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List Price: $10.98 | | Label: Alternative Tentacle
Salesrank: 69739
Released: October 25, 1990 |
| Our Price: $18.65 |
| Used Price: $7.49 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death Track Listing:
1. Police Truck - Dead Kennedys, Biafra, Jello
2. Too Drunk to Fuck - Dead Kennedys, Biafra, Jello
3. California Über Alles - Dead Kennedys, Biafra, Jello
4. The Man With the Dogs - Dead Kennedys, Biafra, Jello
5. In-Sight - Dead Kennedys, Biafra, Jello
6. Life Sentence - Dead Kennedys, Biafra, Jello
7. A Child and His Lawn Mower - Dead Kennedys, Biafra, Jello
8. Holiday in Cambodia - Dead Kennedys, Dead Kennedys
9. I Fought the Law - Dead Kennedys, Curtis, Sonny
10. Saturday Night Holocaust - Dead Kennedys, Dead Kennedys
11. Pull My Strings - Dead Kennedys, Dead Kennedys
12. Straight A's - Dead Kennedys, Sixty Twenty Five
13. Kinky Sex (Makes the World Go Around) - Dead Kennedys, Dead Kennedys
14. The Prey - Dead Kennedys, Biafra, Jello
15. Night of the Living Rednecks - Dead Kennedys, Dead Kennedys
16. Buzzbomb from Pasadena - Dead Kennedys, Biafra, Jello
Editorial Review:
This Manifesto reissue of 'Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death' release has been digitally remastered (by the original sound engineer), features 17 tracks, a new lavish CD booklet with tons of photos & newspapers clippings!
Description of Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death:
Track for track and album after album, the Dead Kennedys were the most relentlessly political and controversial stateside punk rock band to gain much public notoriety. Originally released in 1987, Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death collects 17 of the band's singles, compilation tracks, and rarities spanning the eight years they played together. This is a wide and deep collection of favorites like "California Über Alles" and "Holiday in Cambodia," but the real reason to pick up this disc is the more obscure and rare material. From 1979, "Night of the Living Rednecks" has hyperactive mouthpiece Jello Biafra relating a tale of being chased by irate rednecks while the rhythm sections jams. Their version of "I Fought the Law" rewrites it into a true-to-life murder ballad, while rippers like "Life Sentence," "Insight," "Pull My Strings" and "Straight A's" are off the map unless you were lucky enough to pick up the original singles or compilations that they're pulled from. And "Kinky Sex Makes the World Go 'Round" is Biafra at his sarcastic best, as he tells of one corporate head instructing another on the economic necessity of a new war. The DKs were a truly important and relevant band, and Give Me Convenience provides 17 livid reasons why. Boy, could we use them now. --Carl Hanni
Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death Reviews:
Getting Death 
2008-04-16 - Some people had a slogan for The Clash years ago: "The Only Band That Matters". I guess maybe for huge fans of The Clash in the late 70s that made sense. In terms of what bands matter most now, in the year 2008, there are only a few that still matter like Dead Kennedys. It's actually a sad comment on our society that many DK songs written 20+ years ago still pack such a punch. Sh** hasn't changed much has it? But at least you can still listen to some great music that expressed so well what a f----- up country we live in, I guess. Other than that I find America in the 21st Century in decline and as depressing as ever.
The reason Dead Kennedys was a great band is because of Jello Biafra's lyrics. Too bad they'll never play again.
"Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death" is required listening material for citizens in the declining American Empire of the post-Dick Cheney/Dubya Regime.
My Favorite Album, Period
2008-03-18 - What's not to like? This has "hits" and B-side misses, lots of humor ("Rick Wakeman, eat your heart out!" for instance, referring to the Yes keyboardist who has a habit of making songs that go on forever), rednecks chasing down Jello Biafra with clubs, and a wire tap on a conversation that could begin WWIII. You'll be treated to recordings that just don't exist anywhere else. I don't care what label puts out the version you buy, but this is one of those gems that belongs in your music library. I always put it on when I need a good laugh or some other drive.
Yep, its pull my strings you are buying this for.
2007-07-07 - Got to be one of the greatest songs ever written. Even all these years later it still rings true. To this day whenever I seen these fake punk bands on TV that song comes to mind. The rest of this album is still good to listen too, yeh a lot of the stuff you will find on other albums but there are still a few good tracks here that you need to pick up.
This ones for you Green Day.....
"I'm tired of self respect, cant afford a car, I wanna be a prefab super star"
Give Me "Give Me Convenience..."
2007-03-26 - All the loose ends of the Dead Kennedys non-album singles, B-sides, and/or comp. tracks are compiled here for our convenience, which the title of the collection takes its name, twisting Patrick Henry's famous "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!" line. "Give me Convenience or Give Me Death" was originally released in 1987 about a year after the band's demise. Though all these songs came together as a collection of leftovers, they coincidentally all work together as a solid album. This is one of my favorite releases by Dead Kennedys ranking on par with "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables."
Everything here is indigenous to this album with even the single versions of "Holiday in Cambodia" and "California Uber Alles" being different recordings than what's found on the "Fresh Fruit..." album. "Police Truck" and "Too Drunk..." are also classics in their own right found on this and no other DK album. There's even a premonition of Jello's spoken word work on "Night of the Living Rednecks" as he stalls for time by telling one of his road stories during a live set while East Bay Ray changes a broken guitar string.
Being recorded at different points in the band's career, the tracks here jump around through different incarnations of the Kennedys' sound. Your always kept on your toes with each tune a little bit different than any of the others on the record as their sound thoroughly evolved from year to year. Some of Dead Kennedys' best gems can be found here from all its different eras.
To L. Scott: 
2007-02-04 - You call yourself a REAL punk, but do you even know who the SEX PISTOLS ARE??? I was there, in those mosh pits! So, you have no right to say what punk is and isn't. As for this CD, GREEN DAY is more hardcore than this!!! Is this punk? Yes. Harcore? Hardly. Not the greatest band, but a solid one. If you want REAL hardcore, check out:
ADOLESCENTS
BLACK FLAG
SLAPPY-GREEN DAY
