GI

Over forty years old and still sounds fresh.

I don't like punk rock but this wasn't too bad. I was able to finish it.

I need to come back to this

The band are thrashing away well but Darby is just irritating.

I'd not heard of this band nor heard any of their work. The sound is quite a nice representation of the late 70s punk style but with more clarity, which I like. Even back then, I found a lot of studio-recorded punk music to overdo the distortion to the point at which a lot of the music was just too muddy for me. I read the Wikipedia article and it's cool that the album was produced by Joan Jett and that Pat Smear is the guitarist here. I have always appreciated punk and similar styles as a cultural phenomenon even though for the most part punk, thrash, speed metal, and so on, are usually a little too harsh and grating for my own personal auditory aesthetic. I'd attribute it to my being middle-aged, but it applied in my teen years and beyond, although back then my interest in hard-driving loud music was definitely keener than it is now. Back to this album: I like it. More rhythmically tight and musically skilled than I would expect from a punk album. I read some of the lyrics, too, as I listened, and they are often intelligent and witty. Good stuff here.

Solid old school punk.

Not my kind of punk, need more melody. Lexicon Devil slaps but wish there was more variety on the album

Better than I thought it'd be (after only seeing Germs on Decline of Western Civilization )

I think this is terrible because I don't like punk, but maybe someone who is into hardcore punk will find some redeeming quality within it. There is some rock undertone that wasn't entirely bad. At least the songs are short...

Très solide punk, belle découverte, définitivement à réessayer

Feels totally unnecessary. Just aping UK punk. Rubbish

I endured this. Nothing spectacular in the lyrics but a tolerable drum and guitar. Disposable

Never listened to Germs and only one song on Spotify due to licensing. Found some more on YouTube and the rest of the album was fine. Reminded me of the NYC Hardcore compilations of the late 80s. Was surprised that Pat Smear was part of this band and also Belinda Carlisle.

The careers of Pat Smear, Belinda Carlisle, and Joan Jett are three fascinating threads to pull on, and their intersection in the brief but significant history of the Germs is kind of cool. As for "GI," Smear is the best thing on it. Everything else is muddy, but the guitar sometimes shines. While hardcore punk may thrive in that muddiness, eschewing the need to play proficiently or clearly with singing not intended to be good or even pleasant, the muddiness on "GI" made it so that none of the songs was able to rise out of the muck.

You know you are in for something fast and furious when you see 16 tracks in a total run time of 38 min. I guess this is on the list because its considered "the first full-length hardcore punk album" but maybe there weren't full length hardcore albums before this because people can't take that much hardcore punk....

This album is raw and unpolished, just as hardcore punk is. It cost $6,000 to record in 1979, which is equivalent to about $24,000 today. That’s not a whole lot of production and it shows. To some that rawness is appealing. Not to me. I was glad when the album was over.

Punk was a mistake. 1

Older punk rock but without quite the same pizazz that makes me love The Ramones and similar

An interesting punk artifact - it straddles the line where punk begins to lose me at hardcore - but this album has some wonderfully interesting riffs hidden away and it’s nice and snotty at the right amount. Love the Joan Jett and Al Pacino connection as well - had no clue

Think that people needs lots of knowing about slang to understand punk rock bands like this lyrics. In my country we have had proto punk bands as "La pesada del rock and roll" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrv8rpAooQ4 Billy Bond y La Pesada del Rock and Roll (also known as La Pesada del Rock and Roll or La Pesada) was an Argentine supergroup that pioneered hard rock, psychedelic rock and heavy metal in Latin America. It was formed in 1970 by producer Jorge Álvarez (co-founder of the Mandioca record label) and singer and producer Billy Bond, who would become the band's leader. La Pesada included renowned Argentine musicians who took their first steps in rock, such as Pappo, Luis Alberto Spinetta, Javier Martínez, Claudio Gabis, Alejandro Medina and David Lebón, among others. La Pesada also collaborated in the recording of several albums by different artists, among them Vida, the first album by Sui Generis. A concert of theirs at the Luna Park Stadium in 1972 ended with incidents and fights against the police, and that affected the band's future possibilities of diffusion. They continued releasing albums, both their own and those of other artists, and split up in 1974, with Billy Bond moving permanently to Brazil. However, the main legacy of the band, to have served as a seedbed for numerous musicians who would make emblematic stories in Argentine rock, had already been fulfilled. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) About proto-punk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is the rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement.[4][5] The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated with each other and came from a variety of backgrounds and styles; together, they anticipated many of punk's musical and thematic attributes. Anyway Ive was interested in investigate something about GI (found in Wikipedia) GI, stylized as (GI), is the only studio album by American punk rock band the Germs. Often considered the first full-length hardcore punk album,[2] it was released in the United States in October 1979[8] on Slash Records with catalog number SR 103. The album was later released in Italy in 1982 by Expanded Music with the catalog EX 11. The album's title is an acronym for "Germs Incognito", an alternate name the band used to obtain bookings when their early reputation kept them out of Los Angeles-area clubs. After (GI)'s release, the band would only undertake one more recording session, for the soundtrack album to Al Pacino's 1980 film Cruising. On December 7, 1980, a year after the release of (GI), vocalist Darby Crash killed himself. and about punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock. They typically produced short, fast-paced songs with hard-edged melodies and singing styles, stripped-down instrumentation, and often shouted political, anti-establishment lyrics. Punk embraces a DIY ethic; many bands self-produce recordings and distribute them through independent record labels.

