''Vancouver Complication'' is a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

featuring many influential

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

bands. It was released in 1979 on Pinned Records, and has been reissued a number of times with several different cover designs. Considered one of the most important Canadian punk rock albums, the album was compiled by Grant McDonagh, who would later become one of the founders of

Zulu Records Zulu Records is a Canadian record store and independent record label, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that sells new and used CDs, LPs, 45s, turntables and concert tickets and is currently located at 1972 West 4th Avenue. One of the most famo ...

. Most tracks were recorded at the Sabre Sound studio in Vancouver; for some bands, their contributions to the album were their first and/or only time recording material in a studio."Punk's big family reunion: Joe Keithley celebrates the original Vancouver Complication". ''

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's only ...

'', February 17, 2005.

Reissue

The album was reissued in

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

format in 2005, on

Joe Keithley Joseph Edward "Joey Shithead" Keithley ( né Keighley; June 3, 1956)
is a Canadi ...

Sudden Death Records Sudden Death Records is a Vancouver, British Columbia based record label run by Joe "Shithead" Keithley, frontman of D.O.A. Sudden Death Records arrived in Canada's burgeoning punk scene in 1978. Keithley formed the label to release his D.O.A.' ...

. The CD reissue's liner notes acknowledged that the 1978

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

punk compilation '' The Akron Compilation'' was one of McDonagh's key inspirations for compiling and releasing the album. The CD reissue was marked by a release party at Vancouver's Wise Hall, featuring performances by many of the bands on the compilation. In 2011, Sudden Death Records announced a special project, donating all proceeds from sales of the album during the Christmas retail season to the Vancouver Food Bank.

Critical response

Writing for ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'', Sam Sutherland stated that "a better snapshot of the beginnings of Canada's fertile West Coast punk scene does not exist.""Various: Vancouver Complication"
''

'', May 1, 2005. For

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Ned Raggett noted that some of the bands on the compilation sounded derivative of the more established punk rock scenes in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, but praised other bands with "other less straitjacketed ways around punk inspirations" for producing "lasting winners", and called the overall album "a classic late-'70s punk-era city-scene survey".

Track listing

#"The Marching Song" -

Pointed Sticks Pointed Sticks are a Canadian punk rock/new wave music, new wave band from Vancouver. Originally active from 1978 to 1981, then reuniting to perform in July 2006 through to November 2012. After a three-year hiatus, Pointed Sticks returned to the ...

#"Big Shot" - Exxotone #"Kill, Kill, This Is Pop" -

D.O.A. DOA may refer to: * Dead on arrival * Dead or Alive (disambiguation) Film * ''D.O.A.'' (1949 film), a ''film noir'' * ''D.O.A.'' (1988 film), a remake of the 1949 film * '' D.O.A.: A Rite of Passage'' (1980 film), a documentary on the gene ...

#"Fun While It Lasts" - Active Dog #"Wirehead" - Wasted Lives #"Death to the Sickoids" - Subhumans #"U-J3RK5 Work for Police" -

U-J3RK5 UJ3RK5 (sometimes written as U-J3RK5, and pronounced "''you jerk''" — the five is silent) was a Vancouver-based band from the late 1970s. Their style was post-punk/ new wave, but was more art rock than synth pop. History UJ3RK5 was formed by V ...

#"Rock and Roll Radio" - Private School #"Mindless Aggression" - No Fun #"I Don't Love You" - The Dishrags #"Pork You" - Biz #"Sideways" - Exxotone #"I Hate Music" - The K-Tels #"Nothing Holding You" - Active Dog #"Urban Guerilla" - Subhumans #"New Clientèle" - The Shades #"Quarter to Eight" - Tim Ray and AV #"Naum Gabo" - U-J3RK5 #"I Hate You" - D.O.A. #"Old" - No Fun #" ?25" - ? The 2005 CD reissue included five bonus tracks, taken from the original recording sessions but not included on the original 1979 album: #"Dying In Brooklyn" - Tim Ray & The Druts #"Bullshit" - The Dishrags #"Tits on the Beach" - Rude Norton #"Sea Cruise" - Rude Norton #"Gilligan's Island" - Rude Norton

References

{{reflist Compilation albums by Canadian artists Music of Vancouver 1979 compilation albums Regional music compilation albums Punk rock compilation albums