Ranking the Albums: Fu Manchu 

“I challenge you to drive the speed limit when listening to this album.“ Yeah that about sums it up. Fantastic band 🤘

The great thing about FM is that they don't just ride one riff throughout the whole song; they'll introduce one or two new killer riffs midway or even take the song in an entirely different direction.

Yes!!! Love Fu Manchu great to see you have heard how cool this band is Pete. Asked you about them a few years ago and you said you knew of them but hadn’t really listened to them much. Anyone who loves heavy fuzz type music every album is so good and each brings a different and killer sound. Scott Hill’s voice is so cool and unique. Loved hearing Jim and Craig as well talking about their love for this band

The Fu are one of the most underrated bands on the planet. In Search Of would be my #1.

Pete, the Ranking the Albums episodes are always a great watch but the addition of Jim Bacchi and Craig Kaminski increased the quality based on Craig's long-time history with the band and Jim's experience as a musician and how he hears/enjoys music. Not familiar with this band but streaming King Of The Road at the moment and will be giving some listening time to various albums mentioned by all of you. Thanks to each of the three for your time and sharing your fondness of the band.

I had picked up a couple of their albums in the late 90s. Action is Go and King of the Road and California Crossing, played the a few times and didn't really play them much after that. Bt, about five back started to get back into them and the albums really took off for me, so much that I gathered as much of the catalogue as I could get. And also, what a killer live band. I'll just pick a top five today 1. King of the Road 2. California Crossing 3. Action is Go 4. In Search of... 5 Clone of the Universe They have always had great tone, but the overall production on Clone is just quality, the guitars are just epic sounding. And the title track riff is just sublime

I knew the Fu Manchu guys back in the day, specifically was friends with Eddie Glass and the og drummer Ruben, my friend Catherine Enny was managing Fu along with Kyuss early on and I’d see them play constantly all over LA in the early-mid 90’s around the time of the first three Lps up until when Eddie and Ruben left to form Nebula, wasn’t as into Fu Manchu after they left. Those first three records are classic early So. Cal stoner rock at it’s finest

One of my favorites - If it ain’t broke don’t fix it! They’re kinda like the Ramones with vans and surf shirts instead of leather jackets

These ranking videos are even greater when you get one or two SoT collaborators to join you. I hugely enjoy the contrasting opinions, insights and back and forth. Thanks 👍🏻

Excellent ranking by all three of you!! Living in So Cal, I've seen Fu many times throughout the years and they kill it every time. Amazing band.

Ahh...what a treat! Jim and Craig are 2 of my faves from Pete's bevy of "critiqueing heads" and of course FuMan too! LOVE THEM TO DEATH---the kings of Vans(shoes), vans(custom), and Trans(Ams)! Fvcking great show! Enjoyed every second of it.

Love this band. It's way too hard to do a full ranking for me, but my top three (as of today) are: 3) In Search Of... 2) King Of The Road 1) The Action Is Go I've always hoped that they would someday cover "All Fired Up" by Fastway. :) Thanks for the video, guys!

I used to listen to Fu Manchu, Kyuss,Hermano and The Atomic Bitchwax a lot several years ago.

" It's time to release the Hatch !! " Saturn III.

A band I dug then let slip between the cracks. Really cool band as they're so heavy but don't get bogged down, plus bonus points as they're kind of funny! Great to have Chris and Jim (who restored a van!) here, thanks guys! Viva urethane wheels!

Killer band been a fan since late 90s. Thanks for the ranking. Glad to see them get their due. Top 5 In Search Of... King of the Road The Action Is Go Signs of Infinite Power Daredevil

I’m pretty new to FM in the last couple of years but I love listening to them while running. They’ve helped me through some tough workouts.

Great ranking guys, I love the expertise and enthusiasm Craig and Jim brought to it. I only own "The Action Is Go" so now I`ve got some direction as to where to head next.