I feel like I usually like punk. But didn't like this at all, and found it all rather forgettable.

i can't say nothing about this.i liked only one song,but it's not so bad

Music like this always makes me smile. Cool to know they were among the first hardcore bands out there. Lead singer Darby Crash sounds truly insane. Highlights: “Land of Treason,” “Richie Dagger’s Crime,” “Manimal," "Shut Down (Annihilation Man)"

I tend to innately enjoy raw music but this didn't do much for me. The lead singer's voice sounded kind of boy-ish, like a neighborhood bully trying to act tough. He was 21 when this was released though so maybe that's why. This is Pat Smear's first band which I didn't know! He was the second guitarist for Nirvana's amazing unplugged performance and also is a member of the Foo Fighters. Reading about this band and the singer Darby Crash (great stage names in this band- the bassist was "Lorna Doom") has been enjoyable. Maybe more enjoyable than listening to the album. Darby naturally had a fucked up youth and went to a very weird school that blended elements of scientology and allowed students to make their own classes; so Darby and Pat made a Fruit Eating class where they would go to a market and eat fruit and then return to school. Like most albums, I ended up enjoying this more after reading some background about the band and also hearing it more. Sometimes I write these in a more formulaic way but I find this stream of consciousness way to be fun at the moment so I'm not going to remove my initial thoughts which were more negative than my final thoughts on the album. Overall I think while maybe it was influential at the time, this one didn't do too much for me.

16 songs, 38 minutes. One of those tracks is 25% of the album. This alone was enough to make me think I'd enjoy this one and I was not disappointed

Pretty good punk. Punk isn't always my thing, but these guys fit the bill pretty well.

Great for the time it was released, but like many albums of its ilk, it doesn't travel well. Still good, but longer than it needs to be.

I am very in the dark about this one so it will be very interesting… What we do in secret definitely gives an impression of how the album’s will be. If I couldn’t understand the lyrics in communist eyes it might be better but other than the rampaging guitars I don’t think it’s great. When land of treason came on I decided to look at all of the lyrics which are good punk lyrics it’s too hard to know. The vocals get a bit clearer in Richie daggers crime and the song has great guitar parts so well done! Strange notes is also quite entertaining I love the instrumental bits and it ends nicely. American leather is another step down in quality but it’s really short so it’s not a big deal. While having the nonsense singing lexicon devil is a good one. Manimals probably my favourite so far good lyrics the vocals are more understandable and great guitar work especially at the start. I think its the ( lack of) production but our way is so poor quality sounding, but there’s been worse. I love the intro to we must bleed and for the most part it doesn’t disappoint ( weird saying it’s the end of side one at song ten though). Media blitz is alright I like the sample work and I sorta noticed the lyrics so that was good. The other newest one starts with a great slow intro and after that it is a bit of a let down, but at least this song shows that the band can do songs in a slightly lower tempo and the chorus is good but I probably would’ve named it another day another catch. Lets pretend is a very, very typical punk song in my ears there’s better but there’s worse. I like the drumming at the start of dragon lady but after that it becomes just another alright bunk song, I also wish he screamed in the chorus. The slave is so short I don’t hate it but there’s better. Shut down ( annihilation man) has a great intro and by some reading it was apparently recorded live which works un favour for this epic beast of a track but it does drag after the first 3 mins. It reminds me of a b grade sex pistols, not that I hate the album but I’ve herd quite a few better punk albums and quite a few better albums that aren’t even in the book so they can’t be in the generator.

Although I didn’t get to listen to the whole album I could tell I wasn’t going to enjoy it. Punk is not my thing *

Good.

I'm just not into punk.

