Review by Mark Jason Murray

Manifesto
1980 (2005 reissue)
14 tracks
33 min. 3 sec.
BUY!

Reissues are a great way to help reintroduce music to its fans and increase awareness for those not yet familiar with a band’s output. Sometimes, one takes for granted the great and incredible music that we have been listening to for decades and I am thankful to Manifesto records for putting The Dead Kennedys back into the public conscious.

Taking the punk rock world by storm, San Francisco’s obnoxious and socially sarcastic legends are undoubtedly one of the most important musical acts within any genre. Not only did they deliver some of the best punk rock records America has ever produced, they also put their money where their mouth is and fought tooth and nail with the government and idiotic morality groups to maintain their (and our) free speech.

This special 25th anniversary version of their 1980 full length debut features an impressive re-mastered sound greatly improving over all previous releases on vinyl or CD. Never has their cynicism sounded so sonically clear and we can now enjoy classics like ‘Kill the Poor’, ‘California Uber Alles’ and ‘Holiday in Cambodia’ in all their glory.

The disc is housed in a nice tri-fold digipak featuring discography information and a miniature fold-out reproduction of the poster sized collage/lyric sheet included with vinyl versions of the release. While the impact and absurdity of the collage remains, the lyrics for the album are microscopic and blurry due to the half-tone printing making it hard to read for those not already familiar with the lyrics.

A worthy bonus is the inclusion of a nearly hour long DVD, “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Eyeballs” featuring interviews with band members, critics, rare early live footage, etc. chronicling the origins of the band, their early days, the recording and release of this album and their importance to the music world. Lead singer and most recognizable face of the band, Jello Biafra, is not included in the documentary after having lost a lawsuit filed by the other band members for unpaid royalties from his (and the band’s old) record label, Alternative Tentacles. While the short documentary is far from definitive it really makes a great addition to this package and something fans new and old should really appreciate.

This is an indispensable release and I can only hope for more expansive packages of their subsequent albums.