GI (album)

(GI)
Studio album by
the Germs
ReleasedOctober 1979
Recorded1979
StudioQuad Teck
Genre
Length38:14
41:39 (cassette version)
LabelSlash (SR 103)
ProducerJoan Jett
Germs chronology
Lexicon Devil
(1978)
(GI)
(1979)
What We Do Is Secret
(1981)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Mojo[4]
Pitchfork9.0/10[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]
Spin Alternative Record Guide9/10[7]

GI, stylized as (GI), is the only studio album by American punk rock band the Germs. Often considered the first full-length hardcore punk album,[2] it was released in the United States in October 1979[8] on Slash Records with catalog number SR 103. The album was later released in Italy in 1982 by Expanded Music with the catalog EX 11. The album's title is an acronym for "Germs Incognito", an alternate name the band used to obtain bookings when their early reputation kept them out of Los Angeles-area clubs. After (GI)'s release, the band would only undertake one more recording session, for the soundtrack album to Al Pacino's 1980 film Cruising. On December 7, 1980, a year after the release of (GI), vocalist Darby Crash died by suicide.

The entire album was included on the 1993 compilation CD (MIA): The Complete Anthology. In 2012, (GI) was reissued on CD with "Caught in My Eye" as a bonus track, after "Shut Down".

  1. ^ Ensminger, David A. (2011). Visual Vitriol: The Street Art and Subcultures of the Punk and Hardcore Generation. University Press of Mississippi. p. 161. ISBN 9781604739688.
  2. ^ a b O'Connor, Rob (March 16, 2012). "25 Essential Punk Albums". Yahoo! Entertainment. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  3. ^ Raggett, Ned. "(GI) – Germs". AllMusic. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
  4. ^ "Germs: (GI)". Mojo. p. 105. [A] crisp, vicious 1979 classic of LA punk...
  5. ^ Bloom, Madison (October 27, 2019). "Germs: (GI)". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  6. ^ Geller, Debbie (1983). "The Germs". In Marsh, Dave; Swenson, John (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Record Guide (2nd ed.). Random House/Rolling Stone Press. p. 197. ISBN 0-394-72107-1.
  7. ^ Weisbard, Eric (1995). "Germs". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. p. 165. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  8. ^ The album was released in Oct. 1979 according to the liner notes in the 1993 CD (MIA): The Complete Anthology. The information of the booklet can be read online in the discogs entry for the compilation.