Dead Kennedys – In God We Trust, Inc.: The Lost
Tapes
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: C+ Program: B
The Dead
Kennedys are one of the only great Punk Bands from the authentic, early Punk
era that never sold out. For their
classic album In God We Trust, Inc.,
they have recovered, restored, and added video that was actually made of the
sessions in this DVD, appropriately dubbed The
Lost Tapes. Though the entire DVD
with extras runs 33 minutes, 25:43 of this from the original sessions, this is
a key work of the Punk genre. The songs,
which always go out of their way to say something and be thought-provoking, are
as follows:
1)
Hyperactive Child
2)
Nazi Punks F@*# Off
3)
Kepone Factory
4)
Dog Bite
5)
Religious Vomit
6)
We’ve Got A Bigger Problem Now
7)
The Theme From “Rawhide”
8)
Moral Majority aka Immoral
Minority
The
alternate versions are of the songs from concerts run the time period 1979 –
1986 and show why Jello Biafra is one of the most important figures in the
movement, but this is a band (even with a member change) of capable musicians
and this new unearthing of their work is more proof.
The full
frame analog video comes from 1981 and 2003, both clean, you can tell which is
from which. The 1981 footage is in
better shape than expected. The Dolby
Digital 5.1 AC-3 mix comes from the original masters, which are lucky to exits
at all. There is some mixed bass here,
but it is too bad with the room on this DVD that DTS sound was not an
option. A brief supplement explanation
of the DVD tells us that album was mixed from second-generation material and
that this is the debut of the original tapes that were on defective magnetic
stock. This is a problem all the major
labels are battling now; it’s just that The Kennedys had to deal with a tape
that went bad on the spot. They kept it
instead of tossing it and it has been saved.
Under the circumstances, this sounds good. We can only hope they will put this on a new
magnetic safety master, as well as in the higher formats of DVD-Audio and Super
Audio CD or is that not Punk enough? All
in all, this is a very interesting and important piece of history everyone
should see at least once.
- Nicholas Sheffo
