Hitler Bad, Vandals Good

Infobox Album |
Name = Hitler Bad, Vandals Good
Type = Album
Artist = The Vandals


Released = June 23, 1998
Recorded =
Genre = Punk rock
Length = 36:40
Label = Nitro
Producer = Warren Fitzgerald
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:8yavqj4iojaa link] |
Last album = ""
(1996)
This album = "Hitler Bad, Vandals Good"
(1998)
Next album = "Look What I Almost Stepped In..."
(2000)

"Hitler Bad, Vandals Good" is the seventh studio album by the southern California punk rock band The Vandals, released in 1998 by Nitro Records. Much of the album is characterized by the pop-punk music and humorous lyrics for which the band is known, and it became their most popular and commercially successful album to date. While the band has utilized humor as a basis for much of their lyrical content throughout their career, the humor on their previous album "The Quickening" had been rooted heavily in sarcasm and dealt with themes of nihilism and apathy. By comparison, the humor in "Hitler Bad, Vandals Good" is more lighthearted, dealing with subjects such as girlfriends, fast food and hairstyles.

The album contains two cover songs. "Come Out Fighting" was originally performed by fellow southern California punk rock band Pennywise and is dedicated to the memory of Pennywise bassist Jason Matthew Thirsk, who had committed suicide the previous year. "So Long, Farwell" is a Rodgers and Hammerstein song from the musical "The Sound of Music", which has here been re-interpreted using electric guitar, bass and drums as the closing song on the album.

An independent music video was later filmed for the song "My Girlfriend's Dead." Two different videos were released: One features the actual band members and was filmed as part of the Kung Fu Films movie "That Darn Punk" in 2000, while the other is a fan-created animated video that was included on one of Kung Fu Records' DVD releases. The song "An Idea for a Movie" was used in the video game "Aggressive Inline", while "Euro-Barge" was used in "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater".

Track listing

#"People That Are Going to Hell" - 2:14 (Fitzgerald)
#"Café 405" - 2:11 (Freese)
#"My Girlfriend's Dead" - 2:41 (Fitzgerald)
#"I Know, Huh?" - 2:55 (Escalante)
#"Money's Not an Issue" - 3:02 (Fitzgerald)
#"I've Got an Ape Drape" - 3:30 (Escalante)
#"If the Gov't Could Read My Mind" - 2:22(Fitzgerald)
#"Too Much Drama" - 2:47 (Dexter Holland/Escalante/Freese/Fitzgerald)
#"Come Out Fighting" - 2:52 (Jason Matthew Thirsk; originally performed by Pennywise)
#"Euro-Barge" - 1:56 (Freese)
#"F'd Up Girl" - 2:36 (Fitzgerald)
#"An Idea for a Movie" - 2:38 (Escalante)
#"OK" - 2:05 (Quackenbush)
#"So Long, Farewell" - 2:51 (Rodgers and Hammerstein; originally from "The Sound of Music")

Performers

*Dave Quackenbush - vocals
*Warren Fitzgerald - guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
*Joe Escalante - bass, backing vocals
*Josh Freese - drums, cymbals, backing vocals
*Gabe McNair - trombone on "F'd Up Girl"
*Jason Freese - saxophone on "F'd Up Girl"
*Stan Freese - tuba on "I Know, Huh?"
*Adrian Young - bongos on "If the Gov't Could Read My Mind"

Album information

*Record label: Nitro Records
*Recorded at NRG Studios in North Hollywood, California
*Engineered by:
**John Ewing and Scott Mixdorf at NRG Studios in North Hollywood, California with assistance by Elvis
**Craig Neep and Warren Fitgerald at For the Record in Orange, California
**Warren Fitzgerald and Greg Koller at Formula One Studios in La Habra, California
**John Tyree (assistant engineer) at Ocean Way in Hollywood, California
**Jerry Finn at Planet of the Tapes in Los Angeles, California
*Mixed at Ocean Way in Hollywood, California
*All songs copyright 1998 by Puppety Frenchman Music, SEAC except:
**"Café 405" and "Euro-Barge" copyright Slip n Bleed Music, BMI
**"An Idea for a Movie" and "Too Much Drama" copyright Slip n Bleed Music, BMI and Puppety Frenchman Music, SESAC
**"Come Out Fighting" copyright Westbeach Music and Pound Foolish Music, BMI
**"So Long, Farewell" copyright Williamson Music Co., ASCAP
*Produced by Warren Fitzgerald
*Tracks 1, 3, 5, 7 & 11 written by Warren Fitzgerald. Tracks 2 & 10 written by Josh Freese. Tracks 4, 6 & 12 written by Joe Escalante. Track 8 written by Dexter Holland, Joe Escalante, Josh Freese and Warren Fitzgerald. Track 9 written by Jason Matthew Thirsk. Track 13 written by Dave Quackenbush. Track 14 written by Rodgers and Hammerstein.
*Drawings by Warren Fitzgerald
*Design by Mackie Osborne
*Band photo by Lisa Johnson

