Tracklist:
01. Now [5:09]
02. Sex Mad [4:13]
03. Theresa, Give Me That Knife [2:13]
04. Body Bag [4:38]
05. Angel And Devil [3:42]
06. Rags 'n Bones [5:07]
07. I Need You [7:01]
08. It's Catching Up [3:29]
09. Humans [4:11]
10. I Can't Stop Talking [5:29]
11. The Day Everything Became Nothing (live) [4:47]
12. Dad [3:00]
13. The River [6:19]
14. Victory [7:55]
15. Give Me The Push [6:37]

Assembled and mastered by Marc L'Esperance
Layout by Randy Iwata
Back cover photos by Ernie Hawkins

QUOTE

Now Twenty five years old, the band are celebrating their anniversary with the release of The People's Choice, a record resulting from the band's invitation to fans to tell them what they wanted to hear when NoMeansNo next drifted into their town. The fine folks at Wrong Records have spent the last two years tabulating, correlating, and making many, many small piles of the literally thousands of "dream set lists" that have been offered up by NMN fans, large and small alike. From these lists the label have compiled a definitive compilation of the band's back catalogue, a best of: the people's choice. (southern.com) For more than two decades, the post-punk wiseass subgenre Nomeansno helped steer still loses out to the arch sound of its better-looking cousins - the ones back East - who wear fashionable leather and prune-swallowing looks on their skinny mugs. The Vancouver veterans admit the supposed frivolity of their lengthy career. "How f*cken [sic] old are Nomeansno?" the bathroom graffiti captured for the cover of The People's Choice reads. "Give it up grand dads." And this from a community happy to welcome Mission of Burma (active years: 1980-1983) back to the fold! The gall. People's Choice combines Nomeansno rarities with highlights spanning most of the band's Alternative Tentacles years, particularly Wrong, Sex Mad, You Kill Me, and Dance of the Headless Bourgeoisie. Its most vital work always shared space with well-meaning art rock noise, inside jokes, and lack of interest, detours that are always a detriment to legacy. However, People's Choice burns that chaff off, choosing 15 strong cuts that showcase the group's cutting post-punk urgency, its embrace of arch jazz rhythms, and most of all its influence on the work of everyone from Fugazi ("Victory"; "I Need You"'s dual vocal screed) to the Tragically Hip (the meandering swagger of "The River"). A competition pitting Nomeansno against the usual aesthetic heavyweights of post-punk - as well as retrospectively lauded peers like Minutemen and Hüsker Dü - is partial fantasy. But People's Choice puts it in perspective. The domestic violence nightmare "Dad" crosses Jonathan Richman with Suicidal Tendencies, dubby new wave pulses through "Body Bag," and rants like "Sex Mad" and "It's Catching Up" refuel on their own manic internal combustion. People's Choice illustrates Nomeansno's fiery performances, flair for cultural recklessness, and its still-resonant influence. Let the wiseass revival ignite. (by Johnny Loftus, AMG) None of these songs are included on this compilation. All of those songs are brilliant. It goes to show how rich the Nomeansno catalogue is, and they didn’t even pick songs from their debut album or 2000’s One. What you DO get are one or two songs from each album in between those two, with one pick from Live and Cuddly, one from the early You Kill Me EP (a version that sounds different from the one I have, though the liner notes don’t mention whether it’s an alternate version or so) and a live version of "The River" that’s simply INCREDIBLE. Whereas the original album version is already a song of monumental stature, mainly because it’s carried on by some of the most thunderous drumming ever, this version includes TWO drummers. By consequence, it’s a song of gigantic proportions, almost impossible to fathom. The remaining songs offer a perfect overview of the band’s capabilities. Even though some of their albums were slightly flawed because they were too long or a bit uneven (especially the ‘80’s albums), they also contained a handful of songs that were terrific and occasionally mind-blowing. I’m not going to discuss these in detail (check out the shitty reviews above if you want), but their scope is breathtaking and worth pointing out. There are slashing punks blasts that are intense beyond comprehension ("Theresa, Give Me That Knife," "Dad"), schizophrenic rock songs that are all over the place (the eternal favorite "Rags ‘n Bones," possibly the highlight on their most lauded album Wrong; the irresistible "Now," one of the best songs of the ‘90’s, by any band), epic monsters ("Victory," "The River"), brilliant/disturbing nonsense ("It’s Catching Up," "The Day Everything Became Nothing"), stuff that can’t be defined at all ("I Can’t Stop Talking" – skafunkjazzpunk?) and even a lost ballad ("I Need You"). Granted, most of their songs display a very unsettling worldview in which violence, frustration, pent-up aggression, fucked-up politics and madness are rarely absent, but it’s never at the cost of the music’s impact. This band has it all: unstoppable bass-led grooves, irresistible hooks, terrific drumming, smart and often hilarious lyrics, straightforward punk explosions (or something that vaguely resembles it), songs that flirt with near avantgarde-ish elements, blazing guitars (both from Andy Kerr (with the band until 1991’s 0+2=1) and Tom Holliston (the last three albums)) and a whole lotta energy, baby. Granted, their vocals are hardly "beautiful," but they employ registers, ticks and fitting harmonies like no other band. It’s not possible to mistake this band for any other one - and that doesn’t have to imply their sound is their worst enemy -, as they carved out their little own niche in rock music. Nomeansno is not only Canada’s greatest export product (maple syrup, my ass), they also wrote one of the most wonderful chapters in recent rock ‘n roll history. They’re adventurous, fierce, dedicated, innovative and totally unique (yes, I’m well aware I’m running out of satisfying adjectives), and The People’s Choice already goes a long way to prove all of that. It’s what the masses have been craving for years. It’s essential. (guypetersreviews.com)

SPOILER!

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Extractor: Exact Audio Copy v0.99pb3
Codec: Monkey's Audio 3.97
Compression: High Lossless
Total Time: 73:57
Ripper: SurowyTato