saw this as part of the show, and indeed, the band presented it as such, even when breaking bottles and rolling in the glass, with the music coming and going. Smear was revealed to be a remarkably talented and fluid player; much later, after Crash's death, critics finally acknowledged his lyrics as poetic art. Crash's vocals had begun to mold themselves around the style of the Screamers' vocalist Tomata DuPlenty. Another strong influence on the band's final sound was Zolar X, a theatrical glam rock band popular in the Los Angeles area c. 1972–1980. Crash and Smear were enthusiastic fans of the band from the pre-Germs days, and the fast tempos and raw guitar tone of (the historically pre-punk) Zolar X were similar to the sound achieved on later Germs recordings. The Germs recorded two singles (with alternate tracks), an album-length demo session, and one full-length LP, (GI), each more focused and powerful than the last. Crash was, despite his erratic behavior, generally regarded as a brilliant lyricist (a contemporary critic described him as "ransacking the dictionary"), and the final line-up of Smear, Doom and Bolles had become a world-class rock ensemble by the recording of (GI), turning in a performance that spurred an LA Weekly reviewer to write, "This album leaves exit wounds". It is considered one of the first hardcore punk records, and has a near-mythic status among punk rock fans. The album was produced by Joan Jett of the Runaways. Some European copies of the album also credited Donny Rose on keyboards (the song "Shut Down" was recorded live in the studio and featured melodic, two-fisted piano). The Germs were featured in Spheeris's documentary film The Decline of Western Civilization along with X, Black Flag, Fear, Circle Jerks, Alice Bag Band, and Catholic Discipline. Following the release of their only studio album, (GI), on Slash Records, the Germs recorded six original songs with producer Jack Nitzsche for the soundtrack to the film, Cruising, starring Al Pacino. Doom wrote one of the songs. Only one of these songs, "Lions Share", ended up on the Columbia soundtrack album. It was featured for approximately one minute in the movie, during a video-booth murder scene in an S&M club. Other songs from this session did not appear until the 1988 bootleg Lion's Share, along with four tracks from their infamous last show at the Starwood. The Cruising sessions were finally released