ong information

All information listed here is derived from song lyrics, album liner notes, and band member interviews and commentary (particularly those in the Vandals DVD "Live at the House of Blues").

*"People That Are Going to Hell" (Warren Fitzgerald)This song tells of the many people in the world who are mean and commit wrongdoings, but says that they will suffer the repercussions of their actions in the afterlife.

*"Café 405" (Josh Freese)The song is about a girl who works at a fast food franchise in the Westminster Mall in Orange County, California, whom the singer has a crush on. Although not mentioned by name, the description of the restaurant in the song's lyrics closely resembles the Hot Dog on a Stick franchise. The number 405 is in reference to the name of the food court at the Westminster Mall, called Café 405.

*"My Girlfriend's Dead" (Warren Fitzgerald)In this song a man is depressed because his girlfriend broke up with him, and instead of talking to people about it he chooses to tell them that she died.

*"I Know, Huh?" (Joe Escalante)The song describes a girl who the singer has a crush on, but the relationship is somewhat awkward because she is from a Hispanic family and he is not. Various factors such as her family and traditions interrupt their time together.

*"Money's Not an Issue" (Warren Fitzgerald)In this song the singer finds $20 under the sofa and decides to treat his girlfriend to an "extravagant" date.

*"I've Got an Ape Drape" (Joe Escalante)This song is about the hairstyle most commonly known as the mullet, in which the hair is worn short in the front and long in the back. The song offers several different names for this hairstyle as it is referred to in different locales.

*"If the Gov't Could Read My Mind" (Warren Fitzgerald)The song deals with a romantic crush. The singer believes in many government conspiracies and cover-ups, but is also infatuated with a girl. He says that therefore the conspiracies don't matter, because if the government was able to read his mind, all they would find are thoughts of her.

*"Too Much Drama" (Dexter Holland, Joe Escalante, Josh Freese, Warren Fitzgerald)This song deals with divorce, as a child in a broken family escapes into the fantasy world of television. He wishes his family could be like those he sees in the idyllic sitcoms he watches. The song was co-written by Dexter Holland of The Offspring, whose album "Americana" (released later that same year) contains the song "Walla Walla" which uses much the same melody and musical structure.

*"Come Out Fighting" (Jason Matthew Thirsk)A cover of a Pennywise song, dedicated to the memory of Jason Matthew Thirsk, the Pennywise bassist who had committed suicide in 1996. Both the Vandals and Pennywise originated in the Huntington and Hermosa Beach areas, and often shared stages together in the early 1990s. Randy Bradbury, who replaced Thirsk in Pennywise, had played in the band Fallen Idols with Vandals singer Dave Quackenbush in the late 1980s. In later years Pennywise drummer Byron McMackin would sometimes act as a fill-in drummer for the Vandals. The song itself is has an anti-suicide message that encourages listeners to deal with their depression and loneliness by talking to family and friends.

*"Euro-Barge" (Josh Freese)The song concerns foreigners who do not share the same concept of "personal space" as Americans do. It drew additional attention to the band when it was included in the soundtrack to the "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" video game.

*"F'd Up Girl" (Warren Fitzgerald)This song deals with a girl who is legally insane, suicidal, and requires lots of medication, so her boyfriend must provide her with constant supervision.

*"An Idea for a Movie" (Joe Escalante)The song tells of several ideas the singer has for movie concepts, all of which seem rather silly.

*"OK" (Dave Quackenbush)An uplifting song stating that even when the day-to-day things get you down, things will be okay in the future.

*"So Long, Farewell" (Rodgers and Hammerstein)A cover of a song from "The Sound of Music", used as a farewell song to close the album.