Review #233: GG Allin & the Jabbers - Always Was, Is And Always Shall Be

ALWAYS WAS, IS AND ALWAYS SHALL BE

Year: 1980
Genre: Punk Rock
Label: Orange Records
Tracks: 11
Length: 21 Minutes
My Rating: 6/8

GG Allin. GG. Allin. Was a guy... named. GG Allin. He spent the first few years of his life living in a shitty log cabin with a dirt floor without running water and a father who named him Jesus Christ Allin because he believed his son was to be Jesus Christ. Well, I guess you could say this was true. His brother Merle started calling him "GG" because he couldn't pronounce "Jesus"... his mommy tried to re-name him Kevin after the rest of the family managed to escape from his psycho father, but we all know GG was his real name, after all. So anyways, he grew up doing a lotta fucked-up shit with his best buddy, Merle, and stole a lot of things and basically did whatever they wanted.

In 1977, GG started his first band, the Jabbers. After releasing a few 7" EPs and singles, "Always Was, Is and Always Shall Be" is the main LP the band released. GG doesn't talk about being a rapist or eating shit or trying to rule the world on this album, and to be honest, on this album it doesn't really even seem like he's that headed there -- just a somewhat mean-spirited sense of humor and X-rated lyrics, but nothing as over-the-top as what he would be doing a few years later.
1. Bored to Death
A classic ode to misanthropy, boredom, and apathy! GG sings of his hatred of people and their society, as well as being BORED TO DEATH of it. The vocal melodies are catchy as fuck, including the harmonies and GG sings really good here. The guitar and drumming and everything sounds real cool! This song was originally featured on the first 7" the band ever released.

2. Beat, Beat, Beat
From the first few seconds, you can already tell this song's gunna be really hot! The lyrics are about GG wanting to get a handjob from a woman. Good drumming on this track.

3. One Man Army
Pretty upbeat... not far from being '70s "hard rock" musically. GG's early clean-singing voice here sings well, I like the vocal melody here in the verse parts a lot. ONE-TWO ONE-TWO! Then there's a fucking awesome guitar solo in the bridge part of the song.
4. Assface
A pop-punk ditty with razor blade guitars. GG was really good at writing catchy-sounding songs in his early career... this stuff sounds poppier than the fucking Ramones! Anyways, this song features GG talking shit about a girl he hates who "reminds him of his ass" (fat, hairy, covered with zits, when she opens her mouth, out comes the shit) and tells her he's gonna hang her from the highest tree!

5. Pussy Summit Meeting
This is a somewhat corny skit that features what must be a bunch of chicks discussing their business which involves selling sex, and along comes a member of the Jabbers who hints to them that they have "a little arrangement" with him...
6. Cheri Love Affair
A little slower than the other songs so far. Opens with a sweet-ass lead guitar song. This song features a group chorus of girls singing backing vocals. Pretty snazzy... the lyrics feature GG singing of how sexy the chick he's after is and how he wants to be with her. And fuck her, also. This song is pretty fucking awesome. End of the Birth Side.

7. Automatic
GG sings about his anger for a girl who plays games with his mind and talks behind his back, or else he will "make her bleed internally".

8. I Need Adventure
This song's about Mister Allin's need to constantly party hard and be dangerous all the time and fuck and all that wonderful stuff. I NEED ADVENTURE, JUST THE KIND THEY PROMISED YOU AND ME! This song was later re-recorded for the "Live Fast Die Fast" E.P. in 1984.

9. Don't Talk To Me
A backstabbing egocentric jerk is called out on their douchebaggery. Love the guitar riff and the drum beat definitely! CH-CH-CH-CH-CHATTER CHATTER CHATTER!!!!! Gotta love the erratic screamin' like a demon' on this track.

10. Unpredictable
Pretty fast song. This song's about a conclusion many a-male has come to at one point or another -- girls are hard to figure out. Kinda tame subject matter compared to what we are used to hearing from GG. Shit, they would probably be okay with playing this in a car commercial these days if not for GG's fucked-up future. ("Ford Pieceashit. It's UNPREDICTABLE.") Hahahahaha!
11. 1980's Rock & Roll
This song's about the new decade, and what it means for the band -- PLAYING MUSIC FOR ANOTHER TEN YEARS! And they did. This song even features some jangly synth-piano playing. What else is there to say? This is my least favorite song on the album!

