Youth of America

Infobox Album
Name = Youth of America
Type = Album
Artist = The Wipers


Released = 1981
Recorded = 1981
Genre = Punk
Length = 30:40
Label = Park Ave.
Producer =
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hpfixqq5ld6e link]
Last album = "Is This Real?" (1980)
This album = "Youth of America" (1981)
Next album = "Over the Edge" (1983)

"Youth of America" is the second album by the punk band The Wipers. The album marks a distinctive change in the band's sound. Compared to its predecessor Is This Real?, which was mostly compromised of raw, sleek and relatively traditional songs, Youth of America features much longer and complex compositions; the title track alone clocks in at over 10 minutes. This change of pace was according to Greg Sage a deliberate counter-reaction against the trend of releasing short songs, which many punk bands did at the time. [http://www.zenorecords.com/wipers/disco/youth.htm] The album was, according to Sage, not well-received in the United States at the time of its release, though it did fare better in Europe. [http://www.zenorecords.com/wipers/disco/youth.htm] Along with other records by the Wipers, Youth of America has since come to be acknowledged as an important album in the development of American underground and independent rock movements of the early 80s. [http://wc03.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jiftxqr5ldfe~T1]

Track listing

# "Taking Too Long" - 3:05
# "Can This Be" - 2:55
# "Pushing the Extreme" - 3:15
# "When It's Over" - 6:30
# "No Fair" - 4:25
# "Youth of America" - 10:30

Originally released on Park Ave. in 1981 and Greg Sage's label, TRAP. It was later re-issued on Backbone and Restless with different covers. It has now been re-issued on Greg Sage's own Zeno Records as disc 2 on The Wipers Box Set.

The title track has been covered by The Melvins, on their 2001 album Electroretard and Mission of Burma on the live album Snapshot.