Vs. (Mission of Burma album)

Vs.
Studio album by Mission of Burma
Released	1982
Recorded	Normandy Sound January - April, 1982
Genre	Post-Punk
Length	53:18
Label	Ace of Hearts Rykodisc (CD reissue)
Producer	Richard W. Harte
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Mission of Burma chronology
Signals, Calls and Marches (1981) Vs. (1982) The Horrible Truth About Burma (1985)

Vs. is an album by the post-punk band from Boston, Massachusetts Mission of Burma. It was a fully realized follow-up to their EP Signals, Calls and Marches. It was the only full studio album the band released during the 1980s, as soon afterward they disbanded due to Roger Miller's worsening tinnitus. The album is hailed as one of the classic examples of the post-punk movement and is ranked number 49 on Pitchfork Media's Top 100 Albums of the 1980s. Pitchfork writer Chris Dahlen states, "Boston's finest art-punk trio-plus-tape-guy recorded just one studio full-length, and it's a massive legacy. Assessable not in tunes but in grinding velocity, it's texturally complex and high-energy. Roger Miller's guitar varies from hypnotic repetition on "Trem Two" to sounding like a power line flailing in a pool of rain, while the rhythmic noise divides into shards for Martin Swope's tape manipulations; Miller as vocalist is prone to outbursts and declamations, while Clint Conley sings with his vulnerabilities in barbed wire on his sleeve." [1] Mark Deming of All Music Guide who gave the album 4.5/5 star review writes, "It's daunting to imagine just how far Mission of Burma could have taken its music had Roger Miller's hearing problems not caused the band to break up the following year, but regardless of lost potential, very few American bands from the 1980s released an album as ambitious or as powerful as Vs., and it still sounds like a classic. Rykodisc's remastered 1997 reissue sounds terrific and adds four solid bonus tracks." [2] Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam has stated that the group's 1993 album Vs. was titled as a tribute to the Mission of Burma album.

Track listing

All songs written by Roger Miller except as indicated:

Side one

1. "Secrets" – 3:22
2. "Train" (Clint Conley) – 3:31
3. "Trem Two" – 4:10
4. "New Nails" – 3:00
5. "Dead Pool" (Conley) – 4:05
6. "Learn How" (Peter Prescott) – 3:56

Side two

1. "Mica" (Conley, H. Anderson) – 3:34
2. "Weatherbox" – 3:29
3. "The Ballad of Johnny Burma" – 2:00
4. "Einstein's Day" – 4:34
5. "Fun World" – 3:40
6. "That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate" (Conley) – 2:04

CD reissue bonus tracks

1. "Forget" – 2:59
2. "OK/No Way" – 1:58
3. "Laugh the World Away" – 3:54
4. "Progress" – 3:06

Personnel

• Martin Swope – Tape manipulations, Loops, Percussion
• Clint Conley – Bass, Vocals, Percussion
• Roger Miller – Guitar, Vocals, Piano, Trumpet, Percussion
• Peter Prescott – Drums, Vocals, Percussion