Pretty good early punk, but the sneering voice grates after a few tracks.

Another fast and straight to the point record, I like those

"GI" is a spurt of adrenaline that feels like being kicked repeatedly in the head by a group of spotty, sweaty boys. Germs' only album, it seems to capture a band in a frenzied state of adolescence before Darby Crash's tragic and untimely end. I can't fault the energy, or the passion: "Lexicon Devil" and "Richie Dagger's Crime" are two of the catchiest songs here, both coming relatively early in the proceedings. Unfortunately, after this point, things derail somewhat into noise. Everything is very one-note, with thrashy guitars and drums, simple basslines and (the biggest flaw) totally indecipherable vocals. It's a shame because Darby Crash was clearly a talented lyricist- the words here are at least eloquent and interesting, employing a number of different perspectives, images and ideas. At least, they're worth more than being spat out and thrown away. The pacing is also all off: 15 songs of 1-3 minutes followed by a ten minute jam centred around the same riff. It's a lot to stomach, but really each minute of the whole album ends up feeling indistinguishable from the last. A couple of interesting connections I learned are that Joan Jett produced this album (either she didn't try very hard or she captured the band's blinkered, nihilistic vision perfectly- most likely the latter). And Belinda Carlisle was briefly a member of the band before they recorded this, but never played a show with them due to illness. It's crazy to consider the trajectory she ended up going on in comparison with Darby Crash.

god bless the people who enjoy this album, because i'm not one of them. the vocals were just too rough, and i couldn't find many positive things because the vocals ruined the whole album.

I liked a lot of the instrumentation on this album, but the vocals almost ruined it for me on nearly every track -- just not my thing. I thought Lexicon Devil and Manimal were two of the more well-rounded songs, both musically and vocally.

this is a punk album

They know artist who understand build-up. They just think they're all cowards. The visual that accompanied my listening to the album is that of imaginary band members, with dishelved hair, screaming their hearts out, spitting words, spittle flying, staining the crowd that just nods silently. There's undoubtadley passion in this music, but it's a little too covered in spit and incomprehensible words to fully get it. That being fair, the latter half of the album was much calmer and pleasant to listen to, with 'Media Blitz' being a suprisingly pleasant song. All that was not enough to recover from the pit the early songs put us in.

Well, at first I couldn't believe my ears. This album sounds like my hypothetical pals creating a punk band and handing me their first demo for a review. My answer would be "I kinda liked the vibe, but there's a lot of ahead of you". Stockholm syndrome made me listen to it twice. To their credit their guitarist and drummer did their best. However, vocals. Later I read about the band's history and it made a little more sense - first punk album in LA that sparked a new trend in the USA. Lead vocalist being an anarchist and nihilist, who died a year after release from heroin overdose. It's his magnum opus, a manifest against the world he knew and he didn't agree with. However, it doesn't justify the decision to put it on the 1001 list. Overall a painful experience from the music perspective, but an intriguing story behind it.

No powiem szczerze - niezbyt mi się podobało

Każdy utwór brzmi tak samo. Wszystkie dźwięki nachodzą na siebie i przekrzykują się, zamiast tworzyć jakąś całość. Tak jak Deep Purple zrobiło sobie świetne jam session w "Live in Japan", tak to brzmi jak bardzo nieudane, garażowe jam session w wykonaniu kalifornijskich nastolatków. Nawet jeśli jakiś utwór zaczynał się fajnie i miałem zamiar się przekonać do punku, tak w momencie, gdy pan Derby Crash zaczynał jęczeć i krzyczeć (bo śpiewem to ciężko nazwać), cały czar pryskał. <<Po przesłuchaniu drugi raz edytuję wpis - perkusja przeszkadza mi tu o wiele bardziej, niż Jęcząca Marta>> Pierwsza część albumu ma za zadanie odstraszyć metalowców, druga część jest już raczej dla koneserów - lżejsza, bardziej melodyjna, część kawałków jak Media Blitz czy The Other Newest One pozytywnie mnie zaskoczyły. Kolejny z albumów w stylu "wpływowe, ale każdy po nich zrobił to lepiej", z tym że tu nie mam oporów przed wystawieniem 1.

Nie mam nic do punków, ale ten album to był zbiór nieprzyjemnych dźwięków. Perkusja i gitary piszczały w uszach, a wokalista próbował połączyć mumble-rap z speed metalem i był całkowicie niezrozumialny. Nawet napisy podawały część zwrotki jako "incomprehensible". Ostatnie utwory były troszkę lepsze, ale żeby się do nich dobić to istna katorga. 2/10 nie polecam.

