingly awesome, fuck y'all.

Also I fail to see how someone can like The Argument and find End Hits mostly lame, for that is crazy.