Great album, somewhat disappointed
This is a good album, but I was expecting the two bonus tracks and it came rather late so I gave a 4 star. I really wanted Gimme The Car but IT IS NOT ON THE LP release. You should be aware if you are purchasing this on vinyl! This does not have Ugly and Gimme The Car.
All in all, this is probably the best album of the 80s. Gano's angsty lyrics are the teenage soundtrack but he expresses his frustration so much better than the screamo bands of today. Fall Out Boy, Paramore, HIM you know I'm talking about you!

What can I do? I fall down dead. She'll never see the tears I cry.
Growing up in the Minneapolis bar and music scene in the 1980s, I thought the only good thing that could come out of Wisconsin was Interstate 94. How wrong I was.

The Violent Femmes hit the Prince-saturated live music scene here like a plate of steaming-hot cheese nachos and a Pabst Blue Ribbon. Gordon Gano came from a place and a time where if your girlfriend dumped you, you could get drunk, get high, have a neurotic fit, and not hurt anybody but yourself. Actually, their music is the soundtrack for that kind of activity.

Other reviews complain that the Femmes could never top this album. Then, again, I think few bands could. Remember, the Femmes have put up four genuine rock and roll anthems like "Add it Up", "Blister in the sun", "Gone Daddy Gone", and "American Music".

Let's not criticize the perfection of the first album in light of the imperfections of the following works.

This is a must-buy collection of indigenous American folk-punk. I am pleased to see from all the reviews that it has found it's rightful place in American music history. Even if it did come from Wisconsin.

An 80's Classic
I don't know of anyone who grew up in the 80's and hasn't heard this CD - it's a classic, pure and simple.

Good Feeling
Once again, another great record that I was turned on to in the mid 80's by a great college radio station. Easily the best of their records this quirky little oddity was one of the best albums of the 80's and is a classic example of what alternative used to mean - under produced and unique. The tacked on CD songs don't add much - Good Feeling is where this record really ends and rightly so. Listening to this record in the years since high school always briefly takes me back to that place but the catchy greatness of this album imprints it in the present as well. I have no other way of defining the qualities of a great recording.

What makes this album great. . .
. . .is the fact that these guys are amazing songwriters and instrumentalists. At a glance, I didn't see anyone talking about that here so I felt compelled to bring it up.

To some, the tone of this album is a turn-off. But it's just not overproduced. What I love about it is that you can HEAR the instruments as if the band was in the room with you. There are no dramatic arrangements to cloud the water. It is pure music, served without garnish for your enjoyment.

This collection of songs will remain in the High Canon of American music for generations to come.