Search - Forgotten Rebels :: Surfin on Heroin

A waste of money

10/06/1999

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Don't even bother purchasing this album. If you want to hear this band at their best, look around in record shops for their earlier work(early 80's) These albums were put out by Star records, and Other People's Music. I think that Star records has begun to re-release their earlier stuff,eg. In love with the system lp, Surfin on Heroin,and Pride and Disgrace lp. Stay away from their crappy sound of the late 80's and 90's, such as this album."

Political Correctness Be Damned!

Clark Paull | Murder City | 04/06/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've always had a problem with the entire concept of political correctness and, apparently, so do Forgotten Rebels, Canada's greatest export since Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Battered Wives. For proof, cue up and crank up addictively hooky blasts of adrenaline like "Bomb The Boats," "I'm In Love With The System," "I Left My Heart In Iran," Let's Go Back," or "Live Strippers In Action" and let the truth set you free. Where else can you find brilliant streams of consciousness like "Wanna teach the commies how to rock and roll/Gonna turn their pavement into red hot coals/Kill a commie for a mommie the American way/Then we'll wipe out the Russians on the very next day"? Buy this release for the "Surfin' On Heroin" album since it's apparently no longer available as a single CD. Or better yet, scour your local used record store for a copy on vinyl or cassette. It will be well worth the effort. Come to think of it, was the concept of "political correctness" even an issue back in 1988, when this was originally released? Who cares? Vive le Canada!"

Not a best of, but a two album package.

05/15/1999

(3 out of 5 stars)

"All right, for starters, Forgotten Rebels/Surfin' On Heroin is not a best of. It is the release of two albums on one disc. The Rebels never wrote epics, so its not hard to toss two of the releases on the same disc. Yes, alot of the old favorites are on it. However, they are as done by the 1988 line up. (I believe thats when Surfin' the album came out on Restless.) The production value on Surfin on Heroin isn't the best, the band sounds rather tinny. They were going for a more thrash/speed sound at the time. The (Untitled) album (Thats what it said on my cassette) is, well, not all that good. About four good tracks on it, the rest is filler. The earlier line ups of the Rebels were much better, as were the albums Pride & Disgraced, In Love With The System and This Ain't Hollywood... (which I doubt will make it to CD. Its owned by some obscure indie label Star Records. Don't even know if they still exist, but if they are reissuing the Rebels on CD, release This Ain't Hollywood, damn it.) But as it stands, if you want an introduction to the band at a low cost, you'll get 23 tracks of 1988-91 Rebels for a nice price. Like your punk quick, abusive and agressive? Then give it a shot. Like your Green Day and Sublime? Avoid the Rebels. You won't get the joke."