So that's GG's first album. The first three songs are all from the first GG Allin 7" from 1979, by the way. But yeah, most of this stuff is way tamer than what GG & company would be singing/playing by the end of the decade... 1980's rock & roll, indeed. But it's definitely fun to listen to, most of the songs are very good... fits in well amongst bands like the Ramones, the Stooges, the Germs, and other early U.S. punk bands... fun, energetic, badass, but also catchy. But that's obvious, I'm just throwing around a bunch of overused terms to make this review sound more substantial... because who the fuck actually READS reviews anymore? Nonetheless reviews of albums they have already fucking heard that came out three decades ago. Who still reads reviews? Oh yeah, fucking sheep who want some stuffy-assed yuppie from Rolling Stone's opinion on the latest major label/faux-indie pseudo-rock piece of smelly shit caked into a CD shape. So you want me to say something about this album that's TOTALLY UNCONVENTIONAL? OKAYYYY:

It's JEGGA-ZAMMIN'!!!

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Cheri Love Affair
2. Bored to Death
3. Assface

MUSIC VIDEO FOR "BORED TO DEATH"

Review #182: GG Allin - No Rules (EP) (1982)

NO RULES (EP)

Year: 1982
Genre: Hardcore Punk
Label: Orange Records
Tracks: 4
Length: 7 Minutes
Style: Angry/Political/Fun
My Rating: 6/8

Yep, GG Allin... one of the only artists to be more famous for shitting on stage, eating the said shit, throwing the shit at members of the audience, mutilating himself regularly, performing on-stage rape, getting into a lot of fights, being naked, having a two-inch wang and still being a total badass, and all that other stuff. Of course, what half the people who already know this DON'T know is that he was actually quite a good musician. Not God's gift to the ear of mankind, maybe, but still definitely better than people give him credit for. And at one point he was a really good singer, too! GG started performing in the late '70s, and this is one of his earlier records, which came (yes, ejaculation) out just after his first LP from '81. This is a 7" EP with four songs. Time for the MAGICAL REVIEW, CHILDREN...

1. No Rules
GG's voice sounds pretty youthful and clean-sounding compared to his monstrous growl of later times. It's fast, there's a shouted background chorus; just a big angry anthem to anarchy! However, it's probably the worst of the four songs on the record.

2. A Fuck-Up
"Ohohoho, Nelly!" YOU'REAFUCKUPYOU'REAFUCKUPYOU'REAFUCKUPYOU'REAFUCKUP... those are some lines from the song. It's about being a social misfit/outcast and not giving a fuck and shit like that. "Why don't you just leave me alone... suck my bone" -- hehehe. Then there's a cool guitar solo in the middle. End of Side A.

3. Up Against the Wall
I guess this is actually a cover of a song by a band called "the Ohio Express"... still haven't heard the original version. This was the first GG Allin tune I heard and it's really really good! It's a tad slower than the two songs before it (and the one after it). Extremely catchy and the singing's really good. The lyrics revolve around a battle of the lower class against the law/oppressor. But yeah, this is a fucking awesome song and probably the best on here. I love it.

4. NYC Tonight
I like this one a lot, also. It's a song about going out to New York City and partying and causing trouble and all that fun stuff. It's so fun to listen to! The riff in the middle part rules. You can just imagine how wild things would've been getting while this song was being played live by this point. "The city's mine, the Big Apple I'll bite!"

So there's my review. Side A has some pretty good songs, and Side B has some really good songs. Especially "Up Against the Wall". As you can tell here, he wasn't a total monster yet at this point... yeah, he always sang crude lyrics and was totally fucked up, but at this time his performances consisted more of just doing Iggy Pop-style stage antics, which was "extreme" then, but it wasn't anymore once the shit-flinging and rape started taking place... or so I've heard. Maybe everything I've ever heard iz a lie. This music is high-energy party-rock that has the same sort of hot-headed guitar and beats as the Germs. Anyways, yeah, this is a good record and if you think that GG Allin wasn't talented or good at all, then listen to this and it might change your mind!