Descendents: All [SST]

Why you'll love it

This is the SST vinyl of the album that closed the band's original run. Rolling Stone's Jenny Eliscu counted "Cameage," "Coolidge" and "Clean Sheets" among their best songs.

This edition

• SST Records edition
• Original 1987 track sequence

About the album

Some bands write manifestos. Bill Stevenson and his friend Pat McCuistion invented a whole philosophy in 1980, called All: never settle for some, always go for the total extent. Seven years later the Descendents named an album after it, and gave the idea a one-second title track and a two-second follow-up, "No, All!" New bassist Karl Alvarez reportedly packed everything he owned into a garbage bag and took the train from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles to try out.

It was the first Descendents record with bassist Karl Alvarez and guitarist Stephen Egerton, two Salt Lake City friends who'd learned guitar together and grown up as fans of the band. Their arrival brought new songwriting ideas, and Stevenson produced the results himself. Milo Aukerman sings with his usual heart-on-sleeve punch on "Coolidge" and "Clean Sheets," "Cameage" bounces, and the six-minute "Schizophrenia" stretches the band further than ever.

After two US tours Aukerman left to pursue biochemistry, and the others carried on as a band called All. Few punk singers have a doctorate to fall back on; Milo has one, and he came back anyway.

Also at Kops: more Descendents on vinyl · browse Punk

Tracklist

Listen

On SST, a reissue of the 1987 album.