House of Neil responds to Randy's long Naked Raygun treatise/review

Wow Randy how could you be so off the mark here? My list if faves is probably the exact opposite of yours.

Raygun…Naked Raygun is a complete masterpiece. A 5-star tour de force where every song is strong and varied, unlike a lot of the other releases. It kicks off with Home, a catchy rumbling classic with a great chorus. Fever Island follows, and leaves me breathless. Has Jeff ever sung so fast? It breaks down, then zips along again. The Grind (about skateboarders I assume) is a standout on a very strong album. No straightforward lyrics though--Pezzati gives them his usual twist. It is a slow, building tour-de-force. Jazz Gone Bad is my least favorite track on the record, and is the obligatory jazzy bassline/weird song. It is head and shoulders better than the similar songs on the other records though. Prepare to Die is straightforward and powerful. is poppy and yet mysterious. What the hell is he singing about? It's good so who cares. Holding You is an absolute classic. The sax reminds me very much of X-Ray-Spex and it works here beautifully. The song builds and builds, and becomes a beautiful, aching love song. Fucking great. Strange Days brings us down to earth with a standard NR rocker with a strong chorus. In My Head is a throbbing beauty; all brawn and muscles. What the hell is Camarilla about? Who knows, but it's a great song. Something about a crematorium? Hmm. Terminal is a great way to finish the CD, and as it turned out, their career. It is centered on a repeating guitar riff, which bursts into a depressing chorus. I love every song on this sucker. It is a dark album, but it holds together better than any of the others. I bought it on cassette the week it came out after hearing a song on the NU radio station. Awesome. 5 stars.

Understand? is my third favorite, with the 1 blemish on the album being that piece of crap Hips Swingin'. Sounds to me like a practice room joke that somehow ended up on the album. Treason is a rousing way to kick off the album. Melodic and yet powerful with a slow buildup to a great chorus. Understand? is an awesome punk rock song with chops and melody. Entrapment is a great anti-army/anti-conformity song, but not done in a cliched way, and that is difficult. It also namechecks the mighty Adolescents, so how can it go wrong? Bughouse is fun in a weird kind of way. "I'm gonna cut that bastard up, and that still won't be enough". Good stuff. Wonder Beer might simply be the best song on the album. Simple and yet sublime. Never Follow is strong in the way that Treason is. Too Much of You is average, but is better than Vagabond Dog which should have gone the way of Hips Swingin. OK Wait is sharp and smart. The drumming is particularly effective. The Sniper Song is the closest they get to generic hardcore, but they do it well. Which Side You're On sounds like The Buzzcocks at the end of the "classic" era, kind of like "Strange Thing". A very strong album overall apart from the 2 dogs. 4 stars.

Jettison is in second place. Soldier's Requiem is a super strong way to start the album. That guitar line at the beginning raises the hairs on the back of my neck each time I hear it. (Not as much as the beginning to "Below the Drop" by The Effigies does, but that is one of the greatest punk recordings of ALL TIME). Jettison is a particular favorite of mine. The screeching guitar sounds very Big Blackesque. Live Wire sounds like Bauhaus, if Bauhaus had had some balls and weren't so worried about smearing their makeup. The Mule is another straight-ahead thrasher. Prime circle pit fuel. The chorus to Coldbringer wouldn't be out of place in a Tenpole Tudor song, which is a good thing. Blight is classic Raygun-Jeff almost talks the words instead of singing them. The guitar break is mid-period Buzzcocks like. Free Nation I can take or leave--seems like I've heard it before in another Raygun song. Hammer Head is silly but fun. Ghetto Mechanic is another that should have been left on the cutting room floor. There is a good song in there somewhere, but this isn't it. Suspect Device is one of the best songs ever recorded (it is the best part of that average film High Fidelity), and NR do it well, but nothing could match the fury and savage beauty of the original. 4.5 stars.

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