First Demo

First Demo
Demo album by
Fugazi
ReleasedNovember 18, 2014
RecordedJanuary 1988
StudioInner Ear Studios, Dischord House, Arlington, Virginia
GenrePost-hardcore
Length35:41
LabelDischord
ProducerFugazi, Don Zientara
Fugazi chronology
Fugazi Live Series
(2004–present) 		First Demo
(2014)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic79/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
The 4058/10[2]
Allmusic[3]
Clash8/10[4]
Consequence of SoundB+[5]
Exclaim!7/10[6]
The Line of Best Fit7.5/10[7]
musicOMH[8]
NME7/10[9]
OndaRock6.5/10[11]
Pitchfork Media7.6/10[10]

First Demo is a demo album from the post-hardcore band Fugazi released on November 18, 2014 through Dischord Records. It was recorded at Don Zientara's Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, VA and the Dischord House in 1988. It was the band's first studio release in over thirteen years, since the release of The Argument in October 2001. First Demo was released on LP, CD and as a digital download.

Writing and recording

First Demo was recorded in January 1988 with the band having only performed 10 shows together. The album features the 10 tracks from the original demo tape, including "In Defense of Humans", which was released on 1989's State of the Union compilation, "The Word", originally released on 20 Years of Dischord, as well as an additional track from the session, "Turn Off Your Guns", a song previously never released in its studio form and only available through the Fugazi Live Series.[12]

Some songs recorded during these sessions would later be re-recorded and put out on later releases; all but "Furniture", "The Word", "In Defense of Humans", and "Turn Off Your Guns" would be released on future albums within the following five years. Tracks 1, 6, and 9 would be released on the band's first EP and later 13 Songs, "Merchandise" would be released on Repeater, "Break-In", "Song No. 1", and "Joe No. 1" on 3 Songs (later released with Repeater as Repeater + 3 Songs). "Furniture" would take the longest to be released, released on the Furniture EP in 2001.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Fugazi.

No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."Waiting Room"MacKaye3:10
2."Merchandise"MacKaye3:07
3."Furniture"MacKaye4:07
4."Song No. 1"MacKaye3:00
5."The Word"MacKaye4:38
6."Bad Mouth"MacKaye2:54
7."Break-In"Picciotto1:36
8."Turn Off Your Guns"MacKaye3:43
9."And the Same"MacKaye5:08
10."In Defense of Humans"MacKaye2:47
11."Joe No. 1"(instrumental)1:41
Total length:35:41

Personnel

Production

  • Fugazi – producer, recording, engineer, mixing
  • Don Zientara – producer, recording, engineer, mixing

References

  1. ^ "First Demo – Fugazi". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  2. ^ Hannah, Andrew (November 25, 2014). "Fugazi — First Demo". The 405. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  3. ^ Thomas, Fred. "First Demo – Fugazi". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  4. ^ Diver, Mike (November 17, 2014). "Fugazi — First Demo". Clash. Music Republic Ltd. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  5. ^ Bray, Ryan (November 19, 2014). "Fugazi – First Demo". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  6. ^ Pollard, Vincent (November 17, 2014). "Fugazi — First Demo". Exclaim!. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  7. ^ Goggins, Joe (November 19, 2014). "Fugazi — First Demo". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  8. ^ Shepherd, Sam (November 15, 2014). "Fugazi – First Demo". musicOMH. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  9. ^ Pattison, Louis (November 24, 2014). "Fugazi – First Demo". NME. Inspire. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  10. ^ Berman, Stuart (November 21, 2014). "Fugazi: First Demo". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  11. ^ Claudio Lancia. "Fugazi". OndaRock. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  12. ^ "Fugazi Share "Merchandise" from First Demo". Pitchfork. 27 October 2014.