Minor Threat Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Minor Threat was a short-lived hardcore punk band from Washington DC. They have been hugely influential: Critics have called them and their work "iconic", [1] and noted their "groundbreaking" music "has held up better than most of their contemporaries." [1]They and fellow Washington DC residents Bad Brains set the standard for many hardcore punk bands in the 1980s and 1990s. They produced short, often astonishingly fast songs with excellent production quality (then lacking in most punk/alternative rock), and all of which were released on the band's own Dischord Records.
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While in high school, MacKaye had formed a group, The Teen Idles. They intended to record, but broke up before doing so. MacKaye decide to switch from bass guitar to singing, and organized a new group, called Minor Threat, with Idles drummer Jeff Nelson.
Their first singles, "Minor Threat" and "Straight Edge" were released in late 1980 on the group's own record label, Dischord. The group became popular, and toured the United States' east coast.
"Straight Edge" the song later, inadvertently, became "straight edge" the movement. The song promoted abstention from drugs, alcohol, and promiscuous sex. This was a clear break from many earlier bands, who had been silent on these issues or had spoken approvingly of such indulgance. "Standing above alcohol and drugs, and relying instead on the power of one's mind, were the basic tenets of the song; from there, youth embraced and took to even higher extremes the concept of being 'straight-edge.'" [1]
Another Minor Threat song, "Out of Step," further demonstrates the aesthetic: "I don't smoke/I don't drink/I don't fuck/At least I can fucking think/I can't keep up/I'm out of step with the world."
Their song "Gulity of Being White" led to some charges of racism, though MacKaye has strongly denied such intentions, suggesting that some listeners misinterpreted his words. Slayer later covered the song.
Minor Threat broke up in 1983.
Singer Ian MacKaye went on to found Skewbald, Embrace, the obscure Egg Hunt and later Fugazi.
The band's own Dischord Records released material by many bands from the Washington, D.C.-area, such as Rites of Spring, Gray Matter, and Dag Nasty.
This is an Article on Minor Threat. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Minor Threat History
Members
Discography
Releases
Compilations
External links