Minor Threat – Out of Step (1983)
[Album 718/1001]
The 1001 albums list is not without its biases.
It tends to smile upon certain artists (such as Ol’ Neil Young), reward re-inventions (like Blur‘s transition from Britpop to Lo-fi), and celebrate triumphant returns (as with Bob Dylan’s award-winning, Time Out of Mind).
Alas, 1001-list enthusiasts have plenty of biases too.
I’m certainly guilty of allowing running time length to factor into my appraisal of any given album.
Though paradoxically, I seem to be at my happiest when the running time is either ludicrously lengthy (such as the 172+ minute Magnetic Fields adventure) or spectacularly succinct.
In this case, with 9 tracks in under 22 minutes, Out of Step would earn my praise for being the latter.
Considering I’m trying to get through the rest of the list by December 1, 2021, I thoroughly appreciate such brevity.
That being said, I was somewhat surprised to see that my favourite tracks (Cashing In & It Follows) were also the two longest tracks in the set.
So I suppose it’s a bit like that Cake song, Short Skirt/Long Jacket.
Do you recall the lyric, I want a girl with a short skirt & a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng jacket?
It appears that when it comes to hardcore punk, I want a band with a short album & (a couple of relatively) lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnng tracks!
…..
Verbalize the Positive
I really like the original Cake guitarist (Greg Brown)’s lead parts on the Homie track, American Girls!
1001albumsin10years 
Sometimes the less is more theory applies at times. Sometimes short to the point songs can help with your well, in this case, my attention span. Even in a concert setting. When me and Sue caught Teenage Head last May I swear to god they smashed out about 25 songs in just over an hour and fifteen.
Which was good as they didn’t take the stage til 12 am haha
That’s an efficient set!
And yikes – the concert didn’t even start til the next day!
Yeah it was a late one and if you recall that show Sue was along and stood infront of Gord Lewis amp the whole set dead straight on>RESPECT! lol
I need albums to fall in to two categories…short at 35 minutes or less for the drive to work and then long at 50-70 minutes for my drive home. If I can hear an album from beginning to end on the drive, I am happy camper…not happy that I am sitting in traffic, but for me at least it was productive.
Absolutely – music makes traffic tolerable!
Haha! Cake was excellent live when I saw them. I’ve always loved their sound but gained new respect after their set. Minor Threat, though? Still unfamiliar.
I imagine they’d put on a fun show – Minor Threat had some good energy here too!
God I love Minor Threat. It’s not on here but ‘Minor Threat’ by Minor Threat (gotta love self-titled tracks!) is one of my very favourite songs ever ever ever ever.
I do love self-titled tracks!
I think Black Sabbath set the bar pretty high with black sabbath opening black sabbath’s debut album black sabbath – talk about brand consistency!
Or lack of imagination!! The Monkees had it down too.
I can understand why you’d put off listening to some stuff… this is one I’d likely put off too… I’ve never really felt drawn to them… and even the 22 minute run time wouldn’t lure me in.
I think there’s still another couple of 2 hour + marathons to go on the 1001 list – so I’ll appreciate these 22 minute albums when I find them!