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Dead Kennedys

Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death (1987)
Alternative Tentacles Records

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Contributed by: Anti-Hero
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on September 16th 2001

First of all, I want to say that all the lawsuits bieng made against Jello and Alernative Tentacles are bullshit. I wish that the Dead Kennedys will be remembered as one of the greatest punk bands of all time and not a band that in the end got involved in so much bullshit.

Well anyway this record was one of the first punk records i ever bought. And it changed my life completely. My cousin got me into punk rock and i started listening to some bands like Mxpx and NOFX. The first time i listened to the Dead Kennedys, belive it or not, was on a video game !! Yeah you can call me a "poser" if you like but i got to know the Dead Kennedys by playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater. I just loved the song "police truck". So i went to the record store and bought "Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death". At first i only noted that it had Police Truck on the cd so i just bought it because of that. I didnt know that this was supposed to be like some kind of a "greatest hits" realese. So from the first time i listened to it I was blown away. Jello's voice was awesome and the music was fucking great too. The quality of the record isn't amazing but i just love the way it sounds !! Every song on this cd is awesome I love every single one of it. The lyrics are inclredible too. I never heard lyrics this good in my life. The way the Dead Kennedys mix politics with all that sarcasm, and humor is great. If i had to choose my favorite songs i would probably pick "police truck" (still my favorite), "holiday in cambodia", "I fought the law", and "Too drunk to fuck". Oh yeah this cd has 2 live songs, "Pull my strings" which is a funny as hell song about being just a tool in the music business and the hilarious "Night of the living rednecks" which is completely improvised.

So this band changed my life, like no other band would. I have to say that this is a punk classic, but i suggest that you pick up their first album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables which is one of the best punk albums of all time too. This cd kicks ass.

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MattHomeslice (February 22, 2004)

Actually, "I Fought the Law" was a Bobby Fuller Four song from the mid-60's. Listen to any oldies station and you're bound to hear it eventually. The DK version, of course, is a bit different.

Great album, great band. They just don't make em like this anymore.

Anonymous (May 24, 2003)

"Isn't "I fought the Law" an old Clash song? I don't know, I'm dumb."

Its an old reggae song the Clash covered.

Anonymous (July 6, 2002)

The A-sides of the Fresh Fruit singles suck. Holiday in Cambodia and California Über Alles are inferior versions of those on the Fresh Fruit LP. Too Drunk To Funk has a groovy beat and makes me shake my ass around.All the B-sides kick ass. Police Truck, Saturday Night Holocaust, Insight are all fatastic just to name a few.It's real interesting to here the 2 double guitar lives songs, I Like Short Songs and Straight A's. They sound like a sped up fuzzed out 50's band instead of the surfy stuff they're known for. Pull My Strings is hilarious and the rest is great too, but it's late and I don't want to type anymore.So go buy now and be happy.

Anonymous (September 29, 2001)

Isn't "I fought the Law" an old Clash song? I don't know, I'm dumb.

Anonymous (September 19, 2001)

well all that legal mumbo jumbo shit is coming to a screeching halt when the rest of the band(that is without Jello) make a mockery of themselves Sept.26 @ the Key Club in L.A.. So what I'm trying to say is unfortunatly if you didnt get to see them with Jello you missed out greatly.Looks like Jello wins after all

Anonymous (September 19, 2001)

DAMNIT! i'm f-ing sick of "reviews" that are just stories about how you discovered punk music. REVIEW the freaking cd! i don't care about your life story!!!! critique it, say why its good, WHAT makes it good, not just "this cd is awesome..." DAMNIT!

Anonymous (September 17, 2001)

awesome cd, ordinary review.

in the future, do what fathead says. when deciding what cereal to purchase, i reccommend consulting fathead first -he writes the best reviews.

I propose that fathead should write reviews on breakfast cereal, something that would make relevance to the AFI song "Cereal Wars"

seek (September 17, 2001)

about time another DK release was reviewed, im gonna review frankenchrist
this wasnt their best, but definitely a great release

Anonymous (September 17, 2001)

It's not really a greatest hits album, more an odds and ends collection. It contains NOTHING from the previous 4 studio albums or EP. (and yes, I do know Holiday in Cambodia and California Uber Alles are on here as well as Fresh Fruit, but this album has different versions of the tracks, I assume the single versions. And, in my opinion, these versions aren't as good.)

Still, it's a fucking good album.

sickboi (September 17, 2001)

I agree. While I do enjoy reading people's personal views on a specific album and how they have affected you, some kids reading this may not be familiar with the band. And god forbid anyone not get a chance to at least be turned on to DK.

Anonymous (September 17, 2001)

please describe the sound of a band in the review.- fathead