DOA - War And Peace

  by Daniel Cressey

published: 11 / 7 / 2004

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Review

Buck 65 remarked recently that ‘Rock and Roll Rule No.3’ is to never admit being Canadian. Acknowledging their country of origin doesn’t appear to have caused hardcore punks D.O.A. any problems, however. Since 1978 they have been a permanent presence on the scene. With a political stance, a ‘fuck-you’ attitude and some serious noise, they have influenced bands from both ends of the rock spectrum (from X to the Foo Fighters) for decades. Now Sudden Death records have released this compilation of songs, culled from releases starting in 1978 and running to 2001. It would be a mistake to label these songs ‘hits’ however. D.O.A. don’t do hits, D.O.A. do anthems. 'War and Peace' takes in both sides of this band. ‘Disco Sucks’ and ‘Let’s Wreck the Party’ show them at their out-of-control best – not caring in the slightest if they offend you. But continuing the punk tradition (if that’s not an oxymoron) of left-leaning politics, a selection of their political tracks are included here as well, from 1980’s ‘World War 3’ to 1998’s ‘Death To The Multinationals’ and 2001’s ‘Just Say No To The WTO’. Another highlight is a collaboration with Jello Biafra on ‘That’s Progress’. They may be long in the tooth now for a hardcore band, but this only seems to have given them a chance to make those teeth very, very sharp. As punks in the finest mould there doesn’t seem to be any reason that D.O.A. shouldn’t be going for another 25 years. Surely no band with this amount of energy can every really die?

Track Listing:-

1 Disco Sucks
2 New Age
3 The Enemy
4 The Prisoner
5 World War 3
6 D.O.A.
7 Unknown
8 Waiting For You
9 Fucked Up Ronnie
10 War In The East
11 Liar For Hire
12 War
13 Fuck You
14 General Strike
15 Race Riot
16 Let's Wreck The Party
17 Behind The Smile
18 That's Progress
19 Already Dead
20 Liberation And Execution
21 Overtime
22 Death Of Teh Multinationals
23 Dead Man Tell No Tales
24 We're Drivin' To Hell 'n Back
25 Just Say No To The WTO
26 Mexican Holiday [Bonus Track]