Minor Threat – The First 2′ 7” (1981) Album Edit

For those not in the know, fan albums are the attempts of me and many others to take songs and put them on an album, typically they’re made to improve upon something, such as an existing album or to take non-album tracks and put them on an album.

Minor Threat was recommended to me by friends and what a pleasant experience they are. The quick, angry punk is very tight and says a lot in a little. These 16 songs total under 25 minutes. This fan album has four sources; the band’s first two EPs and two compilation albums that each include two songs. My listening order of 1st EP > “Stand Up”, “12XU”, 2nd EP > “Understand”, “Asshole Dub” was good, but it could be improved for better flow.

“Minor Threat”, which closed the first EP, was a perfect ending to the whole thing, so it was moved to the end. “Asshole Dub” is also a good closer, but it fit better as a side one closer than side two. The other song that shared a compilation album with Asshole is “Understand”. Those two have a decent amount of finality to them. “Stand Up” and “12XU” are good starter songs. The 2nd EP’s tunes didn’t have any good starters or closers, so “12XU” opens side b. The 2nd EP’s closer is “Steppin’ Stone”, which really lacks the needed punch the closer should have. The side b stuff was recorded months later than side a except for “Minor Threat”, so there’s a subtle stylistic change between sides.

The cover is a picture often used on compilation albums of the band. The title is a little pun of my creation. The two featured EPs are sometimes listed together as “The First Two Seven Inches”, so the title is a joke based on that. The bonus features are some goodies that seemed appropriate. There’s some early demos, a live album, and the second half of the live album, which features a different band. Seeing as the different band songs were with the MT ones originally, it was fair to keep them. This set should compile all the non-live recordings from 1980-1982. There may be more live recordings unallocated, but I didn’t care enough to give an in-depth look.

This is a passion of mine and if one person likes what I do, I’ll feel honored. I like suggestions on what artist to cover next, so if you know of one you’d like me to look at, feel free to suggest ‘em!

MINOR THREAT – THE FIRST 2′ 7”

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Filler” (Minor Threat)
2. “I Don’t Wanna Hear It” (Ian MacKaye)
3. “Seeing Red” (Jeff Nelson, Ian MacKaye)
4. “Straight Edge” (Ian MacKaye)
5. “Small Man, Big Mouth” (Ian MacKaye)
6. “Screaming At A Wall” (Ian MacKaye)
7. “Bottled Violence” (Ian MacKaye, Brian Baker)
8. “Understand” (Minor Threat)
9. “Asshole Dub” (Minor Threat)

SIDE B

1. “12XU” (Bruce Gilbert, Graham Lewis)
2. “Stand Up” (Ian MacKaye)
3. “In My Eyes” (Minor Threat)
4. “Out Of Step” (Minor Threat)
5. “Guilty Of Being White” (Ian MacKaye)
6. “Steppin’ Stone” (Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart)
7. “Minor Threat” (Ian MacKaye, Lyle Preslar)

BONUS TRACKS

1. “First Demo Tape – Minor Threat”
2. “First Demo Tape – Stand Up (aka Filler)”
3. “First Demo Tape – Seeing Red (aka I’m Seen’ Red)”
4. “First Demo Tape – Bottled Violence”
5. “First Demo Tape – Small Man, Big Mouth”
6. “First Demo Tape – Straight Edge”
7. “First Demo Tape – Guilty Of Being White”
8. “First Demo Tape – I Don’t Want To Hear It (aka I Don’t Wanna Hear It)”
9. “First Demo Tape – In My Eyes”
10. “NY @ Irving Plaza (15.05.1982) – Straight Edge”
11. “NY @ Irving Plaza (15.05.1982) – Seeing Red”
12. “NY @ Irving Plaza (15.05.1982) – Little Friend”
13. “NY @ Irving Plaza (15.05.1982) – Filler”
14. “NY @ Irving Plaza (15.05.1982) – Small Man, Big Mouth”
15. “NY @ Irving Plaza (15.05.1982) – No Reason”
16. “NY @ Irving Plaza (15.05.1982) – Minor Threat”
17. “NY @ Irving Plaza (15.05.1982) – Stand Up”
18. “NY @ Irving Plaza (15.05.1982) – 12XU”
19. “NY @ Irving Plaza (15.05.1982) – Bottled Violence”
20. “NY @ Irving Plaza (15.05.1982) – Out Of Step”
21. “NY @ Irving Plaza (15.05.1982) – Asshole Dub”
22. “NY @ Irving Plaza (15.05.1982) – Screaming At A Wall”
23. “NY @ Irving Plaza (15.05.1982) – Guilty Of Being White”
24. “NY @ Irving Plaza (15.05.1982) – Steppin’ Stone”
25. “NY @ Irving Plaza (15.05.1982) – In My Eyes”
26. “Youth Brigade – I Object”
27. “Youth Brigade – Full Speed Ahead”
28. “Youth Brigade – Last Word”
29. “Youth Brigade – Waste Of Time”
30. “Youth Brigade – Youth Brigade”
31. “Youth Brigade – Bouncer”
32. “Youth Brigade – Snow Job”
33. “Youth Brigade – Moral Majority”

PERSONNEL

• Ian MacKaye – lead vocals (tracks 1-16)
• Lyle Preslar – guitar (tracks 1-16)
• Brian Baker – bass (tracks 1-16, possibly guitar instead of bass on tracks 8-9)
• Jeff Nelson – drums (tracks 1-16)
• Steve Hansgen – possible bass on tracks 8-9

LINKS

The First 2′ 7” (1981) – Archive.org, Spotify