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Fugazi - Steady Diet of Nothing Audio CD

A fair review of the Fugazi "Steady Diet of Nothing" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Fugazi reviews here, or go back to the Fugazi tabs.

Fugazi Band: Fugazi
Title: Steady Diet of Nothing
Rating:
Release Date: 1991-07-01
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Exit Only 2: Reclamation 3: Nice New Outfit 4: Stacks 5: Latin Roots 6: Steady Diet 7: Long Division 8: Runaway Return 9: Polish 10: Dear Justice Letter 11: KYEO

It's long division....
It seems as though the foursome homed their craft even more so- taking their brand of reggae influenced "post punk" and adding more color to the palate. To me 1991's follow up to 1990's Repeater was an excellent one. The results are indescribable. One thing about Fugazi is not only do they make music that sometimes has an anthem like feel to it (ie. "Long Division") but also makes things uncomfortable to the listener- not so easy to digest and safe sounding as other bands often did by the peak of their careers. Fugazi instead- made a bit of challenging sounding music- that was often immitated by later "grunge" bands of the early 90's. The sonic dissonance of the instrumental number "steady diet" should be an indicator of that. Perhaps one of the most memorable tracks to mind's eye is a song called "stack" which has not only some interesting cross-rhythms and a chorus that's catchy and obtuse with lines such as "Language keeps me Locked and Repeating" and during the verse Mackaye screams out "America is just a word, but I use it"- there's plenty of lines like this that are open to interpretation that perhaps wasn't true of Mackaye's early 80's band Minor Threat- which was very direct and to the point. Fugazi- both musically and lyrically is more about sonic and verbal abstractions. In a way- the fact that the lyrics aren't telling you what to think make them that much more potent and relavant than any Minor Threat lyric ever did. Just my opinion. Definitly recommended but not for the faint of heart.


Still My Favorite Fugazi Album
Each Fugazi album has a different flavor but without "Red Medicine" there would be no "End Hits" (somehow when "End Hits" came out it made "Red Medicine" make sense to me - gave it a context). Fugazi's fourth release, "Steady Diet of Nothing", may still be my favorite. With this album, Fugazi, never ones to repeat themselves, explore a darker, more introspective territory than previous efforts, building on the stylings of songs like "Shut the Door". In my opinion, this is the most satisfying and well-rounded set of songs they ever put out. It's not necessarily instantly appreciable, but it stands up to repeated listens. The production sounds less glitzy than "Repeater" or "In On The Kill Taker" but it really suits the songs, which are all as powerful and varied as anything they've done. "Long Division" has my favorite bass line, "Exit Only" is my favorite opening track, "Steady Diet" is my favorite instrumental, the climaxes of "Reclamation", "KYEO" and "Latin Roots" still knock me out, awesome lyrics and vocal performances as usual and so on. In my opinion this album is their best and listening to it always make me wonder how the hell they did it. Also, Brendan Canty is in my list of top ten rock and roll drummers.


Fugazi's most underrated effort
Sure, the production could've been better - cut them some slack, this was their first attempt at self-production - and "Reclamation" and "Dear Justice Letter" aren't up to par with Fugazi's other tunes, but this is an overall good cd. You know, I don't know why everyone dislikes this album so much.

Highlights include "Exit Only", "KYEO", "Runaway Return", "Long Division", "Latin Roots" and the title track. Though not quite as good as "In on the Killtaker" or "Red Medecine", this is a worthy addition to the Fugazi catalogue and I highly recommend it. .


Steady Diet of Stagnation
Other reviewers have said that "Steady Diet. . " is perhaps Fugazi's most cohesive effort. They would be right, if by cohesive they meant stagnant. Yes, that's right; this album, though a solid rock album, is definitely no stand-out of Fugazi's. Sure, there are good songs on here, and the band does tackle the subjects of women's rights ("Reclamation") and war ("K. Y. E. O. "), but these simply do not stack up to classics like "Merchandise" and "Suggestion". A song like "Nice New Outfit" simply does not contain the enthusiasm of a song like "Bulldog Front"; while both were indeed written about the same topic, the former seems like it was simply being made to emulate the latter, with the end result being that "Nice New Outfit" falls tragically short.

A good album nonetheless.


the change is beginning
the production sounds really flat and boring to me. although a good Fugazi record, this one struggles to find it's step. nothing pops out. everything just sort of lies in this grey audio mass that never moves. given a proper production, some of these songs could have really come to life. Fugazi is beginning to experiment a bit in the song structures and musical ideas on this record; and it's a progression that doesn't come accross as fully developed yet. "Reclamation" has some nice lines in it, but is marred by uninspired guitar noise that doesn't lift up the song, but merely drags it along from verse to verse. and "Dear Justice Letter" has some strong political statements (which is rare for Fugazi to sing about such things in literal language); but the song's momentum seems to never really take off. the band tries a semi quiet song (as in, no distorted guitar) with "Long Division" and it's a nice tune and a sign of what's to come on future albums. "Steady Diet Of Nothing" works well with songs like the quirky "Stacks" and "Nice New Outfit" which sounds like it could have been written at the same time as the Repeater sessions. not a bad record. . . but def. not the one i would recommend to newcomers.


You can see a complete list of all Fugazi discography, or go back to the Fugazi tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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