ALL! On A Major Label? Part One

It's definitely been said in this blog before that The Descendents/ALL are my favorite band and have been since I heard their song “80's Girl” aired on Towson State's radio station when I was about 15 years old. What may have not been stated is that I had been listening to both bands for about a year or so before even realizing they were essentially the same band. This may sound ridiculous but keep in mind it was 1988 the internet was not readily available and serious fanzines were hard to come by in the suburb of Columbia, MD. 

Plus even though the formats of their albums were kind of similar, the bands were on different record labels. The Descendents releases were on SST Records while ALL's were on Cruz Records. Matching up of band members, on every case card only listed by the first name, was a pretty difficult task since The Descendents had so many different members. Even though ALL's band members had remained constant, at this point ALL was up to their second singer. 

Full disclosure: The same thing happened to me with The Misfits and Samhain. Probably even longer since it would still be a couple years until I really got into The Misfits. 

  

  

Around 1990 when Allroy's Revenge was released I eventually figured it out and The Descendents and ALL became my favorite BAND. A couple years later ALL would secretly move on to their third singer Chad Price for 1993's Breaking Things album. In 1994 ALL was set to release their sixth album, second with Chad, named  Pummel. I was anxiously anticipating its release. 

Around this time the local “alternative” radio station WHFS had a show called “Now Hear

This”, focused on upcoming new releases. The show also had local bands perform in its closing section “Dave's Garage”. Offhand Washington DC's Frodus is the only “Dave's Garage" band I can remember. On the night I am passively listening to a Sunday night episode of “Now Hear This” when I heard Dave say, “Next we have a song from the new album by the punk band ALL”. 

Did I hear that right? Although the show did have some lesser-known bands in the past, most were still "modern rock” sounding bands on major labels or larger indies. Not melodic punk like ALL on small independent labels like Cruz Records. 

After the commercial Dave came back on announced the song. It was called “Stalker” and I was instantly floored. It was so loud. The song had Stephen Egerton's signature guitar but it sounded so much eviler. Karl Alvarez's bass sounded like it was plodding along much more distorted than anything I had heard him play before. Drummer Bill Stevenson sounded like he was beating his drums even harder than he usually does. But the most shocking aspect of the song was singer Chad's voice. He still sounded like himself but his voice sounded more growly and angry as he sang “I hear footsteps down the hall, I've been waiting right behind your door, No one will hear. Don't you worry my dear”? When he sings “It's your eyes, your smile, It's your hair, your face It's your life” he has reached almost demonic death metal style vocals, while guitarist Stephen Egerton plays Slayer-Esque riffs to close out the song. 

       When the song was over DJ Dave announced that the song was off their forthcoming album Pummel, still three months away from being released. But this time it would not be on Cruz. This one was coming out on Interscope. A major label. 

    

  Before you think I am going to go on a "corporate rock still sucks" rant about punk or underground bands signing to major labels I've never felt there was anything wrong with it, It was always my belief if you worked hard, paid your dues, etc, which The Descendents/ALL definitely had done, good for you. Plus like I said in my Dear You entry, the independent labels were pretty hard to find in the suburbs, often resulting in not being able to obtain a copy for a while after its release. With Pummel coming out on a major I knew it would be able to be picked up the day it drops. 

  

No, I never get upset or anything when band signs with a major label with only one catch: They don't change their sound. After hearing Stalker premiered on that February night I feared that may have been the case with ALL. It would still be a couple months until Pummel would be released and I could find out 

  

Numbers 49 - 40 of My 100 All-Time Favorite Albums

(Once Again, for those who still may be interested)

Numbers 49 - 40 of My Top 100 All-Time Favorite Albums

* means I bought the album right when it was released or at the latest a few months

