Los Angeles (X album)

Los Angeles
Studio album by X
Released	April 1980
Recorded	January 1980, Golden Sound Studios, Hollywood, CA
Genre	Punk rock
Length	28:05
Label	Slash
Producer	Ray Manzarek
X chronology
Los Angeles (1980) Wild Gift (1981)

"Delta 88" redirects here. For the automobile, see Oldsmobile 88.

Los Angeles is the debut album of the American punk rock band X, released on April 26, 1980. Produced by ex-Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek, it includes a cover of the 1967 Doors song "Soul Kitchen". It made it on at #16 for the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.^[1] In 2003, the album was ranked number 286 on the Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.^[2]

In 1988, Slash re-released Los Angeles and Wild Gift jointly on a single CD. It was re-released by Rhino Records in 2001 with five bonus tracks.

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
Robert Christgau	(A−)[4]
Rolling Stone	(favorable)[5]
sputnikmusic	(5.0/5.0)[6]

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."^[5] And Robert Christgau writes that their outlook and songs "make a smart argument for a desperately stupid scene."^[4] Finally, Allmusic's review concludes that the album "is considered by many to be one of punk's all-time finest recordings, and with good reason."^[3]

For the year of its release, it was placed at #16 on the Christgau organized Village Voice Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.^[1] Subsequently in 1989, it was ranked #24 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 best albums of the 80s^[7] and Pitchfork ranked it 91st on their top 100 albums of the 1980s^[8]. The former also ranked it number 286 on it's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in 2003.^[2] The title track is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.^[9]

The title song is also available as downloadable content for the video game Rock Band, however, the use of the word "nigger" in the song was censored. The track "Nausea" is also notable for its performance in the opening of the 1981 rockumentary The Decline of Western Civilization, and later in 2008 in The Germs biopic film What We Do is Secret.

Track listing

All tracks written by John Doe and Exene Cervenka except as indicated.

Side A

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Your Phone's Off the Hook, But You're Not"		2:25
2.	"Johny Hit and Run Paulene"		2:50
3.	"Soul Kitchen"	John Densmore, Robbie Krieger, Ray Manzarek; Jim Morrison	2:25
4.	"Nausea"		3:40
5.	"Sugarlight"		2:28

Side B

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Los Angeles"		2:25
7.	"Sex and Dying in High Society"		2:15
8.	"The Unheard Music"		4:49
9.	"The World's a Mess; It's in My Kiss"		4:43

Bonus tracks (2001 CD reissue)

10. "I'm Coming Over" (Demo version) – 1:24
11. "Adult Books" (Dangerhouse Rough Mix version) – 3:21
12. "Delta 88" (Demo version) – 1:28
13. "Cyrano de Berger's Back" (Rehearsal) – 3:01
14. "Los Angeles" (Dangerhouse version) – 2:14

Personnel

• John Doe – bass, vocals
• Exene – vocals
• Billy Zoom – guitar
• D.J. Bonebrake – drums

Additional personnel

• Ray Manzarek – organ

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "The 1980 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. February 9, 1981. http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres80.php. Retrieved 20 September 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Levy, Joe; Steven Van Zandt (2006) [2005]. "286 | Los Angeles - X". Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (3rd ed.). London: Turnaround. ISBN 1932958614. OCLC 70672814. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/los-angeles-x-19691231. Retrieved 4 April 2006. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Prato, Greg. Los Angeles (X album) at Allmusic. Retrieved 11 September 2005.
4. ^ ^{a b} Christgau, Robert. "X > Consumer Guide Reviews". Robert Christgau. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=x. Retrieved 4 April 2006. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Tucker, Ken (August 7, 1980). "X Los Angeles > Album Review". Rolling Stone (323). Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071224203245/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/x/albums/album/136984/review/5945977. Retrieved 12 May 2006. 
6. ^ Cruz, John (September 9, 2006). "X Los Angeles > Album Review". Sputnik Music. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/9084/X-Los-Angeles/. Retrieved 19 September 2011. 
7. ^ Azerrad, Michael; DeCurtis, Anthony (November 16, 1989). "The 100 Best Albums of the Eighties". Rolling Stone (565): p. 76. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-albums-of-the-eighties-20110418/x-los-angeles-19691231. Retrieved 21 February 2007. 
8. ^ "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s". Pitchfork Media. November 20, 2002. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/5882-top-100-albums-of-the-1980s/. Retrieved 28 February 2011. 
9. ^ "Experience the Music: One Hit Wonders and The Songs That Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". rockhall.com. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. http://rockhall.com/exhibits/one-hit-wonders-songs-that-shaped-rock-and-roll/. Retrieved 27 April 2009.