So why is The Murder City Devils’ In Name and Blood on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
I’ve always been a sucker for a great, carnivalesque organ thrown against rock music. I like a carnivalesque organ just fine on its own too, sure; but if you hear an organ at a carnival, would you just call it organ music?” But I digress.
I’m sure I first heard Ray Manzarek’s devilishly dark blues meets classically trained organ on The Doors’ “Break on Through” at precisely the right age for it. From there, music of its ilk was forthwith hardwired in my musical pleasure center.
Which brings us to The Murder City Devils’ In Name and Blood, which on many of its tracks pits a spooky-cool, carnivalesque organ against very Misfits-ish dirty, fast-paced hardcore punk. And then throw in a dusting of influences ranging from Alice Cooper to The Transplants for good measure. The result is pretty great.
I’d say The Murder City Devils’ influences include The Doors for the fundamentals, as mentioned above, and then Alice Cooper, The Transplants, Rancid, The Misfits, and Graham Day & The Gaolers. Good group to be in!
“Press Gang” is a great example of the band’s sound, delightfully dark and spooky with a slow, trudgy hardcore punk vibe that works really well. And that organ, whoo!
“Run to Whiskey” takes that vibe and throws in a little Graham Day & The Gaolers’ (hard drinking) flavor.
And I’m getting a little Rancid sprinkled over the top on “Bunkhouse.”
Some stats & info about The Murder City Devils – In Name and Blood
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Hardcore Punk, Punk, Punk Rock, Hard Rock, Garage Punk, Seattle Bands
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was In Name and Blood released? 2000
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #904 out of 1,000
The Murder City Devils’ In Name and Blood on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from The Murder City Devils’ In Name and Blood that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
I can see him from my window, they can see him from the water.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective take on what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.