Los Angeles is the debut studio album by American rock band X, released on April 26, 1980, by Slash Records. It was produced by ex-Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek and includes a cover of the 1967 Doors song "Soul Kitchen". Los Angeles placed at No. 16 in The Village Voice's 1980 Pazz & Jop critics' poll. In 2003, the album was ranked No. 286 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 1988, Slash issued Los Angeles and Wild Gift jointly on a single CD. It was reissued by Rhino Records in 2001 with five bonus tracks.

Critical reception

Los Angeles was reviewed very positively from its first release. Ken Tucker wrote in Rolling Stone that it "is a powerful, upsetting work that concludes with a confrontation of the band's own rampaging bitterness and confusion." Robert Christgau of The Village Voice wrote that their outlook and songs "make a smart argument for a desperately stupid scene." AllMusic's retrospective review concluded that the album "is considered by many to be one of punk's all-time finest recordings, and with good reason." For the year of its release, Los Angeles placed at No. 16 on the Christgau-organized Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll. Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn named it one of the ten best albums released between 1977 and 1987. Subsequently, Los Angeles was ranked No. 24 on Rolling Stone's 1989 list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s, and Pitchfork ranked it 91st on its 2002 list of the decade's top 100 albums. The former also ranked it #286 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in 2003, dropping it to #287 in the 2012 update of the list, and to #320 in the 2020 update. In 2012, Slant Magazine placed Los Angeles at No. 98 on its list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s. The title track was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".

In pop culture

Track listing

Personnel

X Additional personnel