Ciekawie mi się słuchało po metalice. Bardzo czuć punk w krzykach wokalisty i agresywnej muzyce. Ogólnie słuchało mi się całkiem ok, w momencie kiedy album się skończył to nie zdążyłem się nim jeszcze znudzić, aczkolwiek nic konkretnego mi specjalnie nie zapadło w pamięć.

No to najniżej oceniany album na razie mamy, heheh. Dając 2 zawyżam średnią na razie. Nie zgodzę się z opiniami poprzedników, że to nie ma miejsca na liście 1001 albumów. Doskonale ma tam miejsce, mało tego - niewyobrażalnie bardziej na to zasługuje niż enty album Neila Younga czy Cohena. Dlaczego? Bo album ten przyczynił się do pchnięcia do przodu gatunku. Niezależnie od tego, jak się tego słucha, chłopaki przenieśli punk w rejony bardziej hardkorowe, więcej BPM, więcej agresywności, więcej punku w punku. Polecam w ogóle poczytać historię zespołu, naprawdę śmieszne momentami. Czy umieją grać? Nie, absolutnie. Masakra. Czy wokal jest przyjemny? Dupy nie urywa. Czy wystawiłbym temu 1? Absolutnie nie mogę - jest to album nie tylko istotny dla gatunku, ale też wcale nie tak nieprzyjemny do słuchania. Kilka kawałków ma naprawdę ciekawą lirykę i całkiem cytowalne cytaty można z tego albumu wycisnąć, choć faktycznie zrozumieć ze słuchu ciężko. Nie będę pewnie wracał do jakichś pojedynczych kawałków z niego już pewnie, ale nie żałuję odsłuchania tego nihilistycznego clusterfucku. Ogólnie słuchanie całości przypomina mi akcję, gdy spotkaliśmy w zoo małpę, która się zesrała na rękę i to zżarła. Ta płyta wywołuje podobne emocje - zdziwienie, lekkie przerażenie, ale też lekką fascynację tak jawnym nasraniem na normy społeczne (czy w tym przypadku muzyczne). I czuję pewien podziw w stosunku do muzyków, którzy tak jawnie i świadomie łamią zasady.

Raw, sneering, blistering, hyper-paced, classic punk album. The lyrics are pretty impossible to fully discern by ear but surprisingly smart and eloquent. It's incredibly biting political and social commentary, some of the best. Listen, the go read the lyrics to catch the full measure of what this band was about. Album is not on Spotify, go to YouTube. Fave Songs: Our Way, We Must Bleed, Media Blitz, The Other Newest One, Land of Treason, Strange Notes

Du hard rock

Fucking noise. F-

Typical punk, nothing special, nothing must hear.

Guitar noise accompanied by screaming, what's there to like?

Not my cup of tea but I can why it was influential on hardcore punk.

Bom punk.

Average sounding punk. 2/5

First time Iv heard of Germs, loud and in your face, can see the influence this album had on music I listened to as a teenager. Can’t say it’s an album I enjoy listening to now, but probably deserves its place on the list.

Pretty awful and lacking melody. First time I stopped two thirds through. Not the worst so I’ll give them 2 stars because they don’t sound dissimilar to an old noisy band I used to mess around in, but I knew our limitations!!

Sorry, too abrasive for my ears.

Punk with rhythm. Love it

Good punk

Interesting to see this listed as the first hardcore punk album ever! Glad to have listened. In terms of actual music, it felt slightly better than most early punk albums. I'd say a 3.5 at the beginning...shrinking to a 3 with some of the later tracks, but back to a strong 3.5 when considering the influence and what hardcore grew into!

Listened to about 5 mins of this. I get it. I don’t think I really care for early ass punk music…

Unfortunately most of this album was not available on Spotify. I found it all on YouTube. It was pretty good.

Standard Punk. The album they referenced was not fully available on spotify so I could not listen to the whole thing.

Nasty and heavy

Unusually enjoyable

Rating: 6/10 Best songs: The gash

One of my favorites albums of all time

Punk rock! And the best kind, short and quick. I could imagine that this album possibly influenced many an underground punk band afterwards.

