Friday, Sept. 9, 2005 | 8:23 a.m.
I remember being thoroughly repulsed the first time a high school buddy played a Minor Threat cassette for me.
Why anyone not being held at gunpoint would actually listen to such an abrasive form of music as hardcore punk was way beyond sonically insulated me back then.
Judging from my hands-over-the-ears reaction, my racket-loving friend never could have predicted that years later, I'd be the one rocking out to Minor Threat.
Yet here I am as I write this, cranking the band's "Complete Discography" CD for what must be at least the 500th time.
As its title suggests, the disc compiles everything the Washington, D.C., outfit released during its short life span (1980-1983). That includes three EPs, the lone full length -- 1984's "Out of Step" -- and two tracks from a Dischord Records compilation.
(Absent only is the eight-song "First Demo Tape," which was discovered after "Complete Discography" was assembled, and thus released as a separate EP.)
"Complete Discography" makes for a handy introduction to Minor Threat and, as the All Music Guide points out, is "not a bad way to become acquainted with hardcore" in general.
Spanning just 47 minutes, 39 seconds, the 26 tracks strike quickly and vanish, assaulting the senses without dulling the impact of the band's tough-as-nails sound or frontman Ian MacKaye's charged lyrics.
The songs are wisely presented chronologically, offering up evidence of the musicians' growth from thrashing teenagers to confident standard bearers.
Early on, the message is as direct as the music. "I don't wanna hear it / Know you're full of s**t," goes one anthem of alienated youth. "It's like screaming at a wall / Someday it's gonna fall," goes another.
One 45-second track, "Straight Edge," gave birth to punk rock's no-drugs, no-alcohol scene of the same name. And "Minor Threat" sums up everything the band was about, opening with the spoken line "Play it faster" before MacKaye later declares, "I might be an adult, but I'm a minor at heart."
On the CD's back half, Minor Threat shows a greater sense of composition. "Betray" switches tempos near its finish and "Look Back and Laugh" actually surpasses the 3-minute mark, while an acoustic guitar-aided cover of the Standells' "Good Guys (Don't Wear White)" borders on pop-rock.
As much as I wholeheartedly recommend "Complete Discography," I still only listen to it in certain settings, usually when I need to let off some nervous energy. If you're hoping to doze off to music, this is not the disc.
Then again, my dog just walked into the room and fell asleep to Minor Threat, so apparently anything is possible.
Artist: Minor Threat.
Title: "Complete Discography."
Year of release: 1989 (reissued 2003, Dischord Records).
Tracklisting: "Filler," "I Don't Wanna Hear It," "Seeing Red," "Straight Edge," "Small Man, Big Mouth," "Screaming at a Wall," "Bottled Violence," "Minor Threat," "Stand Up," "12XU," "In My Eyes," "Out of Step (With the World)," "Guilty of Being White," "Steppin' Stone," "Betray," "It Follows," "Think Again," "Look Back and Laugh," "Sob Story," "No Reason," "Little Friend," "Out of Step," "Cashing In," "Stumped," "Good Guys (Don't Wear White)," "Salad Days."
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