Misunderstood, mistreated, underrated, and/or just plain unknown, Greg Sage should be mentioned in the first breaths about trailblazing guitarists and U.S. independent music of the '80s and '90s. Since
forming his band, Wipers, in Portland, Oregon, in the late '70s, Sage has been put through the ringer more than enough to justify his hermetic operating methods and attitude. While most of his devout fans consider it a travesty that his name isn't as well-known as a contemporary like Bob Mould or even an unabashed fan-boy-turned-legend like Kurt Cobain, Sage would likely retort that it's not for the attention that he began making music.
Unlike most other musicians who gain inspiration and motivation from watching their favorite stars revel in popularity and idol worship, Sage's inspiration stemmed more from the joy he got from cutting
records on his own lathe. He has been more than content to remain in the underground, retaining optimum control over his own career while lending production help and support to younger bands that look to him for his guidance. Throughout his lengthy and prolific career, he has downplayed or shunned any attention or recognition given to him, preferring to let the music speak for itself.
Initialized with the intent of being a recording project and not a band in the truest sense, Sage formed
Wipers in 1977 with drummer Sam Henry and bassist Doug Koupal. Sage's original goal was to release 15 records in ten years, free of traditional band aspects like touring and photo shoots. However, he found out early on that being involved with independent labels involved plenty of compromise -- and that independent labels took a great deal of independence away from him, rather than empowering him.
Wipers – Wipers Box Set (Is This Real? - Youth Of America - Over The Edge)
Label: Zeno Records – Z-005
Format: 3 x CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered
Box Set,Compilation
Country: US
Released: 2001
Genre: Rock
Style: New Wave, Punk
MEMBERS
Dave Koupal (tracks: 1-1 to 1-22, 2-2, 2-3, 2-11)
Drums – Brad Naish (tracks: 2-1 to 2-9, 2-11 to 3-18),
Sam Henry (tracks: 1-1 to 1-22)
Written-By, Producer, Engineer, Liner Notes, Guitar, Vocals, Piano – Greg Sage
WIPERS - IS THIS REAL? 1980
The production leaves much to be desired with its tinny-sounding drums, but, fortunately, the negatives don't outweigh the positives on this album. Guitarist/vocalist Greg Sage writes fairly simplistic songs
with power chords, but each melody infects your brain like a fever. Even though Sage is from Oregon, he sings in a New York-style slur not dissimilar to Joey Ramone. Throughout the album, there is a very dark and ominous feel to the material (e.g., "D-7"), but it's made interesting on tracks like "Alien Boy," which changes from 4/4 time to 2/4 time. Sage also has a unique guitar style where he strums chords and lets them sustain into feedback, which creates rich textures in the songs (e.g., "Potential Suicide" and "Don't Know What I Am").
By Stephen Howell
TRAXS
01. Return Of The Rat 2:38
02. Mystery 1:47
03. Up Front 3:04
04. Let's Go Away 1:49
05. Is This Real? 2:39
06. Tragedy 2:01
07. D-7 4:05
08. Potential Suicide 3:34
09. Don't Know What I Am 2:57
10. Window Shop For Love 2:59
11. Wait A Minute 3:04
BONUS TRAXS
12. Born With A Curse 1:48
13. Rebel With A Cause 2:11
14. Misfit 1:36
15. Mystery 1:46
16. Tragedy 2:11
17. Let's Go Away 1:52
18. Is This Real? 2:40
19. Alien Boy 3:23
20. Image Of Man 2:29
21. Telepathic Love 1:32
22. Voices In The Rain 1:22
Find This Album HERE (In an older post)
WIPERS - YOUTH OF AMERICA 1981
A grizzly, furious beast of a 30-minute record, Youth of America saw Greg Sage and his Wipers lengthening some of their material to very unfashionable lengths; many a hardcore punk band of the time could tuck a dozen songs about Reagan and fisticuffs inside the title track alone. Opposed to the
compromised Is This Real?, Youth of America was engineered and recorded in-house; Sage's time spent in a professional setup for the debut LP frustrated him, and the fact that he's gained complete control here makes it seem as if a cork has been pulled from a bottle. The shackles are off and the group's own personality hits full bloom. Vocally, Sage sounds like a sleepless outcast loaded on an unhealthy amount of caffeine, fraught with a magnified level of paranoia and angst that needs immediate purging -- often, his life seems to be depending on it.
"Youth of America" itself is a nightmare locomotive, a ten-minute chug through a persistent rhythm, screeching/careening/wailing guitars, and jarring psychedelic effects. The remaining five songs, which
don't lessen the intensity very much, are solid in their own right and are generally more tuneful than the title track. The version of Youth of America to own is actually located on disc two of the three-disc Wipers Box Set, released in 2001 by Sage on his own label, Zeno. Since it runs at the cost of a single CD, there's no financial risk whatsoever. It's also remastered and corrects the completely bungled track order listed on the Restless edition.
By Andy Kellman
TRAXS
01. No Fair 4:25
02. Youth Of America 10:27
03. Taking Too Long 3:07
04. Can This Be 2:55
05. Pushing The Extreme 3:13
06. When It's Over 6:36
BONUS TRAXS
07. Scared Stiff 2:53
08. Pushing The Extreme 3:11
09. No Fair 4:31
10. When It's Over 6:26
11. Youth Of America 10:26
MP3 @ 320 Size: 136 MB
Flac Size: 423 MB
WIPERS - OVER THE EDGE 1983
A distant cousin of the preceding Youth of America but undoubtedly no less excellent and no less venomous, Over the Edge is a return to the easily digestible song lengths of Is This Real?; however, it
all but leaves that debut in its wake. On the strength of some brave/smart radio stations that decided to play this album's "Romeo" (a propulsive horn-flecked slammer in the vein of "Youth of America"), Wipers solidified their status as a certifiable force in the American underground of the early '80s. Songs like "Messenger" and "What Is" show Greg Sage's increasing skill as a pop songwriter. Despite the fusion of punk and pop, 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. The overload is tempered somewhat on the album's second side. The arrangements are sparse (and there are less guitar fireworks)
when compared to their first-side counterparts, but the level of intensity is hardly sacrificed. Over the Edge 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. The version to own is actually hidden inside Wipers Box Set, which was released by Sage in 2001. While exhaustive at three discs, it shouldn't cost any more than a typical single-disc release. It also sounds better, thanks to a fine remastering job.
By Andy Kellman
TRAXS
01. Over The Edge 3:49
02. Doom Town 3:56
03. So Young 4:17
04. Messenger 1:55
05. Romeo 4:05
06. Now Is The Time 3:02
07. What Is 2:19
08. No One Wants An Alien 3:23
09. The Lonely One 3:38
10. No Generation Gap 3:09
11. This Time 2:54
BONUS TRAXS
12. Mistaken ID 3:05
13. No Solution 2:30
14. Doom Town 3:56
15. The Lonely One 3:37
16. Now Is The Time 3:04
17. Romeo 4:05
18. Our Past Life 1:27
%20-%20Front%20Cover.jpg)
%20-%20Back%20Cover.jpg)
