GIVE ME CONVENIENCE OR GIVE ME DEATH is a compilation of singles, B-sides, compilation tracks and live tracks.
The Dead Kennedys: Klaus Fluoride (vocals, bass); D.H. Peligro (vocals, drums); Jello Biafra (vocals); East Bay Ray (guitar, Echoplex).
Additional personnel: 6025 (guitar); Bruce Slesinger [a.k.a. Ted] (drums); Geza X (background vocals).
Producers include: Geza X, The Dead Kennedys, Jim Keylor, Thom Wilson, Oliver Dicicco.
Compilation producer: Jello Biafra.
Engineers include: Oliver Dicicco, Jim Keylor, John Cuniberti.
Principally recorded in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Includes liner notes and artwork by Jello Biafra and John Yates.
Digitally remastered by John Cuniberti and East Bay Ray (The Plant Mastering, Sausalito, California).
If you could only own a single Dead Kennedys' album, your best bet would be 1987's 17-track compilation GIVE ME CONVENIENCE OR GIVE ME DEATH. Collecting the controversial quartet's best-known tracks as well as scattered oddities, CONVENIENCE is the ultimate Dead Kennedys set. The Dead Kennedys are categorized by singer/activist Jello Biafra's biting political commentary, the group's unwillingness to takes themselves too seriously, and some of the most memorable punk-pop of all-time (music that influenced such future chart-toppers as Green Day and the Offspring). Highlights include such punk anthems as "Police Truck," "Too Drunk to Fuck," "California Uber Alles," and "Holiday in Cambodia," plus the hilarious stage improv "Night of the Living Rednecks."
Professional Reviews
Q (6/01, p.127) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...A serviceable hits and B-sides collection..."
Alternative Press (11/01, pp.80-1) - "...An essential Dead Kennedy's collection....highlighting their ability to make surf guitar sound menacing...while sowing the seeds of punk-rock discontent..."
NME (Magazine) (3/17/01, p.31) - 7 out of 10 - "...Compiles 'Too Drunk To F***', 'Holiday In Cambodia', et al with B-sides and rarities tidily enough..."
