I tried to not post this. It´s been all over. Everybody and his mother knows the Poison Idea. To me they never topped this effort. On the other hand it´s the kind of music that can´t be done twice without getting generic. Record Collectors…, Kings of Punk and Feel the Darkness are great too though a bit overrated. I know you think that´s a lie and that´s ok.
It´s a shame to split up the songs cause it shall really be played in it´s entirety. I feel totally run over every time I spin it. Can´t find a single fault with this record. The archetypical patented(?) ultra thin USHC guitar sound that makes the whole sound so “airy”. Fantastic. Ultra short songs that keeps you from getting bored and dizzy. The sound of the drum sticks counting in on for example Self Abuse. Fucking marvelous. They should make a documentary about that.
Country: USA
Year: 1983
Label: Fatal Erection
Format: 7″
Songs:
Think Twice.mp3
It’s An Action.mp3
This Thing Called Progress.mp3
In My Headache.mp3
Underage.mp3
Self Abuse.mp3
Cult Band.mp3
Last One.mp3
Pure Hate.mp3
Castration.mp3
(I Hate) Reggae.mp3
Give It Up.mp3
Think Fast.mp3
definitely their best material and probably one of the best hardcore ep’s ever
I bought this upon its release and gave it away the same day. I like their later stuff much better.
Best hardcore 7 inch ever recorded. You’re right it’s impossible to top a monster like this, but the LPs you mention have their own merit. My copy is clear vinyl–which was first press?
OK here’s the story behind “which was first, clear vinyl with white sleeve or black vinyl with blue sleeve?” Tom originally ordered clear from the pressing plant. When the shipping boxes arrived and were opened, they contained approximately 765 copies on black vinyl. Inside one of the boxes was a letter from the pressing plant saying “Sorry, we made a mistake, do you still want the clear vinyl pressed?” I know this because I was a housemate with Tom then, and was there when the records came thru the door. Tom called the plant and said to press 1000 on clear vinyl to ship immediately. They did, and Tom held onto the black copies for issue about 2-3 months after the clear vinyl copies were gone. SO, the black copies were the first pressing off the master plates (and sound better in my jaded opinion), are more difficult to find, and still kill to this day. I still have about 5 unplayed copies of that black pressing, set aside that day they came through the front door of 714 SE 148th Street. RIP my friend. Thanks, Dewey.
Thanks a lot for clearing this up and sharing your story Chris.
Finally scored the black vinyl first pressing, second issue. My completely non-scientific comparison with the clear vinyl pressing reveals no sonic differences. The sleeves are very different, though. Black vinyl has a blue fold-over sleeve with lyrics printed inside, clear vinyl has a pocket sleeve with lyrics on separate insert.
Clear vinyl is the first press. I think the one I have is the third press or so.
i concur…best hardcore release there is,which may not sit so well with the dischord can do no wrong crowd,but this is utterly ferocious.
Yes, Monger, it does not sit so well with us “Dischord can do no wrong crowd.”
so great!
I like the later stuff too, but this one is special for sure.
fyfaaan vad bra
blue vinyl is 3rd pressing and 1000 copies made. clear is the first. everything is amazing from PI. thanks for this nice post Peter!
Still astonishing every time I listen to it – hairs standing up on back of neck etc etc. Ferocious is indeed the word. I agree – they didn’t top this in terms of sheer forward motion, intensity and rage combined. Later records had great stuff but this was a needle sharp peak. The practice demos that appeared on the Xcentric Noise cassettes were a very close 2nd. Did they ever get a CD release?
It amused me no end when the turgid ‘Punk Lives’ mag slagged this off while praising Dead Man’s Shadow to the skies! Tee hee! I never bought another issue.
POISON IDEA-Bigger Than GOD…
Certainly one of the best punk records from Portland, OR.
If as a blogger you want to receive lots of comments – just post a record that everybody knows already. Haha – that’s weird, innit Peter?
The number of comments for the Skrewdriver posting easily has this beat. This one now only has 30 comments. The Skrewdriver posting has 116, and that one has not been up as long as this one has.
Yeah I was about to add something at the end of the post that:”Let´s see how many more comments this one gets instead of an unknown that is equally great.”.
Odd. As a blog visitor I would rather comment on stuff I´ve never heard before.
Or perhaps we should see how many comments the Skrewdriver posting gets compared to this one. The score is now 31 to 116.
Maybe we just don’t understand our customers, Peter. They’re downloaders – we’re uploaders!
No one dares to comment on stuff they never heard before as they will be insulted and called poseurs if they haven’t heard the record before… By the way, this is the greatest record ever released as I have heard it before.
Downloaders are no real punx then, Marty.
Nope, they’re not. Never trust a downloader!
Downloaders are no punks… they are wankers!!!
I wank when I download a big movie cause it takes so long :(.
Scary.
oh shut the fuck up!
