Next Best Records Blog

I only just recently caught word of this one, and I'm glad I did.  Obviously, the Pagans rule, and when a new Pagans record comes out (today was the official release date), I'm there.

Recorded in 1988 in Madison, during what's billed as the final tour of the legendary Cle band's final incarnation, The Blue Album delivers nine previously unreleased and vital tracks clocking in at just over 18 minutes.  Not quite a complete live document -- there's some editing between songs (though we do get plenty of banter from Mike Hudson & Co.) -- the record's nevertheless an ass kicker.  For those of us who were too young to have seen a Pagans show back in the day (or were living in a cave during their handful of reunion shows a few years ago), The Blue Album is pretty much required listening.

Practically speaking, this isn't a "good" recording -- basically your standard, distorted live tape that drops up and down here and there -- but this is the way it should be.  In fact, this is one of those rare records that sounds progressively better the shittier your stereo is.  I listened first on my hi-fi, and it was rad.  So-so car stereo?  Even better.  The pinnacle, though, was with the volume maxed out on the barely-hanging-together computer speakers that I hook up to my laptop -- I swear, the band was leaping out of those 4" speakers. 

Anyway, there's a lot in these 18 minutes.  Classics: "Cry 815" (a personal fave) and "Real World."  Covers: A blistering run through Pagans live standard "Heart of Stone" and a 65-second "Can't Explain" (!).  "Her Name Was Jane" serves as the highlight of the bunch -- you might remember it from its incarnation on the Cleveland Confidential LP.  And while most of the record zooms by at the proverbial breakneck speed, it ends fittingly with the touching punk ballad (seriously), "Us and All Our Friends are So Messed Up."

My only complaint is that there's no vinyl release, but it's really no matter.  Even in CD format, this record's like that shot sitting in the bottle on the other side of the bar: order it up, knock it back, and next thing you know you're picking yourself up off the floor.  This one's part of my permanent rotation from here on out.

The Blue Album's available directly from Smog Veil, whose mail-order branch comes highly recommended both for its speedy service and deep catalog.  Smog Veil's also offering The Blue Album bundled with Hudson's new memoir, Diary of a Punk, which I'll probably be gushing about soon enough, so you might as well shell out for that, too.