Los Angeles (X album)

Los Angeles is the debut studio album by American rock band X, released on April 26, 1980 by Slash Records. It was produced by ex-Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek and includes a cover of the 1967 Doors song "Soul Kitchen".

Los Angeles
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 26, 1980
RecordedJanuary 1980
StudioGolden Sound Studios, Hollywood, CA
GenrePunk rock
Length28:05
LabelSlash
ProducerRay Manzarek
X chronology
Los Angeles
(1980)
Wild Gift
(1981)

Wild Gift placed at No. 16 in The Village Voice's 1980 Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[1] In 2003, the album was ranked No. 286 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[2]

In 1988, Slash issued Los Angeles and Wild Gift jointly on a single CD. It was reissued by Rhino Records in 2001 with five bonus tracks.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Christgau's Record GuideA−[4]
Entertainment WeeklyA[5]
Pitchfork8.5/10[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[7]
Spin Alternative Record Guide9/10[8]
Uncut[9]

Los Angeles was reviewed very positively from its first release. Ken Tucker wrote in Rolling Stone that it "is a powerful, upsetting work that concludes with a confrontation of the band's own rampaging bitterness and confusion."[10] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice wrote that their outlook and songs "make a smart argument for a desperately stupid scene."[4] AllMusic's retrospective review concluded that the album "is considered by many to be one of punk's all-time finest recordings, and with good reason."[3]

For the year of its release, Wild Gift placed at No. 16 on the Christgau-organized Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[1] Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn named it one of the ten best albums released between 1977 and 1987.[11] Subsequently, Wild Gift was ranked No. 24 on Rolling Stone's 1989 list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s,[12] and Pitchfork ranked it 91st on its 2002 list of the decade's top 100 albums.[13] The former also ranked it No. 286 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in 2003,[2] and No. 287 in a 2012 revised list.[14] In 2012, Slant Magazine placed Wild Gift at No. 98 on its list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s.[15] The title track was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".[16]

In pop culture

Track listing

All tracks are written by John Doe and Exene Cervenka except where noted.

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Your Phone's Off the Hook, But You're Not" 2:25
2."Johny Hit and Run Paulene" 2:50
3."Soul Kitchen"John Densmore, Robbie Krieger, Ray Manzarek, Jim Morrison2:25
4."Nausea" 3:40
5."Sugarlight" 2:28
Side B
No.TitleLength
6."Los Angeles"2:25
7."Sex and Dying in High Society"2:15
8."The Unheard Music"4:49
9."The World's a Mess; It's in My Kiss"4:43

Bonus tracks (2001 CD reissue)

  1. "I'm Coming Over (Demo Version)" – 1:24
  2. "Adult Books (Dangerhouse Rough Mix Version)" – 3:21
  3. "Delta 88 (Demo Version) – 1:28
  4. "Cyrano de Berger's Back (Rehearsal) – 3:01
  5. "Los Angeles (Dangerhouse Version) – 2:14

Personnel

X

Additional personnel

References

  1. "The 1980 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. February 9, 1981. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
  2. Levy, Joe (2006) [2005]. "Los Angeles – X". Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (3rd ed.). London: Turnaround. ISBN 1-932958-61-4. OCLC 70672814. Archived from the original on December 20, 2010. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  3. Prato, Greg. "Los Angeles – X". AllMusic. Retrieved September 11, 2005.
  4. Christgau, Robert (1990). "X: Los Angeles". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved April 4, 2006.
  5. Weingarten, Marc (September 28, 2001). "X: Los Angeles / Wild Gift / Under the Big Black Sun". Entertainment Weekly. p. 75.
  6. Bengal, Rebecca (February 25, 2019). "X: Los Angeles". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  7. Sisario, Ben (2004). "X". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 889–90. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  8. Sheffield, Rob (1995). "X". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 438–39. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  9. "X: Los Angeles". Uncut. No. 55. December 2001. p. 118.
  10. Tucker, Ken (August 7, 1980). "X: Los Angeles". Rolling Stone. No. 323. Archived from the original on December 24, 2007. Retrieved May 12, 2006.
  11. Hilburn, Robert (May 17, 1987). "10 Years Later: A Critic's List of the Best Albums of the Decade". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  12. Azerrad, Michael; DeCurtis, Anthony (November 16, 1989). "The 100 Best Albums of the Eighties". Rolling Stone. No. 565. p. 76. Retrieved February 21, 2007.
  13. "The Top 100 Albums of the 1980s". Pitchfork. November 20, 2002. p. 1. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  14. "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. May 31, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  15. "The 100 Best Albums of the 1980s". Slant Magazine. March 5, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  16. "Experience The Music: One Hit Wonders and The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". rockhall.com. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. Archived from the original on April 8, 2011. Retrieved April 27, 2009.
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