Hey Erich, don’t talk to Erich that way…
You’re a mating walrus, except you’re a single mating walrus. That makes you a WAKING walrus!!!!!!!!
tossbucket!
Mmmmm dolphins…
Dolphins taste better when they are mixed with tuna.
In My Headache, I scare the mormons in the parking lot when I go to school in the marnin’
pig champ!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuPyySRDOPc
best fucking hardcore 7″ of all time… end of story.
Not the best fucking hardcore 7″ of all time…boredom
This ep really would have been so much better if the drummer would have played real d-beat instead of the so much lamer beat most 80s American USHC-drummers played. Especially to these scandy-crust riffs used on this ep. My opinion…
You sure you know what you’re talking about?
O yeah. Poison Idea was a pretty good band but EXTREMELY overrated in my opinion. Their lyrics and their members are far more interesting than their music.
Real d-beat? What do you mean Peter? Or lame d-beat like so many others did with cheating(not following through with all the beats on the hi-hat or the cymbals)? One thing is for sure, Dean Johnson don’t cheat here.
The riffs here are not scandy-crust for sure. The term wasn’t even invented in the 80s. Fuck I really hate crust. Please Peter don’t ever mention crust on this blog again :D.
Yes, real d-beat, like on the Discharge – Why MLP. As if you´re in battle with your drum kit. Dean Johnson is lame in comparance! All these half-ass 80s hardcore bands bore me witch include 90% of american records of the era. Sorry…
Who cares when the term was invented, its really necessary these days when HC has got so many babies. And what do you think I shall call it then? Käng?
I care when the term was invented. I think all these terms and labels in punk or whatever has gone totally overboard. Sure you can apply it to all the new bands around if you want to but to put a “newly” invented label on a band that was just a Hardcore band and was labeled as such back when is silly in my opinion.
We won´t get any further Peter since we clearly have different views and taste when it comes to punk/hc :). I like all the great, inventive and non-generic bands of the 80s(90% being from the USA) and you like all the others that I´m sure to hate ha ha. By the way real d-beat was invented by the Buzzcocks. Listen to Tear Me Up on their Another Music in a different kitchen.
Seams i need to quote myself: “its really necessary these days when HC has got so many babies”. There is a real difference between the neocrust from bands like His Hero Is Gone, Martyrdöd, Wolfbrigade and the doomy sludge like I Hate God, Crowbar and fastcore/power volence like Hellnation, F.O.T.B. and Spazz just to name a few subgenres. Dont you think? Everything in this world needs its own termology, even HC!
Well, different taste in music is one thing, being ignorant to what the future “analists” discuss is another ;)
No, the real d-beat was invented by Gothenburgs 60s band Tages! Listen to their version of the Eddie Holland song Leaving here.
And I guess I need to quote myself:”if you want to but to put a “newly†invented label on a band that was just a Hardcore band and was labeled as such back when is silly in my opinion.”
“Well, different taste in music is one thing, being ignorant to what the future “analists†discuss is another ;)” Mmm analists… tasty ;).
Would really love for someone to explain all these different genres for me. I mean Fastcore LOL :D!
I recently heard USA´s Failures which sounded like an updated version of Koro. Really great in my opinion. I found out they where labeled as Power Violence. I laughed my ass off!
Maybe Buzzcocks stole the d-beat from Tages but Buzzcocks where the first band to use it in punk.
Keep on laughing and keep on living in the past!
I detect a huge tongue in cheek in Peter J’s post here…Poison Idea – they were soooooo generic man…..
The drummer is astounding here and highlights the difference between a lot of classic US HC and UK punk. Many US HC drummers seemed technically really competent compared to the apparently self taught UK ones. In general. Maybe. Can’t speak for other countries….
That’s how it seemed to me back then. And now. How many great UK punk drummers were there in the 80s? Pinch from The English Dogs was good and Tommy Stupid too…….errrr…that’s it! Let’s not mention that Napalm Death guy eh?
But Dean Johnson, Mike Dean et al…different league.
;-)
Peter’s a drummer – he may be able to articulate what I’m barely able to say!
US punk/hc drummers where way ahead both technically and emotionally in my opinion. With emotionally I mean that they played with a lot more feeling. And I got proof of that every time I went to a gig with a US band(too few though). They had a lot more energy and pounded way harder then their colleges from the rest of the world.
I think Charlie put words to it pretty well :).
There was only ONE great hardcore drummer back then…Brian Betzger while in Jerry’s Kids. That is all…don’t even comment after this, because you all know it is the truth.
And some other drummers like the drummers of Koro, Rhythm Pigs, AOF, Victims Family, Zero Boys etc all sucked. I just want to say that your “truth” is a lie :).
Emotionally way ahead? Stupid remark. Its a really subjective thing for fucks sake! Personally I think “well played” punk generally SUCK! To illustrate: my all time fave HC record is Wretched – In nome del loro.
Yepp they where emotionally way ahead. I prefer both well played punk and sloppy non technical punk as long as it´s done with feeling. As this site is a proof of.
