NOFX has a greatest hits album? I thought only old bands on the decline, grasping to that last hair of fame put out greatest hits albums. Did NOFX really have any "hits"? The answers Yes, I guess not and not really.
For the un-initiated NOFX is the band that all the current pop-punk bands sounds like. The so-cal punk sound is NOFX's sound. And it has been for the better part of two decades. The clown princes of punk who have stayed true to their DIY roots have avoided mainstream radio and video play, they could have cashed in during that time before Eminem and after grunge where kids all across America were into punk. But that is not who NOFX is.
The new disc "The Best Songs Ever Written (by us)" is a collection of 27 digitally re-mastered songs spanning the bands entire career from their earliest
"S&M Airlines" to their latest-by far their most political album-"The War on Errorism". The heart of this album are from their classics 1993's "White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean" and 1994's "Punk in Drublic".
Even though classics such as Liza and Louise or The Brews, were left out, the song selection is excellent. The highlights have to be two songs that are such polar opposites they truly define the maturation of the band. "Franco UnAmerican," a true story about Fat
Mike's change from an apathetic punk rock slacker to a Fast Food Nation reading Michael Moore watching progressive. This anthemic song off of "The War on Errorism" was the bands first dabbling to political rock, which eventually led them to headlining spot on the "Rock Against Bush" albums and tour.
While a song like "Bob" is very typical of the kind of fun loving songs that were the core of most of the bands history. It is the tragic story of a drunk who is used to "kicking in heads at a punk rock show" and now the doctors told him that he couldn’t drink
anymore. The guys really worked hard on this track in the studio making the most of the ska overtones, and really enhancing the sound quality of this track, but still this is a track that is a million times better live.
"The Best Songs Ever Written (by us)” is sort of NOFX 101. You get a great sampling of how the bands music has evolved over the years old songs next to newer ones. If you want a masters in NOFXology pick up "Punk in Drublic" and "White Trash" and enjoy. |