# means I discovered it later 

49) Ministry - The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste (1989, Sire) - When I first saw the video for Ministry's "Stigmata" it was a life-changing moment for me. Up to that point I thought of Ministry as a new wave danceable band that put out the very good album With Sympathy. Over the five years something had changed. They have become louder, noisier and tons more aggressive. Land of Rape and Honey, the album "Stigmata" was on contains a lot of filler. The Mind is perfect. For a good mix of even better versions of songs off both albums check out Ministry's live album In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up. (*)

48 - Galaxie 500 On Fire (1989, Rough Trade) - Spent my early adolescent years learning about bands could speed it up. Around 16 or so I learned it was okay for bands to slow it down too. Boston's Galaxie 500 was one of the first to show none of the intensity would be lost in the process. (*)

47 - Face to Face - Don’t Turn Away (1991, Dr. Strange) - Supposedly the guys in Face to Face were metal guys who just one day decides to play punk rock. A lot of people didn’t like them because of this. I always thought if they did it this good who cares wah they were playing before. Don’t Turn away has thirteen awesome tracks of anthemic melodic punk music I am still singing along to 29 years later. (*)

46 - ALL - Allroy’s Revenge (1989, Cruz) - The ALL song “Just Perfect” may have been on their debut album but on this second album, every song is just that, Later singer Chad Price may have the strongest voice but Scott Reynolds who makes his first appearance on Allroy's Revenge has the most range. (*)

45 - Mudhoney- Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (1991, Sub Pop)- Before this album was released I was a little scared what it would sound like. Mudhoney had said they recorded in hopes of getting a major label deal. When I bought it it was nice to not hear much of a difference than their debut album only better. Songs sounded more varied and not as dreary but still had all the fuzz and grime which made the band so great. (*)

44- Nirvana - Bleach (1989, Sub Pop) - Nevermind might have beaten Bleach to make this list but I think "Come As You Are" brings that album down a bit. Bleach is perfect primal heavy rock and roll all the way through. You can also hear Krist Novoselic's bass a lot better than on Nevermind. No offense to future drummer Dave Grohl, but Chad Channing's drumming is just totally out of control.(*)

43- Government Issue - Joyride (1984, Fountain of Youth) - Washington D.C.'s Government Issue started very hardcore with an ep on Dischord, ending up as kind of a dark rock band on their last album Crash. In the middle for their second full album they unleashed Joy Ride consisting of thick punk rock guitar riffs and anthemic urgent singalong lyrics courtesy of the awesome legendary frontman John Stabb. I finally got to see G.I. in 2015 and John made sure to take the time to chat with anyone who wanted to talk to him. And believe me, everyone did. (#)

42- Duran Duran - Rio (1982, E.M.I.) - We all know this awsome album by Duran Duran so I will not get too into it. You can read more about what I think of a few of the songs from a review I did of their Decade album here. Let's just say I sing along and play air drums tracks "Hungry Like the Wolf", "My Way", and the title track at 46 just as much as I did when I first picked it up at age 10.(*)

41) Jesus Lizard - Goat (1991, Touch and Go) - The three musicians making up the Chicago band Jesus Lizard were at the top of their profession. Guitarist Duane Denison plays winding intricate guitar lines, David Wm. Sims pound his bass better than almost anyone out there while drummer Mac McNeilly plays along perfectly with it. Probably the most unlikely singer out there David Yow fits perfectly. Just like an album which will appear later on this list, the Steve Albini production makes the album louder in just the right places so you don't have too. (*)

40) Depeche Mode - Black Celebration (1986, Mute) - For a long time Depeche Mode was one of my favorite bands. Up until Black Celebration a lot of their songs and albums had a sort of cheesy flair to them. Part of what made me like them so much. On Black Celebration they got a little serious, a little darker, and every song was perfect. Surprisingly my favorite song on the album "But Not Tonight" is not loved by the band and almost didn't make it on the album. Depeche Mode began to lose me when they became a little too dark on the 1990's Violator but I still listen to the older albums constantly. (*)

Next Up Numbers 39 - 30