Minor Threat was one of the
original innovators of
hardcore and easily one of the most
brilliant of the genre (alongside such contemporaries as
Bad Brains and
Gorilla Biscuits, and that's not even including
west coast hardcore at the time, with such standouts as
Black Flag,
Dead Kennedys, and the
Circle Jerks). Although it's often said that
Bad Brains invented
hardcore,
Minor Threat did a great job of refining the
burgeoning genre and altering it to fit their own purposes, as many HC bands of the time did.
Bad Brains merged a
high-speed punk sound with
reggae influence and
rastafarian sounds, and
Gorilla Biscuits gave the genre a dose of
metal.
Minor Threat always had a
pure, fast punk sound. They played songs with
extremely fast guitar progressions,
bass lines, and explosively
fast drum beats.
To go along with their
endless fury and
unrelenting energy were some very
intelligent and insightful lyrics by the charismatic
Ian MacKaye. His work with Minor Threat is best remembered for single-handedly
inventing the
straight-edge movement with the song of the same name, a
45 second blast of light-speed hardcore with lyrics rejecting
drug abuse. Since then
Ian has refused to associate himself with the
straight-edge movement, which has unfortunately become, with exceptions, a
cult of dogmatic and intolerant youngsters who are sometimes even
prone to violence.
Minor Threat released a few
explosive and powerful records in the
early / mid 80s. These are all collected on the
utterly flawless and
totally essential Complete Discography CD. They include classics like "
Minor Threat", "
Bottled Violence", "
Out of Step", and of course "
Straight Edge" as well as great covers like the incendiary version of
Wire's "
12XU" and The Monkees "
Stepping Stone." I highly recommend that everyone pick this up if you haven't, it's one of the most energetic,
brutally insightful and
influential hardcore punk music ever made.