(Punk Rock) The Dictators - Manifest Destiny - 1977, FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

Formed in 1974, N.Y.C.'s Dictators were one of the finest and most influential punk bands to walk the earth. Alternately reveling in and satirizing the wanton excesses of a rock & roll lifestyle and lowbrow culture (e.g., wrestling, TV, fast food), the Dictators, whose worldview was defined by bassist/keyboardist and former fanzine publisher (Teenage Wasteland Gazette) Andy (occasionally Adny) Shernoff and renegade rock critic/theorist Richard Meltzer, played loud, fast rock & roll fueled by a love of '60s American garage rock, British Invasion pop, and the sonic onslaught of the Who. Driven by the guitar barrage of Scott "Top Ten" Kempner and Ross "the Boss" Funichello and fronted by indefatigable ex-roadie and wrestler Handsome Dick Manitoba (aka Richard Blum), it seemed that nothing stood in the way of the Dictators and mega-popularity. But that's not what happened. There were complications with record companies, personnel changes (one-time bassist Mark Mendoza left for Twisted Sister; original drummer Stu Boy King was replaced by Richie Teeter), radio hated them, critical response was lukewarm, and lots of audiences didn't get the jokes; supporters remained loyal and vociferous (especially Meltzer), but it didn't turn into anything tangible. Ironically, what didn't help at all was the rise of the New York punk scene, which only diverted attention away from them and onto bands they influenced (e.g., the Ramones). They did manage to release three fine albums, but after 1978's Bloodbrothers was greeted with public apathy, the group's members began moving in different directions. Kempner put together the Del-Lords and the Little Kings and recorded as a solo act. Ross the Boss spent a few years in the goofy, macho heavy metal band Manowar and later joined Shernoff and Manitoba in the punk/metal combo Manitoba's Wild Kingdom. And Shernoff worked as a producer. However, as Shernoff put it, "the Dictators never broke up. Sure there were occasional gaps of a few years between some shows (we had lives to lead) but deep in our hearts and souls we always knew we were Dictators. We couldn't escape it even when we tried." With this in mind, the band got together to play a handful of shows in 1980, one of which was recorded for the cassette-only album Fuck 'Em If They Can't Take A Joke, which was later reissued as New York, New York. The band hit the road again in 1991, and began heading out on a semi-regular basis after that. In 2001, the Dictators made their abandoned retirement official and recorded a new album, D.F.F.D., which ranked with the band's finest work in the studio. More touring followed, and a live album recorded at two shows in support of D.F.F.D., Viva Dictators!, came out in 2005.

So what do you say about a great band's worst album? After the Dictators often-inspired debut album, The Dictators Go Girl Crazy!, went over the heads of the record-buying public and landed with a thud (punk not having given its blend of oddball humor and big guitars a context just yet), they were dropped by their record label and, after signing with Elektra, played things a bit "safer" with their follow-up, 1977's Manifest Destiny. Songwriter and idea man Andy Shernoff moved from bass to keyboards, with Mark "The Animal" Mendoza picking up the four string and Handsome Dick Manitoba advancing from "secret weapon" to periodic lead vocalist (though Shernoff was still doing most of the singing). And Shernoff toned down his goofball world view and taste for high-energy riffage on several tunes, most on notably half-baked would-be arena rockers "Stepping Out" and "Exposed," and ill-advised heartbroken pop tunes "Sleepin' With the T.V. On" (nowhere near as good as its title) and the ludicrous "Hey Boys." The album's four good songs handily point out just how far wrong the other five went; "Disease" features a hilarious spoken introduction from Manitoba that justifies the album's existence all by its lonesome, and the disc ends with a superb hat trick -- "Science Gone Too Far" and "Young, Fast, Scientific" are stone classic Dictators performances, and the closing cover of the Stooges' "Search and Destroy" is inspired. While the 2004 CD reissue of Manifest Destiny doesn't add any bonus material to the album, at least now you can easily program out the filler and get to the four slabs of top-shelf Dictators lurking among the dross, proving there may be a good reason for digital technology after all.