This singer has a hell of a lot of charisma. I hate screaming vocals but this is just short of that and I liked it despite my prejudices. The guitarist is hella good and the bass/drums are incredibly tight. If not for them I think the music would be a hot mess.

sounds like random yells. horrible

the worst thing I have ever heard...songs 1 and 2. Didn't even click on 3

I'd rather listen to a drill having a go at a concrete wall

I’m double vaccinated so didn’t think I’d have to put up with Germs. My first reaction was this sounds very basic and I can't understand the lyrics but the same could be said for The Clash's 1st album (which I rated 5) so I thought I should give it a chance. I looked up the lyrics to a few songs (including Communist Eyes and Lexicon Devil). Lexicon Devil seems to be about a dictator (possibly Hitler); it’s not necessarily taking a positive view but not taking a negative one either. The lyrics coupled with the violence incited at their concerts indicate that Darby was a nihilist. (I haven’t heard anyone being called a nihilist since The Big Lebowski). I immediately booked my booster shot so this is hopeful the last of the Germs showing up.

Since this came out in 79, I guess I can't make my comment about the fact that the hardcore guys were just punk wannabes who showed up too late. Some critcs say Germs lyrics are brilliant, but I've read them while listening to the tracks and still couldn't make them out - at times, I was sure I had the wrong song. However, I will say honestly, that I like this at least twice as much as all the hardcore that's been sent our way so far.

When I saw the clean Simple album cover I thought this was a modern EDM or electronic band. Wrong! Frenetic and very very samey. The pace didn’t let up and sound different until around the 10th song but by then I had tuned out. I think the Ramones did it much better

Punk en estado puro. Un tanto ruidoso y prácticamente todas parecidas. Me gusta el punk, pero más melódico. En ocasiones, demasiado estridente

This is peak punk. Can't understand anything the singer is saying though. 3/10.

Well I found this hard to listen to, this has never been my thing at all. It really stresses my brain and makes me feel bad. Positives: I could hear the lyrics clearly, every instrument sounds distinct not all melted into one sound like some hardcore punk. The songs all sound very similar though to me.

Well this was hardcore punk wasn't it! Some of it I enjoyed more than others, but on the whole have to say was ready for it to be over. Listened twice as well as I wanted to give it my attention

This was excellent, loved it. Like a cross between Dead Kennedys and the Ramones. Definitely a keeper!

C'est bon les Minutemerdes vous pouvez sortir de votre cachette.

Les Minutemerde ont encore échoué dans leur couverture, on les reconnait immédiatement.

Explosive! These guys are from California but sound like a DC band. Loved the voices and the aggressive snare sound

2/10

Punk can't hold a candle to the hard rock and prog rock that came before it, but I found this album alright. Drums were very tight and technical, engaging to listen to. Good bass guitar. There were a lot of interesting chord progressions i enjoyed, but the guitar is mostly power chords the whole time, so not all that impressive to me. I appreciate the anger and vitriol, though I never knew what the singer was saying the entire time. I def prefer thrash metal over punk when it comes to "angry" music. Favorite song was Manimal, probably.

3/5

Rules

3.4 - I suppose one of the purposes of this listening exercise is to expand my musical horizons. In this case, here's an album I would never think to pick up on my own. I've listened to hardcore punk only in dribs and drabs, mostly struggling to find meaning through the droning guitars and indecipherable growls. I'm left more or less in the same place with Germs but I did find myself attracted by the nihilistic disgust that's grunting and spewing from Darby Crash over some jagged and screechy guitars. It's not music that I connect with personally but I can understand how an angry kid might find solace here. As a side note, it blows my mind that Pat Smear has managed to consistently play in highly influential bands.

One of my favorite albums of all time by one of my favorite bands. There's no denying the songwriting here is great - the songs all have great melodies and the lyrics are clever and poetic in a good way. I would even say Darby was one of the best lyricists in punk, maybe music in general. The music is also great, very catchy, fast enough, energetic and short as it should be. I'll admit I often skip Shut Down, but it's not actually a bad song. All in all, an absolute masterpiece.

Darby Crash is one of the most influential punk artists of all time, essentially popularizing the hardcore subgenre alongside Black Flag, which began the most popular form of punk out there. Whenever you hear someone's into punk, it's usually a hardcore variety that shaped much of pop punk, which started with this young man. It's raw and carries the spirit of punk more than any other album on this list. This is a proper successor to the nastiness of The Sex Pistols. Tracks are short, minimalistic and chaotic, with incomprehensible vocals. But there's something strange going on here. Follow along to the lyrics, and you'll find them to be a poetic reflection of Darby's psyche and the punk attitude. They're honestly the highlight of this album for me. Production is great, done by Joan Jett. I don't think the intro track was a good choice. They intentionally picked the most abrasive and off-putting with probably the least interesting lyrics, but then again it's like a message telling people this album will be a handful. I like the solos that almost feel rock n roll-like. I'm a sucker for the abrupt stops. Number one issue is the repetitive sound, which makes the whole experience unbearable if not for knowing the chorus and lyrics. The instruments often don't feel like they're working together, but sometimes they do, so maybe they could get everyone to sound better together...? It's hard to criticize what exactly they're going for. The best I can do is look at the tracks I like, and what's lacking in the tracks that feel lackluster. The last extended track "Shut Down" was a good addition. A problem people have with albums like Pink Flag is that there are just too many tracks to digest, so you lose focus in the last third or so. But here, it's replaced by a long mild but still haunting track that showcases their inexperienced band members well. I'd listen to this album again, as soon as it's on Spotify of course. Favorite tracks: Land of Treason, Richie Dagger's Crime, Lexicon Devil, Lexicon Devil, We Must Bleed, The Other Newest One, Shut Down

