Los Angeles (X album) explained
Los Angeles is the debut studio album by American rock band X, released on April 26, 1980,[1] 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 placed at No. 16 in The Village Voices 1980 Pazz & Jop critics' poll. In 2003, the album was ranked No. 286 on Rolling Stones list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
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
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."[2] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice wrote that their outlook and songs "make a smart argument for a desperately stupid scene." 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."
For the year of its release, Los Angeles placed at No. 16 on the Christgau-organized Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[3] Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn named it one of the ten best albums released between 1977 and 1987.[4] Subsequently, Los Angeles was ranked No. 24 on Rolling Stones 1989 list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s,[5] and Pitchfork ranked it 91st on its 2002 list of the decade's top 100 albums.[6] The former also ranked it #286 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in 2003,[7] dropping it to #287 in the 2012 update of the list, and to #320 in the 2020 update.[8] [9] In 2012, Slant Magazine placed Los Angeles at No. 98 on its list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s.[10] The title track was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".[11]
In pop culture
- The album's title track was featured in the series finale of The Shield.
- "Los Angeles" has made numerous video game appearances, including the soundtrack to Tony Hawk's Underground 2,[12] as downloadable content in Rock Band, and as a cover version in . In Tony Hawk's Underground 2 as well as Rock Band, the uses of the words "nigger" and "shit" were censored, while the Guitar Hero version used the second verse as the first and second verse. The uncensored version of the song appeared in the next-gen versions of Grand Theft Auto V.[13]
- "Los Angeles" is mentioned at the very end of Bret Easton Ellis's debut novel, Less than Zero.[14]
- "Nausea" was performed in the 1981 rockumentary The Decline of Western Civilization,[15] and later in 2008 in the Germs biopic film What We Do Is Secret.[16]
- In 1994 The X-Files episode "3", "The Unheard Music" was heard in the background during the Club Tepes scene.
- In 2003, the HBO television series Six Feet Under features main character Nate dancing to “Los Angeles” with his baby daughter in the episode titled "Everyone Leaves". He describes the song as “music that doesn’t suck”.[17]
Track listing
Personnel
X
Additional personnel
Further reading
- Book: Draper, Jason. A Brief History of Album Covers. Flame Tree Publishing. London. 2008. 226–227. 9781847862112. 227198538.
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: 2020-04-25 . X’s Debut Album ‘Los Angeles’ Turns 40 - Anniversary Retrospective . 2024-04-24 . Albumism . en-US.
- X: Los Angeles . . 323 . August 7, 1980 . May 12, 2006 . Tucker . Ken . Ken Tucker . https://web.archive.org/web/20071224203245/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/x/albums/album/136984/review/5945977 . December 24, 2007 . dead.
- News: The 1980 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll . . February 9, 1981 . September 20, 2011.
- News: 10 Years Later: A Critic's List of the Best Albums of the Decade . . May 17, 1987 . November 11, 2020 . Hilburn . Robert . Robert Hilburn.
- The 100 Best Albums of the Eighties . . 565 . November 16, 1989 . February 21, 2007 . 76 . Azerrad . Michael . Michael Azerrad . DeCurtis . Anthony . Anthony DeCurtis.
- Web site: The Top 100 Albums of the 1980s . . November 20, 2002 . November 11, 2020 . 1.
- Book: Levy, Joe . Los Angeles – X . http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/los-angeles-x-19691231 . November 11, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101220144709/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/los-angeles-x-19691231 . December 20, 2010 . dead . Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time . Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time . Turnaround . London . 3rd . 2006 . 2005 . 1-932958-61-4 . 70672814 . RS500.
- 500 Greatest Albums of All Time . . May 31, 2012 . September 10, 2019.
- The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Rolling Stone. September 22, 2020.
- Web site: The 100 Best Albums of the 1980s . . March 5, 2012 . September 4, 2012.
- Web site: Experience The Music: One Hit Wonders and The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll . rockhall.com . . April 27, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110408162207/http://rockhall.com/exhibits/one-hit-wonders-songs-that-shaped-rock-and-roll . April 8, 2011 . dead.
- Web site: The Fantastic Soundtrack of 'Tony Hawk's Underground 2' . 2023-10-09 . Lifewire . en.
- Web site: 2014-11-17 . Grand Theft Auto V Reveals Expanded Radio Station Tracklists for Game Relaunch . 2023-10-09 . Pitchfork . en-US.
- Book: Ellis, Bret Easton . Less Than Zero . 2010-06-09 . Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group . 978-0-307-75646-6 . en.
- Web site: The Decline of Western Civilization . 2023-10-09 . www.tcm.com . en.
- Web site: What We Do is Secret . 2023-10-09 . www.tcm.com . en.
- Web site: Every song from S3E10 - Six Feet Under, "Everyone Leaves" . 2023-10-09 . WhatSong . en.
