Beyond The Valley Of, 1984 Explicit Lyrics

I am a huge fan of the plasmatics. Wendy O has been my personal hero for many years.

Loved getting this favorite from college in the early 1980’s on CD. Good sound. On this record, the lyrics are really humorous, maybe a bit sophomoric with the sexual innuendo, but clever nonetheless. Although, there’s some serious experience there, such as the song written about Wendy’s run-in with the law the year before. Their sound is noticeably turning a bit more metal than the punkish sound from New Hope For The Wretched (love that title,) and they go fully metal after this, a genre that didn’t interest me. Wendy’s 1984 movie classic Reform School Girls bought me back home to her remarkable penchant for toughness, attitude, humor, and a definite knack for publicity. Still miss her…wish she’d have stayed around for the long haul.

Undeniably Punk, this album opens with a simple bell joined by an organ that immediately called to mind Ozzy Osbourne's "Center of Eternity" from "Bark at the Moon." Not a full song, more a harbinger of things to come, the Incantation only serves to ready you for "Master Plan" one of the all-time fan favorite songs from this band. Special attention should be paid to "Summer Nite" a great tale of romantic tragedy, and the closing track "A Pig is a Pig" which was dedicated to the police offers who brutally beat Wendy and Rod Swenson.All in all, this album is a masterwork that belongs in the collections of punkers and metalheads alike.

This was a defining album for me as a teen in the 1980's. It turned my whole world around to what was the phenomena of Wendy O Williams. She was my SHERO! expressing all that was wrong with the world then (and even today)...her lyrics ring true! She was unique Rocker! REST IN POWER, Wendy!

The second proper album by The Plasmatics was a surging improvement sonically from New Hope for the Wretched. Non-stop touring and the intense scrutiny placed on the band had driven their level of musicianship to a high level, and the sonic force of "Beyond The Valley of 1984" is raw, in your face and uncompromising. But it also is highly professional. What "Valley" really accomplished was to blow all notions that The Plasmatics were a joke band 100% out of the water.While the song-template stayed the same - short snarling verse, hooky chorus, blitzkrieg solo - stayed the same, the music opens up. Songs smash the four minute barrier for the first time, yet remain infectious as ever. "Masterplan" is an incredible combination of punk and speed-metal, and the remake of "Living Dead" was polished enough that it should have been a mainstream rock hit. But radio stations were enamored with the likes of Journey/Styx/Reo Speedwagon at the time, and the threatening imagery of Wendy O Williams scared the bejeesus out of most of 'em.Which is what part of "Valley" addresses. The infamous Milwaukee obscenity bust and beatdown of Wendy (and manager Rod Swenson) put a chill on bookings and seemed to attract Morality Fascists wherever The Plasmatics played. So when the country strains of "A Pig is a Pig" give way to an explosive tirade, there is no mistaking where this song is aimed. The Plasmatics were willing to try everything (even a girl-group death ballad, "Summer Night" with chirpy 50's girl group The Angels 'baby baby-ing" in the background) and didn't care what the consequences were. Like the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" photograph the adorned the original cover (and Stiff Records gatefold sleeve), Plasmatics were iconic, ferocious and uncompromising. There has not been a band like them since, and "Valley" is a terrific document on why they were so exciting.

The record was shipped very well, good packaging. Thanks. The Plasmatics are over the top in your face and a big FU to Pigs of society. RIP WOW

Love Wendy and the Plasmatics! I had this when it was first released but misplaced it somehow. I listened to this and their other cds nonstop for several years! If you like their music, you probably already own it but if you don't, it's a great buy! Go get it!

This is a very powerful, pounding and pumping, thought-provoking Punk Rock album by the Plasmatics that leaves you gasping for more. You will listen to it over and over again, trust me.Just get it already! You know that you want to!