''Tales of Terror'' was the first and only full-length self-titled album released by

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

band

Tales of Terror ''Tales of Terror'' is a 1962 American International Pictures horror film in colour and Panavision, produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff, James H. Nicholson, and Roger Corman, who also directed. The screenplay was written by Richard Matheson, and th ...

on September 1, 1984 on the label

CD Presents David Ferguson was an American international outsider-culture impresario, activist, music producer and concert promoter. Over his career, most of which has been spent on the West Coast, he worked with musical acts such as the Avengers, John Ly ...

Background and recording

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

pioneer

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

band

Green River Green River may refer to: Rivers Canada *Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River *Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte *Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...

admired them and recognised Tales of Terror as worthy predecessors by covering one of their songs as a tribute. Local college radio stations would often play their songs, for instance "Over Elvis Worship".

Reception

Al Flipside reviewed ''Tales of Terror'' for '' Flipside'' in 1984. He wrote: "Mid-tempo driving grunge rock that gets pretty chaotic. I really liked their version of "Hound Dog" from the start, but it took me a while to be convinced. There's people that swear by these guys. I'm beginning to see...". ''Kill from the Heart''. Archived from on March 3, 2016.

Tim Yohannan Tim Yohannan (August 15, 1945 – April 3, 1998), also known as Tim Yo, was the founder of ''Maximum Rocknroll'', a radio show and fanzine documenting punk subculture. He also helped in establishing a number of DIY collectives, such as 924 Gilman S ...

also reviewed ''Tales of Terror'' for '' Maximumrocknroll'' in 1984. He wrote: "Totally drunken, power-chord punk rock, folks. It's straight out of The Dead Boys/ Stooges school of intense, fuck-it-all, snarl and self-destruct. These Sacramento's are good at it too. Recommended."

Influence

The album is listed in

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

's '' Journals'' at number 32 in a list of 50 and the song "Chambers of Horror" is in a list of songs. Green River covered the Tales' song "Ozzy" renaming it as "Ozzie" on their 1987 EP '' Dry As a Bone''. Alex Vincent, Green River's drummer, attended high school ( Encina) with Magner, while he was in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

band the Square Cools, for two years before moving to

. In 2008, Seattle band

Mudhoney Mudhoney is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988, following the demise of Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. Orig ...

released '' The Lucky Ones''. The ninth track on this album is titled "Tales of Terror" as another tribute.

Mark Arm Mark Arm (born Mark Thomas McLaughlin; February 21, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the vocalist for the grunge band Mudhoney. His former group, Green River, was one of the first grunge bands, along with Malfunkshun, So ...

, the lead singer of Mudhoney, was also the lead singer for Green River. The

Melvins Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...

covered the song "Romance" for their 2013 covers album ''

Everybody Loves Sausages ''Everybody Loves Sausages'' is an album of cover songs by the Melvins, released on April 30, 2013. In similar fashion to ''The Crybaby'' it features guests on most of the tracks and even features the Melvins Lite on three tracks. Three of th ...

''. Guitarist/frontman Buzz Osbourne has talked about the track and the band in various interviews and stated that it's one of if not the best record to come out of California. Crystal Fairy, a band featuring members of The Melvins,

At The Drive In At the Drive-In was an American post-hardcore band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 1994. The band's most recent line-up consisted of Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals), Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, vocals), Paul Hinojos (bass), Tony Hajjar (drums) ...

and

Le Butcherettes Le Butcherettes is a Mexican garage punk band formed in 2007 in Guadalajara by Teri Gender Bender. History Le Butcherettes was created by vocalist/guitarist Teri Gender Bender, who later recruited drummer Auryn Jolene to form a duo. Their liv ...

, covered the song "Possession", renamed "Posesión", on their self-titled 2017 album.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Pat Stratford, all music composed by Lyon Wong, Trip Bender, Geoff Magner, and Mike Hunter, except where noted. ;Side one ;Cassette bonus track #1 ;Side two ;Cassette bonus track #2 *For the

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...

version one LP track ("Jim") is missing. (songbook was available separately.)

Personnel

Adapted from Discogs.

Tales of Terror

*Geoff Magner –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

(credited as "Dusty Coffin") *Mike Hunter –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, nd Jokes(credited as "Thopper Jaw") *Steve Hunt –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s, backing vocals (credited as "Capt. Trip Mender") * Lyon Wong – guitars, backing vocals (credited as "Luther Storms") *Pat Stratford –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

nd Other Organs(credited as "Rat's Ass")

Production

*Paul Rat –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

*Gary Mankin, Scott Chandler –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

*Gary Hobish –

mastering engineer A mastering engineer is a person skilled in the practice of taking audio (typically musical content) that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distr ...

*Erich Mueller –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

over Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England *Over, Cheshire, England *Over, South Gloucestershire, England * Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England ** Over Bridge *Over, Seevetal, Germany Music Albums * ''Over'' (album), by Pe ...

* Victor Wong – photography ack cover

References

External links

''Maximumrocknroll Archive, Flipside Archive''
{{Authority control 1984 albums Tales of Terror (band) albums Music of the San Francisco Bay Area