Introducing the Minutemen is a retrospective and relatively comprehensive compilation of songs by influential punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

/alternative

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 trio The Minutemen, compiled by bassist and notable solo artist Mike Watt

Mike Watt

Michael David Watt is an American bassist, singer and songwriter.He is best known for co-founding the rock bands Minutemen, dos, and Firehose; , he is also the bassist for the reunited Stooges and a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan as well as many other post-Minutemen...

 twelve years after the untimely demise of the band. The album is made up of tracks spanning the band's entire career, sampling tracks from all of their studio releases with the exception of the Tour-Spiel

Tour-Spiel

Tour-Spiel is an EP by Minutemen released in 1984. It contained four songs, all covers.-Track listing:# Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love # The Red and the Black # Green River # Lost...

EP and the Black Flag-Minutemen collaboration Minuteflag

Minuteflag

Minuteflag was an experimental jam band collaboration between members of the American punk bands Minutemen and Black Flag. Their only release, an EP, consists almost entirely of instrumentals with the exception of "Fetch The Water" which features D...

. Due to the comprehensive and wide-spanning nature of the collection, it is generally perceived to be an effective introduction to The Minutemen and their music.

The band's landmark breakthrough Double Nickels on the Dime

Double Nickels on the Dime

Double Nickels on the Dime is the third studio album by American punk trio Minutemen, released on the Californian independent record label SST Records in 1984...

donates the most tracks, with seven. The three-song Joy

Joy (EP)

Joy is a three-song seven-inch EP by American hardcore punk band Minutemen. Recorded not long after the release of their first EP Paranoid Time, it was the first release that Minutemen had issued on their own New Alliance Records label in 1981...

EP and the rarities collection The Politics of Time

The Politics of Time

The Politics of Time is the seventh overall release, third album-length release, and first compilation by American hardcore punk band the Minutemen....

both contribute a mere two tracks.

Track listing

1. Definitions
2. Joe McCarthy's Ghost
3. Paranoid Chant
4. Search
5. Punchline
6. Fanatics
7. Straight Jacket
8. Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs
9. Fake Contest
10. Anchor
11. Split Red
12. Life as a Rehearsal
13. Cut
14. Dream Told by Moto
15. I Felt Like a Gringo
16. Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing
17. Maybe Partying Will Help
18. Toadies
19. Corona
20. History Lesson, Pt. 2
21. This Ain't No Picnic
22. King of the Hill
23. Tour-Spiel
24. Price of Paradise
25. Big Stick
26. Courage
27. Spoken Word Piece
28. Just Another Soldier
29. If Reagan Played Disco
30. Case Closed
31. Futurism Restated
32. Joy
33. Black Sheep
34. Badges
35. Party With Me Punker

Musical personnel

• D. Boon
  D. Boon
  d. Boon born Dennes Dale Boon, was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Active between 1978, when he joined The Reactionaries, and 1985, when he was killed in a van accident, Boon was best known as the guitarist and vocalist of the Californian punk rock trio Minutemen.-Youth:Dennes Boon...
  
   - guitar and vocals
• Mike Watt
  Mike Watt
  Michael David Watt is an American bassist, singer and songwriter.He is best known for co-founding the rock bands Minutemen, dos, and Firehose; , he is also the bassist for the reunited Stooges and a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan as well as many other post-Minutemen...
  
   - bass and vocals
• George Hurley
  George Hurley
  George Hurley is a drummer noted for his work with The Minutemen and fIREHOSE.Even though he went to the same high school as D. Boon and Mike Watt he did not meet them until around 1978. That same year, Hurley formed The Reactionaries with Boon, Watt, and Martin Tamburovich...
  
  - drums