Vs. is the debut studio album by American post-punk band Mission of Burma, following their 1981 EP, Signals, Calls, and Marches. It was released in October 1982 by record label Ace of Hearts. It is the only full-length studio album the band released during the 1980s – and until 2004, as soon afterward they disbanded due to guitarist Roger Miller's worsening tinnitus.[2]
Recording and content
Whereas 1981's Signals, Calls, and Marches was notable for its accessible and organized qualities, Vs. saw Mission of Burma make a deliberate effort to record the chaos and noise that characterized their live performances.[3] To help capture their live sound, the album was recorded in a large room at Normandy Sound studios in Rhode Island.
The songs on the album feature a greater presence of band member Martin Swope's electronic and tape sound effects than with the band's previous recordings.
Mission of Burma guitarist Roger Miller considered Vs. to be the band's best recording, and among the greatest rock and roll albums ever made.
Vs. has been well received by critics, immediately receiving positive reviews from publications like The New York Times. In a pre-release review of the track "Trem Two," The Boston Phoenix said "it sounds like the creation, destruction, and rebirth of the universe in four minutes."[13] Despite strong reviews, the noisier sound caused the album to be considered less appropriate for radio airplay than previous Mission of Burma recordings.[3]Robert Christgau, who originally gave it a "B+" in The Village Voice, later said he should have graded it an "A−".[14]
In his retrospective review, Mark Deming of AllMusic opined that Vs. saw Mission of Burma "[mature] into a band whose sound was as distinctive as anyone of its generation. [...] It's daunting to imagine just how far Mission of Burma could have taken its music had Roger Miller's hearing problems not caused the band to break up the following year, but regardless of lost potential, very few American bands from the 1980s released an album as ambitious or as powerful as Vs."[1]
Legacy
The album ranked at number 49 on Pitchfork's "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s" list.[15] In 2016, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album number 25 on their list of the 40 Greatest Punk Albums.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Roger Miller, except where noted
The Matador Definitive Edition CD has the same bonus tracks, but they are in a different order: "Laugh the World Away", "Forget", Progress", "OK/No Way".
^ abMichael, Azerrad (2002-07-02). Our band could be your life : scenes from the American indie underground 1981-1991 (First Back Bay paperback ed.). Boston. ISBN9780316787536. OCLC50483014.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