Great Show

Nebula is great band over Fuman. Love their adversaries ; Earthless , Harsh Toke, Wo Fat , Electric Wizard , YOB , BongZilla , Weedpecker , Windhand , Cortez , Black Mountain. Lot's to catchup Stoner's ?

Finally Bacchi is back ! ;-)

Great to have some Fu Flashbacks watching this! Well done, nice, educated retrospective

Fu Manchu and Brandt Bjork both rock.

My favorite music channel ranks the albums of my favorite band!! Great episode as always from SoT. I echo the sentiments that is very difficult to rank these albums, for me it would really depend on the day. Glad that you finally got the chance to dive into their music, Pete!

Awesome ranking, folks! :) To me, Scott Hill's vocals remind Matthew McConaughey when he played David Wooderson in Dazed and Confused. "Alright, alright, alriiight..." :)

Good show thank you for covering Fu Manchu. I I really dug the show because it had a West Coast vibe laid back.

Thanks for doing this! I love Fu Manchu, especially their live shows!

My favorite stoner band! I never get tired of these guys. Hard to rank because 90% of the albums could be No. 1. Only a few I'm not crazy about. 1. In Search of... 2. Daredevil 3. The Action is Go 4. King of the Road 5. Signs of Infinite Power 6. California Crossing 7. Gigantoid 8. Godzilla's/Eatin' Dust 9. Clone of the Universe 10. No One Rides for Free 11. We Must Obey - still carrying some of the punk sound of Start the Machine. I never liked "Moving in Stereo" by the Cars and don't like this cover version. Should have been at the end of the album as a bonus track. 12. Start the Machine - too much on here sounds like punk rock, lacking the killer riffs Other: didn't rank these as they're not studio albums but they're still good - "Go for It Live!" and "Return to Earth" (compilation of early singles)

Pete never heard FuManch until this fkking year?! What DA?!?!

I will spin a couple of your guys no 1 picks today. Thanks guys. Jim/ Craig/ Pete. Learned a lot. Much enjoyed 👍💯

Way late on watching this but, back in the 90s when I tried to describe this band to people my go to was, They're kind of like 70s Black Sabbath with Ace Frehley on Vocals. I enjoyed listening to you guys discuss who Scott Hill's vocals remind you of.

Great band. Love all their albums.

Great show 🎸

Great band, love most of their albums. Was fun listening to you guys kinda just riff about bands at the end of the video, For Jim, hey I was at the Brant Bjork show at Transplants Brewery in Palmdale CA. Great show, and Fatso Jetson was outstanding as well. Was cool watching Mario Lalli play with his band Fatso Jetson and then stay on stage to play with Brant Bjork.

No/Know gear snobbery! Squiers and Epiphones slay with the best...rich lawyers and doctors can keep all the rest! Let's go on a raid--they were made to be played!!! (All in good fun, tongue in cheek by the ton!) Such a fun episode. Made my Sunday--and may bleed into Monday!

Notice how many FM lyrics involve a "plan"...

It's a tough call but the middle era would be my favourite and I really love the newer stuff too. 1. Action is go 2. King of the road 3. In search of 4. California crossing 5. Godzillas Eatin dust I really dig we must obey and really love sensei v's sensei. Fu Manchu have a lot of gears and I love the slower stuff with the delays in and vocal effects. Fu Manchu best band ever IMO

Hi Pete, I like your rankings. It inspired me to listen to lots of new bands. Can you please rank Lillian Axe?

Ranking Fu Manchu? Well, I like Boris Karloff but Christopher Lee is the best. ;)

Such a cool band! Been a fan for a long time now. They are kind of like old proto metal like Budgie/Sabbath/Blue Cheer mixed with hardcore like Damaged era Black Flag and desert stoner rock. I love ther whole aesthetic-the classic cars, skateboards and surfing Dog Town thing. Total riff masters. A bit like AC/DC and the Ramones…one trick that works really well so no need to change it up much…and that makes it really tough to rank the catalogue. My top 5 are probably ….In Search Of, King Of Of The Road, The Action is Go, California Crossing and Daredevil

The band you're thinking of at the end is Sun and Sail Club (with Bob from Fu Manchu!)