👍🏼👍🏼

Punk rock Shame can't listen much of it

Just not a vibe I'm into right now

The newest member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - PAT F’N SMEAR!!!!!! Great album with lots of punk rock anthems. Best when kept short and sweet. I liked the 8 minute Shut Down track but it did feel like it took some unnecessary detours Fave tracks: “Lexicon Devil” “Communist Eyes” “Richie Dagger’s Crime”

I was hoping this was going to be brilliant but actually found it a bit boring.

Couldn't even finish this

Fun good punk album, I'm always amazed listening to such old punk albums that would still hold up today.

Hard punk f******

nope, like the worst of nu metal and American punk

High energy (hardcore?) punk album. I enjoyed listening to it, but I'm not sure that it should be on this list. Quick wikisearch says arguably the first hardcore punk album.

I started listening to the 1001 albums with the intention of giving each album at least one full listen. And today I broke that intention. I got about 6 songs in and realised it’s all the same noise but with different (indistinguishable) lyrics attached to the tracks. in 1979 this may have been “cutting edge” today in 2020 it’s just noise, and not the good type either. It should be left in the 70’s it’s hasn’t aged well

My knowledge of The Germs up until now was limiting to knowing they were featured in Penelope Spheeris' film The Decline of Western Civilization, and that they were a hardcore band. Shamefully, despite their importance to the hardcore scene, GI isn't on Spotify. GI doesn't sound like a band that barely knew how to play their instruments when they were formed. For punk, this is not simple music. Compositionally, it has more in common with the Pixies than the Clash. There are start and stop rhythms, odd time signatures, and the chord sequences are not the standard I, IV, V beloved by punk bands everywhere, and all of this is played at breakneck speed, with energy to match. It would be tempting to lay this at the feet of guitarist and co-composer Pat Smear, who later went on to tour with Nirvana, but the truth is that bassist Lorna Doom and drummer Don Bolles match him step for step. They're a damned good rhythm section. As for frontman Darby Crash, he sustains a near inhuman level of energy, even if you can hardly understand a word he screams/sings. I feel like I'm not doing a very good job of explaining how good this band is. The thing is, Smear writes really strong riffs and instrumental hooks, and there's a wide range of stylistic variety for hardcore punk. It's just a shame you can't understand what Crash is saying and that he isn't technically a strong singer. Also, as fun as GI is, it starts to wear you down after four or five songs and there's sixteen tracks! At a mere 38 minutes, GI feels really long, even punishing. One last thing I should mention. Joan Jett (yes, that Joan Jett) does a great job of producing, imparting GI with a clarity of sound that reveals that the Germs were not just mindless hardcore punk thrashers.

Good hardcore punk. Punk is definitely not my go-to genre, but hardcore is my favorite sub genre. This is messy, angry, and driving, everything you want from a hardcore record.

Punk brutal.

This is a first. I had to listen on YouTube since Spotify doesn't have the full album. That's who I am. I'm also a tender lover, but that's not really important right now. Here are my 5 favorite comments from various YouTube members for this album: 1. I used to hide my weed in this cassette. Good memories. 2. I'm 48 years old and I still play this really loud when I get pissed at my neighbors. 3. Drink vodka. Turn this shit up on max. Light the furniture on fire. Have a party! 4. Wtf even is this? I feel bad that someone even had to produce this. That's not music. 5. The album cover is the first known photo of Amazon's Alexa.

I don't like it when he hijg/roept in de micro :(

Nee...

Spotify did not have the full album, only some mixed records. Not bad, but really tough to tell from very rough live songs.

Crusty early punk with surprisingly tight musicianship and solid drumming. Spotify only had 4 tracks available, would love to hear more.

Not for me. At all.

Genrelle tyypillinen levy, suoraa menoa ilman mutkia. Ei se oma juttu kuitenkaan...

