Fugazi's fourth release, "Steady Diet of Nothing", may still be my favorite. Each Fugazi album has a different flavor but without "Red Medicine" there would be no "End Hits" (somehow when "End Hits" came out it made "Red Medicine" make sense to me - gave it a context). With this album, Fugazi, never ones to repeat themselves, explore a darker, more introspective territory than previous efforts, building on the stylings of songs like "Shut the Door". In my opinion, this is the most satisfying and well-rounded set of songs they ever put out. It's not necessarily instantly appreciable, but it stands up to repeated listens. The production sounds less glitzy than "Repeater" or "In On The Kill Taker" but it really suits the songs, which are all as powerful and varied as anything they've done. "Long Division" has my favorite bass line, "Exit Only" is my favorite opening track, "Steady Diet" is my favorite instrumental, the climaxes of "Reclamation", "KYEO" and "Latin Roots" still knock me out, awesome lyrics and vocal performances as usual and so on. In my opinion this album is their best and listening to it always make me wonder how the hell they did it. Also, Brendan Canty is in my list of top ten rock and roll drummers.

You know, I don't know why everyone dislikes this album so much. Sure, the production could've been better - cut them some slack, this was their first attempt at self-production - and "Reclamation" and "Dear Justice Letter" aren't up to par with Fugazi's other tunes, but this is an overall good cd.

Highlights include "Exit Only", "KYEO", "Runaway Return", "Long Division", "Latin Roots" and the title track. Though not quite as good as "In on the Killtaker" or "Red Medecine", this is a worthy addition to the Fugazi catalogue and I highly recommend it.

Other reviewers have said that "Steady Diet..." is perhaps Fugazi's most cohesive effort. They would be right, if by cohesive they meant stagnant. Yes, that's right; this album, though a solid rock album, is definitely no stand-out of Fugazi's. Sure, there are good songs on here, and the band does tackle the subjects of women's rights ("Reclamation") and war ("K.Y.E.O."), but these simply do not stack up to classics like "Merchandise" and "Suggestion". A song like "Nice New Outfit" simply does not contain the enthusiasm of a song like "Bulldog Front"; while both were indeed written about the same topic, the former seems like it was simply being made to emulate the latter, with the end result being that "Nice New Outfit" falls tragically short.

A good album nonetheless.

although a good Fugazi record, this one struggles to find it's step. the production sounds really flat and boring to me. nothing pops out. everything just sort of lies in this grey audio mass that never moves. given a proper production, some of these songs could have really come to life. Fugazi is beginning to experiment a bit in the song structures and musical ideas on this record; and it's a progression that doesn't come accross as fully developed yet. "Reclamation" has some nice lines in it, but is marred by uninspired guitar noise that doesn't lift up the song, but merely drags it along from verse to verse. and "Dear Justice Letter" has some strong political statements (which is rare for Fugazi to sing about such things in literal language); but the song's momentum seems to never really take off. the band tries a semi quiet song (as in, no distorted guitar) with "Long Division" and it's a nice tune and a sign of what's to come on future albums. "Steady Diet Of Nothing" works well with songs like the quirky "Stacks" and "Nice New Outfit" which sounds like it could have been written at the same time as the Repeater sessions. not a bad record...but def. not the one i would recommend to newcomers.

My opinion of this Album may be colored by the fact that it was the first one i got by the band in question. First impressions and all. I think is their high-water mark, their best score... But...

Here's a way of handling this quandary, or illustrating my take on it- I have burned a two CD set of Fugazi tunes- a running/lifting/driving set, my fave songs from their (currently)8 running CDs. Not one song from 'Steady Diet,' is included...

I think this one stands by its own virtues. And I don't like the way the songs go when they're removed from the context of the album- everything just flows together- drives into each other. A perfect album. So perfect in fact, that removing songs to other contexts (a running mix) makes them weaker. Perhaps that actually works against these songs- the album is so strong on its own virtues, it makes the songs less effective, song for song, pound for pound...

Every other Fugazi album has a number of great tunes, usually 3-5 per album, and some good ones and a couple filler tracks ('In on the Kill Taker' being a notable exception- beyond the first two incredible and incendiary songs the album is nigh-unlistenable). But 'Steady Diet,' is just a phenomenally badass work that not only pushes through the limits of the genre- it's a damn fine rock album in and of itself.

All just my opinion. But if you're looking for a good jumping in point for Fugazi- this was mine and i haven't regretted one damn second!