I think you miss interpreted my statement as the TRUTH. I´m flattered. It´s just my opinion.
Here we go again….. feelings…. very subjective, isn´t it?
“technically really competent” HA HA HA!!! very funny
It seems as though I am Anonymous again…oh well.
Ok…Peter J WASN’T joking…I misread that!
Brian Betzger though….simply AMAZING!!!!!!
80s USHC suck!!! Except for:
Jerrys Kids – Is this my world LP
Minor Threat – early stuff
Septic Death – Now that I have the attention LP
I know I´ve started a war but like I´ve said before, its just my opinion!
It´s just your opinion and your taste that sucks Peter :).
Come on Peter, you know that’s not true. There are way more US HC bands that you like than the 3 you lister above. Just my opinion though.
Not really, these are the only ones that stands out for me. 98% of all other 80s USHC records are good too but not as good as euro-stuff. In my opinion ;)
USHC is ultimately better, thanks for the nonsense. I think 70’s UK punk/Power Pop is certainly better, but that’s the way it is..
I like Italo disco.
He’s still in his HC/Punk-apprenticeship, this Peter dude. He doesn’t know better.
Oh yes, thats what it is. You hit the spot!
It´s nothing wrong with living in the past when the contemporary musical climate sucks. It would be stupid otherwise :).
Thats not the point.
The point is to be able and see the importance in diving up a genre like punk or hardcore into 100 sub genres so you can be sure to what you listen to and what it´s called? Cause if you don´t hear that Failures is Power Violence and not Hardcore then you don´t get it?
Cause if that´s not the point then you have to explain it.
“Peter J says:
September 11, 2009 at 3:16 am
Here we go again….. feelings…. very subjective, isn´t it?”
Ha ha ha isn´t everything about musical taste subjective or do you regard your statements as universal laws?
Hahaha, wonderful, Peter.
In other words:
1. So you do agree with me?
2. Semantics is always interesting but in this case it doesn=t help the fact that USHC is lame ;)
What can I say? Neocrust rules ha ha.
Ha ha ha ha….. now that´s just hurtful :)
Don´t care for BM either…
You’ve really got your shit together!
There’s an endless stream of classic hardcore 7 inches and LPs from all over the world. This is only just one. It seems that Peter J hasn’t heard very many hardcore albums. I agree with Erich. I think Peter J is in some sort of apprenticeship phase.
As far as crust goes, there’s some bands that are good, like Misery, but there’s alot of crap too.
There’s a ton of crust that’s stuck in the past. How modern of a genre is crust? Hah right, really modern. Not.
all these fucking labals are getting to me. i don’t really care if it’s crust grindcore hardcore or whatever. i like it all. pi is amazing and if you don’t like it it’s your loss.
oh man, this just want up on ebay for a buy now $60. i went to look at it a few hours later and it was bought. sold within one day. man i want this. thanks for it!
Pick Your King? More like Pick Your Nose! Royalty is a piece of shit and this record has only one decent song: I hate Reggae. Well, I guess you would if you were a whitebread hick who only heard the Bad Brains lame version of it.
Hey you managed to get one thing right! Royalty IS a piece of shit. Too bad you obviously have no taste whatsoever in music.
Just too good of an EP NOT to download in it’s entirety. Thank you “Flakes”,even though we don’t see eye to eye on so many things,I am going to have to give you KUDOS that are ysually reserved for people who are nice to me and give me pop-tarts when I am feeling blue…but this,my dear little man,will suffice for now!
i’m glad you did upload this, been loving it every since i downloaded it here a long time ago (until i bought a copy for myself). around the time you posted this, i was fairly young and had no idea who poison idea was. i found this site right when i started getting into punk and knew nothing about the genre. my brother was always using hype machine at the time, and i’d heard the descendents were a punk band, so i searched there and found a link to your site. thank god i did too. i was still working off extremely slow dial-up internet at the time. the single song downloads were great, only took a few hours to download a track. as opposed to zips which i couldn’t get at all since it took way to long to download. plus you know, the music here is good too, haha. this site really shaped a large chunk of my music brain, and i can’t thank you guys enough.
so anyway, even when you think there’s no point in posting something because it’s really popular, just remember that it’s always gonna be new to someone.
Thanks for the kind words Zach :)!
Boy, this EP shreds… It’s up there with the top 10 in USA
I very much enjoyed Poison Idea at the 3D Ballroom in Eugene the coupla times I saw them play in the cramped pissy basement, so when my best friend gave me her record I came to adore her even more. She gave the sticker to a loser poser so I don’t have that, and she wrote on the cover, and the lyrics sheet is damaged, but my copy of the (1st/2nd pressing) 7′ clear vinyl by Fatal Erection is in very good shape– I haven’t had a record player to play it on since the ’80’s. Maybe I will download the songs to listen to but I can still hear it in my head. I am considering selling it but then again…