Vaikkakin alkuaikojen settiä, niin peruspunkkiahan tää oli. Ei mitään mistä pitäis liiemmin innostua.

Looking at the cover I want to say it's electronica like Kraftwerk or something, but 1979... probably just post-punk/new wave lol. lol it's punk, actual hardcore punk though and not new wave! Wasn't expecting that. This is a fun enough little album. It does just what it sets out to do: get from A to B in the shortest, fastest, loudest way possible. And it's still got a lot of melody/catchiness going on along the way. 4/5.

I'm not a fan of west coast but damn I liked this album. It's loud and abrasive and offensive at times but the band has a kick ass rhythm section and there are enough tempo changes and possibly even some melodies to keep me interested. Though lacking in Wire's ear for hooks and pop song melodies, GI has enough surprising turns to make me think this is the Punk Flag of west coast hardcore. I'm tempted to give it 4 stars, but 3.5 🌟 is where it belongs

An important album for LA/hardcore punk, and it still sounds great and powerful

1.5

I liked this more than I expected. I like punk but have never been a fan of the hardcore sub-genre. This was a little more interesting than other hardcore punk I've heard. Shame about the heroin and the premature demise of Darby Crash. 3 stars.

The only studio album by the band Germs is arguably one of the first hardcore punk albums released. The music definitely fits the hardcore punk sound, but it's not the type of music I'm into. It was weird to me how many songs on the album were under 2 minutes long; and then the final song is a whopping 10 minutes long because of the improvisation by the band towards the end of the song. Forgettable album by a forgotten band, but at least it was the first hardcore punk one!

Proof that music is whatever people will make and whatever other people will listen to, everything else is extra.

Couldn’t really get into this album. Mostly all sounded the same.

Good punk sound with unintelligible lyrics.

It is definitely a punk rock album but not a good one. I don't think I needed to listen to this and I don't have a need to listen to it again.

Never heard of this band or any of the songs. I'm enjoying some of this old punk.

Sounds like a punk album.

Great classic punk.

Awesome punk album. Crazy that it was made in '79. Wonderfully produced, every instrument comes in clear, while still being chaotically punk.

Was led to this album originally due to Pat Smear being involved but it’s a world away from Nirvana let alone Foo Fighters. It’s not bad but not brilliant, and it is appropriately chaotic. Only learned it was produced by Joan Jett who obviously liked to end songs really abruptly. Energetic hardcore punk, Lexicon Devil being the pick of the bunch.

Didn't like anything about it. Especially vocals.

No idea if this album is of significance. Not heard of them. Not inclined to go any further.

yaaas lawd, yaaaassss

Most of this album is pretty bad, but I did enjoy Lexicon Devil and "shut down." 5/10 album.

Good but higher energy than my background work music

Bah, it's kind of a fun story, but not particularly excited about this album

Another one of these 'influential but not actually entertaining to listen to' ones

can't play a lot on Spotify or YouTube; trying someone's YouTube bootleg.... can't understand the words of what it can play this is PUUUUNK city has that thing where the singer goes too fast for the drums/base or vice versa not that tight, musically speaking; hard to understand; what I can hear on Spotify has better sound quality than the bootleg; this might grow on me, b/c the simple chords are a little catchy. 3/5.

i probably would've killed myself too if i was responsible for creating this garbage

lekker punk

Mm, beetje te rommelig

Dit soort muziek is vooral bedoeld om mensen aan te sporen ook muziek te maken: Zie je wel? Echt niet moeilijk, je hoeft niet te kunnen zingen, niet creatief te zijn, gewoon een beetje snel doorrammen en dan heb je zo een album vol.

Na 1 nummer al klaar mee. Pat Smear van Nirvana en Foo Fighters zat hier bij, maar daar is dan ook alles mee gezegd.

Even snel doorheen geskipt maar dit trek ik echt niet.

Dan denk je Stille Zaterdag rustig op te starten, krijg je dit!

