Richard Hell Blank Generation CD

Originally Released In 1977, This 12 Track Was Richard Hell's 1St Album.

Richard Hell And The Voidoids: Richard Hell (vocals, electric bass); Robert Quine, Ivan Julian (electric guitar, background vocals); Marc Bell (drums).
Recorded at Plaza Sound and Electric Lady Studios, New York, New York.
Richard Hell was one of the first men on the scene when punk rock first began to emerge in New York City as an early member of both Television and the Heartbreakers (he left both groups before they could record), but his own version of punk wasn't much like anyone else's, and while Hell's debut album, Blank Generation, remains one of the most powerful to come from punk's first wave, anyone expecting a Ramones/Dead Boys-style frontal assault from this set had better readjust their expectations. "Love Comes in Spurts" and "Liar's Beware" proved the Voidoids could play fast and loud when they wanted to, but for the most part this group's formula was much more complicated than that; guitarists Robert Quine and Ivan Julian bounced sharp, edgy patterns off each other that were more about psychological tension than brute force (though Quine's solos suggest a fragile grace beneath the surface of their neo-Beefheart chaos), and while most punk nihilism was of the simplistic "Everything Sucks" variety, Hell was (with the exception of Patti Smith) the most literate and consciously poetic figure in the New York punk scene. While there's little on the album that's friendly or life-affirming, there's a crackling intelligence to songs like "New Pleasure," "Betrayal Takes Two," and "Another World" that confirmed Hell has a truly unique lyrical voice, at once supremely self-confident and dismissive of nearly everything around him (sometimes including himself). Brittle and troubling, but brimming with ideas and musical intelligence, Blank Generation was groundbreaking punk rock that followed no one's template, and today it sounds just as fresh -- and nearly as abrasive -- as it did when it first hit the racks. ~ Mark Deming
BLANK GENERATION is now widely regarded as one of the seminal points in the punk explosion, along with the Sex Pistols' NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS HERE'S THE SEX PISTOLS and The Ramones debut. It is a startling, urgent record filled with the pent-up frustration and nihilistic despair that earmarked the potency of the late '70s punk movement. Former Television member Hell, however, was considerably more well read than the bulk of his punk counterparts, a circumstance that ups the ante on BLANK GENERATION.
The title track has become one of punk's signature tunes, and it certainly seems to embody the entire spirit of the movement in one fell swoop. Although Hell has repeatedly insisted that the title refers to "blank" as in "fill in the...", it was taken literally, and the deep-seated nihilism struck a resounding chord. The Voidoids themselves helped in no small part make BLANK GENERATION a touchstone. Guitar greats Ivan Julian and Robert Quine provide a searing backdrop on the title track, "Love Comes In Spurts," as well as a weirdly straight reading of Sinatra's "All the Way."

Spin (5/01, p.109) - Ranked #12 in Spin's "50 Most Essential Punk Records" - "...This is the classic CBGB jizz-guitar spaz-out..."
Q (5/02 SE, p.138) - Included in Q's "100 Best Punk Albums".
Q (4/00, pp.108,111) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...[Hell] riffs like a decadent Dylan off the warped punk-funk of Robert Quine's guitar....BLANK GENERATION promised a great end."
The Wire (3/00, p.56) - "...Stands up as a song cycle whole - an extended quarrel between rock-as-life-force versus the terminal consolations (junk, nihilism) of retreat."
Melody Maker (2/22/00, p.46) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Smashing 1977-era punk, with the chaotic schizo-babble of 'Love Games In Spurts' - the sound of a nervous breakdown just beginning."
Mojo (Publisher) (3/03, p.76) - Ranked #25 in Mojo's "Top 50 Punk Albums".
Mojo (Publisher) (4/00, p.104) - "...There's no denying the shredding power of BLANK GENERATION....the high points on this album remain unsurpassed in the punk pantheon."