Over the Edge (Wipers album)

1983 studio album by Wipers

Over the Edge

Studio album by

Wipers

Released| 1983
Recorded| 1982
Genre| Punk rock
Length| 36:26
Label|

* Brain Eater
* Trap

Wipers chronology
| Youth of America
(1981)  | Over the Edge
(1983)  | Wipers
(1985)

|
|

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [1]
The Great Alternative & Indie Discography| 8/10[2]
MusicHound Rock| [3]
OndaRock| 8.5/10[4]
Record Collector| [5]
Spin Alternative Record Guide| 8/10[6]

Over the Edge is the third studio album by American punk rock band Wipers, released in 1983.

Originally released on Brain Eater Records and Greg Sage's label, Trap, in 1983, it was later reissued by Restless Records,[7] and then reissued and remastered on Sage's Zeno Records as part of the Wipers Box Set.

A different recording of "Romeo" was released as a 1982 single on Trap, with "No Solution" on the B-side.

## Reception

[edit]

### Critical reception

[edit]

Over the Edge has received, and continues to receive, critical acclaim like both of its predecessors. The album, Jack Rabid wrote for Trouser Press, "is as appealing [as Youth of America], with some of Sage’s most memorable songs. The thick title track [...], plus the simmering “Doom Town” and the roaring “So Young” define the Wipers’ dense, methodical, chunky aggression, with heavy, cloudy guitar."[8] According to Andy Kellman of AllMusic, the album "is a kind of classic; it might have been created with guitars and drums, and it might have verse-chorus-verse song structures, but it's doubtful that Wipers were allowing any influences to creep into the record." "Despite the fusion of punk and pop," he notes, "the record hardly mirrors the bands that would later be called punk-pop. In fact, this collision of the two elements makes what followed decades later seem twee. There's just too much blood and sweat, and there's too much tightly wound tension released."[1]

In a Pitchfork retrospective on the band, Nick Sylvester wrote that the album "has the needle moving back toward straight-up punk. There are tricks here, but they're under the hood, not as explicitly artsy as what was happening on Youth of America. To me, these are his best songs on nearly every level: concise and immediate but recorded in that contrarian, distinctly Sage-like way. [...] Like the first moments of Is This Real?, Over the Edge leads with a curious, stage-setting guitar tone. [...] [It] has nearly zero low-end information, as if Sage played it out of an alarm clock radio." "This one decision" he concludes, "is at the heart of what makes Over the Edge so beguiling-- immediate songs that sound out of reach."[9] In a perfect score review of the album's reissue, Paul Rigby of Record Collector noted that "this brilliant 1983 album mixes pop and punk in a manner that lifts both genres without diluting either. With a strong, edgy presentation, Over The Edge releases the pressures of life directly into your head, while providing an originality all too often missing from their peers."[5]

### Legacy

[edit]

In 1989, Dutch magazine OOR ranked it the 23rd best album of the 1980s.[10] Along with the band's first two albums Is This Real? and Youth of America, Kurt Cobain listed Over the Edge in his top 50 albums of all time.[11][12] The title track was covered by Hole,[13] Mono Men,[14] Bored!,[15] Red Fang[16] and several others. "Messenger" has been covered by Mazes.[17] J Mascis cites Greg Sage's guitarwork on the album as a foundational influence.[18]

## Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Greg Sage.

No.| Title| Length

|
|

1.| "Over the Edge"| 3:49
2.| "Doom Town"| 3:56
3.| "So Young"| 4:17
4.| "Messenger"| 1:54
5.| "Romeo"| 4:05
6.| "Now Is the Time"| 3:02
7.| "What Is"| 2:19
8.| "No One Wants an Alien"| 3:23
9.| "The Lonely One"| 3:38
10.| "No Generation Gap"| 3:09
11.| "This Time"| 2:54

## References

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1. ^ a b Kellman, Andy. "Over the Edge – Wipers". AllMusic. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
2. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1999). The great alternative & indie discography. ISBN 9780862419134.
3. ^ Rabid, Jack (1996). "Wipers". In Graff, Gary (ed.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (1st ed.). Visible Ink Press. pp. 737–38\. ISBN 978-0-7876-1037-1.
4. ^ "Wipers - biografia, recensioni, streaming, discografia, foto".
5. ^ a b Rigby, Paul (September 2009). "Wipers – Over The Edge". Record Collector (366). Retrieved December 3, 2018.
6. ^ Alden, Grant (1995). "Wipers". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 434–35\. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
7. ^ "TrouserPress.com :: Wipers". www.trouserpress.com.
8. ^ "Wipers". Trouser Press. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
9. ^ "Wipers". Pitchfork. January 16, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
10. ^ "Jaarlijst Oor - de jaren tachtig". www.muzieklijstjes.nl. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
11. ^ Kennedy, Thomas (May 9, 2013). ""Top 50 by Nirvana" Journal // Joyful Noise Recordings". Joyful Noise Recordings. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
12. ^ Cross, Gaar, Gendron, Martens, Yarm (2013). Nirvana: The Complete Illustrated History. p. 166\. ISBN 978-0-7603-4521-4.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
13. ^ "Cover versions of Over the Edge by Hole - SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com.
14. ^ "Cover versions of Over the Edge by Mono Men - SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com.
15. ^ "Cover versions of Over the Edge by Bored! - SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com.
16. ^ "Cover versions of Over the Edge by Red Fang - SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com.
17. ^ "Cover versions of Messenger by Mazes - SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com.
18. ^ Horsley, Jonathan (April 7, 2023). "J Mascis: 10 albums that changed my life – "The Stooges was definitely my guitar sound inspiration. That's still the best sound I've heard for guitar on a recording"". Music Radar. Archived from the original on February 26, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2025.

* v
* t
* e

Wipers

* Greg Sage
* Sam Henry
* Travis McNabb

Albums|

* Is This Real?
* Youth of America
* Over the Edge
* Land of the Lost
* Follow Blind
* The Circle
* Silver Sail
* The Herd
* Power in One

EPs|

* Alien Boy

Compilations|

* Wipers Live
* Wipers Box Set

Singles|

* "Romeo"
* "Silver Sail"

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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