A blast of self-lacerating L.A. punk in its original glory, (GI) is simply classic; a commanding, rampaging sneer at everyone and everything infused with a particular, disturbed vision. Said vision belongs to Darby Crash, whose proclivities for charismatic manipulation were already well established before he fully spelled them out in lyrics like "Lexicon Devil," here featuring in a re-recording, and "Richie Dagger's Crime." His David Bowie worship was also paramount -- "Land of Treason," "Communist Eyes," and "Strange Notes" are just three numbers featuring his transformation of the apocalyptic aesthetics of albums like Diamond Dogs and Station to Station toward more brutal ends. Practically speaking, his snarling star quality comes through more than his words, but it's more than enough on that front. Pat Smear has an equal claim to being the album's star, though, and for good reason -- not only did he co-write everything, his clipped, catchy monster riffing was as pure punk in the late-'70s sense as anything, wasting no time on anything extraneous. Lorna Doom and Don Bolles keep up the side as a kickass rhythm section, Bolles in particular making a good mark in the first of his many drumming stints over the moons. Joan Jett's production got knocked at the time for perceived thinness, but she and engineer Pat Burnette actually did a great job at recording the band with crisp, strong results. The notorious closing number, "Shut Down (Annihilation Man)," makes for a nicely balanced contrast to the 42-second opener, "What We Do Is Secret." While the latter song is pure hyperspeed, Crash sounding like he's about to run out of breath on the shout-along chorus, "Shut Down (Annihilation Man)," recorded at a club gig, shows how the Germs could (quite intentionally) tick off an audience via long, meandering numbers if they so chose.

Fucking awful punk rock. I will never understand.

Yes punk!

There's just something about this album... Its attitude, its strength, its lyrics... it is one-of-a-kind indeed... and jewel of the crown of US punk

“GI” by Germs (1979) This is a supremely enjoyable album. The cover art perfectly expresses the amount of music on the record (pause for laughter), but the lyrics, man, are primo. Lyricist (and ‘singer’) Darby Crash gives us some of the most politically and psychologically astute conceptions ever expressed in commercial music—all in service of anarchism and nihilism, ideologies rejected by most thinking people, and most non-thinking people too. I mean, the substance is atrocious. But it’s done so well. It’s like reading Nietzsche between the lines: Do a line, read a few paragraphs, then do another line. I would suggest not listening to this album, but rather printing the lyrics and quoting selected gems at random to friends, family members, and co-workers (“You are what you’ve seen”; “Progressed to the point of no distinction“; “I'm looking through Communist eyes”; “Calculate the thrones”; “Bite the hand that needs you”; “Evolution is too slow”; etc., etc.). Crash provides angry, antisocial, cynical, morbid feelings expressed in fine poetic cast, by reaching widely across the English language for sayings, idioms, and lexical choices that perfectly fit the staccato rhythm of rage. It’s evil, falsehood, and ugliness conveying the good, the true, and the beautiful. It’s simply great. Here’s a small sample (from “Media Blitz”): Don't steal your eyes off the TV screen Can you realize we're what we've seen Take an injection from the mad machine Don't read the papers read between the lines We're vision rapers and we seed the signs You'll play your part in the master mind We feed the science We deal in riots We play by ideal time We're a government fix All social convicts Watch the idle rhymes Hip hop artists could learn a lot from this poetry. Sadly, a year after recording these lines, Darby Crash killed himself (the day before John Lennon was murdered, so there wasn’t much press for Crash’s demise). Well, at least his lyrics live on. As an album, this is terrible. But as art, it soars. 1/5

Jevilongos. Rollo. Todo igual.

Classic album. If only Darby lived.

goof stuff. I only knew `lexicon devil'

Ew.

In 1979?!? Nonstop action like a grindhouse film of music.

Spotify didn’t seem to have this one. Listened YouTube for like 10 seconds. Not my style

Echt lekkere harde California punk. Zit ook nog wel een hitje op

Although having worked for a short period as a sound engineer in hard rock an trash metal and commercial music, I could not really appreciate this hardcore punk album. Although I could recognize a lot of riffs in the music to be hard rock and trash metal riffs.

It was a fairly straight forward punk album. Not the worst but not the best by far. Probably would be 2 stars if I wasn't biased.

Band is good. Guys voice doesn't do it for me.

Classic punk, hilarious start for these guys, but a great addition to punk history

Not on Spotify but it sounds like I would hate it

Punk är ju punk. Mäktigt i kontexten av industrin när den kom, hur stor kontrasten var gentemot radiomusiken osv. Kommer jag lyssna på denna igen? Förmodligen inte.

Not my jam. Some decent sounds but not for me

good germs!

the fucking worst noise i’ve ever listened to.

Actually not that bad, even though a bit raw for me

Ew

Bra ös

får en tvåa för det instrumentala.

Nice discovery more pop than I would have expected

Hardcore punk rock is a lot to take. But it gets the job done!

Who says you have to know how to play an instrument to make good music?

Germs are cool

Not unlistenable, but not my style.

1979. Key Songs: Lexicon Devil

Very raw fun punk album, something to be in the mood for but very interesting

Hardcore just isnt my cup of tea, but I appreciate the historical importance of the album

If you read this, i've jumped out of my window.

Hardcore :(