Frankenchrist

Infobox Album | Name = Frankenchrist
Type = Album
Artist = the Dead Kennedys


Released = October 1985
Recorded = Hyde St. Studios, May & July 1985
Genre = Hardcore punk
Length = 45:12
Label = Alternative Tentacles
Producer = Jello Biafra
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fm3zefikhgf3 link]
*Piero Scaruffi rating-10|6.5 [http://www.scaruffi.com/vol4/deadkenn.html link] | Last album = "A Skateboard Party"
(1983)
This album = "Frankenchrist"
(1985)
Next album = "Bedtime for Democracy"
(1986)
Misc = Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = Frankenchrist Poster
Type = studio


Lower caption = Poster included with Frankenchrist

"Frankenchrist" is the third album released by the Dead Kennedys in 1985 on Alternative Tentacles.

The album was a subject of great controversy because of a poster inserted in the original record sleeve. The poster, H. R. Giger's "Landscape #XX", or Penis Landscape, was a painting depicting rows of penises and vulvas engaged in sexual intercourse. The band was brought to trial for distributing harmful matter to minors, and though the case did not result in a conviction, Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles was driven almost to bankruptcy. Only through the support of fans was the label able to stay alive. Biafra came out as a champion of free speech, and was one of the most active opponents of the Parents Music Resource Center. The cover itself depicts a Shriners parade.

The songs here focus on the more nightmarish, psychedelic, hard-rocking side of the Kennedys' musical personality. The spaghetti western fascination is also noticeable in the horn parts and in East Bay Ray's atmospheric guitar work. Frankenchrist is noted for its relative lack of traditionally 'hardcore' material (Most of the songs are slower and longer than the majority of other Dead Kennedys songs). "M.T.V. − Get off the Air" is notable for its pointed slam of the music establishment and "Stars and Stripes of Corruption" for its detailed layout of Biafra's political philosophies. On the original vinyl version, Side A was tracks 1-5 and Side B was tracks 6-10.

Track listing

#"Soup Is Good Food" – 4:18 (Jello Biafra/Dead Kennedys)
#"Hellnation" – 2:22 (D.H. Peligro)
#"This Could Be Anywhere (This Could Be Everywhere)" – 5:24 (Jello Biafra/Dead Kennedys)
#"A Growing Boy Needs His Lunch" – 5:50 (Jello Biafra/Dead Kennedys)
#"Chicken Farm" – 5:06 (Jello Biafra/Dead Kennedys)
#"Jock-O-Rama (Invasion of the Beef Patrol)" – 4:06 (Jello Biafra)
#"Goons of Hazzard" – 4:25 (Jello Biafra/East Bay Ray)
#"M.T.V. − Get off the Air" – 3:37 (Jello Biafra)
#"At My Job" – 3:41 (East Bay Ray)
#"Stars and Stripes of Corruption" – 6:23 (Jello Biafra/Dead Kennedys)

Credits

* Jello Biafra - lead vocals, producer, mixer
* East Bay Ray - guitar, synthesizer, bellzouki
* Klaus Flouride - bass, backing vocals
* D.H. Peligro - drums, backing vocals
* John Leib - trumpet
* Tim Jones - keyboards
* Nina T.R. Stapleton - backing vocals
* Laura T.R. Muetz - backing vocals
* Julie Hoffman - backing vocals
* Susan Caldwell - backing vocals
* Danielle Dunlap - backing vocals
* Robyn Lutz - backing vocals
* Kris Carleson - backing vocals
* Steve DePace - backing vocals
* Wild Bill - backing vocals
* Sweet - backing vocals
* Wee Willy Lipat - backing vocals
* Microwave - backing vocals
* Gary Floyd - backing vocals
* Eugene Robinson - backing vocals
* Jeff Davis - backing vocals
* John Cuniberti - engineer, mixer
* Winston Smith - artwork