In Search of is my favorite, I don't think they were the same after the Nebula guys split.

When welcome to sky valley came out this was the start for me as a stoner rock fan. Before i had some saint vitus and obsessed albums so i know the fuzz sound. But when i heard the in search of album when it came out i know this is the sound i was searching for. That's the reason why this album is my number one. Of course i like the albums before this one and also the new stuff. My number 2 is the action is go, third is king of the road. I like the eatin' dust ep because of the gritty sound. But ranking all the others is for me impossible. Man i love the first album and the daredevil album. I think that the track king of the road is one of the most ass kicking stoner songs ever and i agree that thinking out loud has to be a hit in a perfect world. I'm happy that i have seen them so many times live in the 90's here in germany. And i'm a lucky bastard that i have many singels on vinyl from them. Cheers to you

1) King of the Road 2) In Search of… 3) The Action Is Go 4) No One Rides for Free 5) California Crossing 6) Daredevil 7) Godzilla’s/Eatin’ Dust 8) Gigantoid 9) We Must Obey 10) Signs of Infinite Power 11) Clone of the Universe 12) Start the Machine

In the last 10 yrs I've driven 85 mi 3 different times to see them live. Last time they played my city was 2008.

Anyone else know Jim from his cool band Tikiyaki Orchestra ?

Came in on in search of so it's still my favorite, falcon has landed my favorite track, but like you guy's said there all killer.

Come on Pete, "Mongoose" is the business no matter which version. Tons of cowbell.

The first album is the only one with songs about chicks, pretty amazing for a California surf/skateboard/car culture band!

“Punk meets Sabbath” Check out Virulence - the band that would later become Fu Manchu.

1. In search of 2. King of the road 3. Action is go 4. Dare devil 5. We must obey

Cyclone launch. Heavy, smokin’ guitar work/solo. Module overload super heavy. Middle to end of song is totally Sabbath where the tempo slows down.

"Mongoose" all by itself puts California Crossing in the Top 3

thanks craig i knew this was your idea and really like your taste in music besides your a eagle fan

California Crossing 🤘👍

Would you be willing to do a Suzi Quatro album ranking, or maybe a top 10?

Daredevil would definitely be my #1

I've been aware of this band forever but never got around to listening to them. Im sure they were on SST records at some point that's how I know the name. 4:49

nice video...

If you don't know... you cannof go wrong with The Action is Go and King of Road. And everything else is good sides. Yeah, I dig the older shit, but it hasn't aged as well in 30 years. California Crossing is the weathervane... if you don't like it... FM is probably not your thing.

Random commenters ranking 12. Daredevil 11. Signs of Infinite Power 10. In Search of... 9. Start the Machine 8. No One Rides for Free 7. California Crossing 6. The Action is Go 5. We Must Obey 4. Clone of the Universe 3. King of the Road 2. Eatin' Dust 1. Gigantoid Sorry to anyone who deems this list blasphemous , I'm just not into their old sound.

Never heard of them. I thought that was some ancient Japanese emperor or dictator.

IMO all of their studio albums are kinda hit-and-miss. So for me, their only really excellent album is "Go for it...Live!", which is really a greatest hits compilation of their golden era. Not only that, but each song on there blows its album version easily out of the water, thanks in no small part to Scott Reeder, who is a far more proficient drummer than either Brant Bjork or Ruben Romano.

Only got a few albums by Fu Manchu. Got given some copy discs.......SORRY!! Then only last month I tried to get my favourite of theirs on cd from Oxfam website over here in England. It landed through my door and I was exited as fuck. Turned out the whole thing was a copy disc, liner/ insert..... whole bit was fake........and the m3 file I'd had for years sounded better than my 'new' cd!!!!@ Live n learn hey!!!

I wished they had a better singer. Check them out in the early 90s after kyuss stopped operating. Love the music but can’t stand the singing 😢

Queens of the Stone Age >>Fu Manchu.