Violent Femmes (album)

Violent Femmes
Studio album by Violent Femmes
Released	April 1983
Recorded	July 1982; August 31–September 1, 1983 (Tracks 11–12)
Studio	Castle Studios in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin; Music Works Studios in London (Tracks 11–12)
Genre	Folk punk alternative rock punk rock
Length	36:15
Label	Slash
Producer	Mark Van Hecke
Violent Femmes chronology
Violent Femmes (1983) Hallowed Ground (1984)

Violent Femmes is the debut album by Violent Femmes. Mostly recorded in July 1982, the album was released by Slash Records on vinyl and on cassette in April 1983,^[1][2] and on CD in 1987^[3][4] with two extra tracks "Ugly" and "Gimme the Car".

In 2002, Rhino Records remastered the album, filled out the disc's length with demos, and added another disc of live tracks and a radio interview for a 20th anniversary special edition, with liner notes by Michael Azerrad.

Violent Femmes is the band's most successful album to date and went platinum eight years after its release. The album achieved what is believed to be a unique feat by going gold, four years after its release, without having yet made an appearance on Billboard's Top 200 album chart.

Slant Magazine listed the album at #21 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s".^[5]

Album

Most of the songs on both this album and its follow-up were written when the songwriter, Gordon Gano, was still in high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.^[6] Violent Femmes peaked at #171 on Billboard's Top 200 album chart in 1991.^[7]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[10]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	10/10[11]
The Village Voice	B+[12]

In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, J. D. Considine wrote that Violent Femmes was precocious yet dynamic, with a good balance between Gano's direct lyrics and the full sound of the music.^[9] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice compared Gano and the album as a whole to Jonathan Richman of The Modern Lovers,^[12] as did Steve Huey in an AllMusic retrospective write-up.^[8]

Gano himself tired of comparisons of him to Richman, as by his own account he was actually trying to sound like Steve Wynn of The Dream Syndicate.^[13]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Gordon Gano, except where noted. 

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Blister in the Sun"	2:25
2.	"Kiss Off"	2:56
3.	"Please Do Not Go"	4:15
4.	"Add It Up"	4:44
5.	"Confessions"	5:32

Side two
No.	Title	Length
6.	"Prove My Love"	2:39
7.	"Promise"	2:49
8.	"To the Kill"	4:01
9.	"Gone Daddy Gone" (Gano, Willie Dixon)	3:06
10.	"Good Feeling"	3:52

US CD bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
11.	"Ugly"	2:21
12.	"Gimme the Car"	5:04

20th Anniversary Edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
11.	"Girl Trouble" (demo)	3:07
12.	"Breakin' Up" (demo)	5:17
13.	"Waiting for the Bus" (demo)	2:08
14.	"Blister in the Sun" (demo)	2:35
15.	"Kiss Off" (demo)	2:49
16.	"Please Do Not Go" (demo)	4:18
17.	"Add It Up" (demo)	4:35
18.	"Confessions" (demo)	5:20
19.	"Prove My Love" (demo)	2:50
20.	"Ugly" (UK single)	2:22
21.	"Gimme the Car" (UK single)	5:07

20th Anniversary Edition bonus live disc
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Special" (live)	4:27
2.	"Country Death Song" (live)	5:25
3.	"To the Kill" (live)	4:19
4.	"Never Tell" (live)	7:17
5.	"Break Song" (live)	0:41
6.	"Her Television" (live)	2:28
7.	"How Do You Say Goodbye" (live)	2:43
8.	"Theme and Variations" (live)	0:54
9.	"Prove My Love" (live)	3:19
10.	"Gone Daddy Gone" (live) (Gano, Willie Dixon)	3:32
11.	"Promise" (live)	3:09
12.	"In Style" (live)	3:43
13.	"Add It Up" (live)	6:15
14.	"Michael Feldman Interview from WHA-FM"	4:09
15.	"Kiss Off" (live on WHA-FM)	3:31

Personnel

Violent Femmes

• Victor DeLorenzo – snare drum, tranceaphone, drum set, Scotch marching bass drum, vocals
• Gordon Gano – guitar, violin, lead vocals
• Brian Ritchie – acoustic bass guitar, xylophone, electric bass guitar, vocals

Additional personnel

• Mark Van Hecke – production; piano on "Good Feeling"
• Luke W. Midkiff – percussion on "Kiss Off"

Charts

Album

Chart	Entry date	Peak position	Weeks charted
ARIA Charts[14]	January 27, 1986	34	32
The Billboard 200[15]	August 3, 1991	171	7

Certifications

Organization	Level	Date
RIAA – USA	Gold	December 8, 1987
	Platinum	February 1, 1991

References

1. "Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
2. "The Billboard Book of Gold & Platinum Records," 1989
3. Steve Huey (1982-07-04). "Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
4. "The Compact Disc Connection Database : WAR23845 * $11.79 VIOLENT FEMMES VIOLENT FEMMES WARNER BROTHERS 07/87 :44". Textfiles.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
5. "The 100 Best Albums of the 1980s | Feature". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
6. James Christopher Monger. "Hallowed Ground - Violent Femmes | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
7. "Violent Femmes". Billboard. 1994-06-04. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
8. Huey, Steve. "Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes". AllMusic. Retrieved February 19, 2013.
9. Considine, J. D. (June 23, 1983). "Violent Femmes: Violent Femmes". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 11, 2007. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
10. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. p. 852. ISBN 0-743-20169-8.
11. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
12. Christgau, Robert (May 31, 1983). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
13. Lloyd, Robert (May 20, 1983). "Violent Femmes". LA Weekly. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
14. Kent, David (compiler); Australian Chart Book 1970-1992: 23 Years of Hit Singles and Albums from the Top 100 Charts; p. 330 ISBN 9780646119175
15. Whitburn, Joel; Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums, 1955-1996; p. 819. ISBN 0898201179

External links

• Violent Femmes (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)