Reviews:

Well, in my opinion, this is the best hardcore record ever recorded, no question. Energy, emotion, anger at the world, captured and transformed, perfectly, into music. It is unbelievably tight, simple, and powerful -- from the opening chord of Filler to the last "...and that's a promise", there is no letting up. The guitar sound is ideal, the drums are unrelenting, and Ian MacKaye's voice is like the embodiment of all my frustrations about not fitting in. Hardcore before it was a formula.
For months after I first bought the Discography cd in high school, I would come home almost every day and listen to these songs. For me, the first 7" represents their best stuff -- I think the recording quality on In My Eyes is a little flawed, and while Out of Step is relatively more complex and the lyrics a little more sophisticated, it just doesn't hit me like this one does.
-CHRIS

This gets my vote as the best hardcore EP. Minor Threat kept it simple and so tight, with Jeff Nelson's madman drums and Ian's yelling carrying the songs over the top. There's simply no moment on this record that is less than totally intense, and even after hearing them all a million times they give me the same jolt of energy I felt when I was 15 and first heard them.
Life can be shitty and annoying but when I put on this record all I want to do is play some fucking hardcore.
You knew that.
-JEFF