William_the_Bloody

Suicidal Tendencies

Crossover thrash pioneers and hardcore legends that were mired in controversy in their early years for their alleged ties to Surenos gangs in LA, which of course was reflected in their wardrobe. The band would eventually rise to prominence by riding the thrash metal wave of the late 80's before slowly fading out in the 90's.

Suicidal Tendencies album 1983

My reviews of this band will probably piss everyone off because fans of this band seem to fall heavily into camps. The hardcore fans, reflected in this album, and the metal fans reflected in How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I can't even Smile Today. I have a different take on this band, so I don't fall into either camp, and just go with my musical ear.

This album is remembered for two reasons. One, it was one of the fastest selling hardcore albums of its time, and two, it contains the legendary song Institutionalized, which would be featured in films and numerous video games for years to follow.

All that being said, I don't think the album is all that groundbreaking or legendary. There is...as there always was with this band, some great guitar playing, but overall it fails to produce any real memorable riffs outside of You'll be Sorry, which would be redone years later as the riff for Send Me Your Money...a far better song may I add. So take away Institutionalized and you've got a handful of decent hardcore songs, but nothing to write home about.

**1/2 stars plus a little more.

Institutionalized



Suicide's An Alternative / You'll Be Sorry



Subliminal

William_the_Bloody

Join the Army 1987

This album gets a lot of hate from traditional hardcore and metal fans because it falls right smack in the middle between the two genres, which is the perfect mix for me!

There are various pros and cons to this release. On the pro side you have guitarist Rockey George shredding things up on guitar, and even though there is no knock out punch song like Institutionalized, they come close with tunes like Join The Army, and I Feel Your Pain and I survive. On the con side, there are a lot of filler songs, and the production quality is... not good, but hey this is the world of punk rock. If the $$$s poured into this album were anywhere near How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today, it would have had the potential to be classic material.

***1/2 stars (Be Forewarned: I have soft spot for this album)

I Feel Your Pain And I Survive



Join The Army



Suicidal Maniac



I feel Your Pain and I survive done years later with better production quality

William_the_Bloody

How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today (1988)

This release is usually regarded as the Suicidal Tendencies first official metal album, largely as a result of Rocky George's guitar riffs and solos. All that being said, the album still retains many hardcore elements in its sound, from the backing vocals to the drums to specific guitar parts. Nevertheless, this is where the band began to be defined as metal and started to tour as support for prominent thrash metal acts.

The first thing that really stands out in this album is the production quality... it is superb. Signed to a subsidiary of Sony Records the Suicidal Tendencies now had the financial backing to put out a really good sounding record, which incidentally is why many hardcore fans hate this release, viewing it as a sell out by going metal. Personally I just feel this was the direction the band was heading in as crossover thrash was simply a sign of the times by the late 80's.

Anyhow, since I imagine I pissed off the hardcore fans with my first review, it's now time to piss off the metal fans...equal opportunity I say, for despite all the great production quality put into this album and a worthy opener of a song with Trip at the Brain, this album really falls flat. In short, there are no real killer guitar riffs or hooks that reach out and grab you, and outside of a handful of decent songs your left yawning in the end. For me to give this album 4 stars would mean that it would have to rival thrash metal albums like Metallica's Kill em all, or Slayers Reign in Blood... It simply does not.

*** stars. (for the production quality)

Trip At The Brain

William_the_Bloody

Lights...Camera...Revolution 1990

So this is it, the Suicidal Tendencies classic masterpiece, the album that has forever engraved their name in the history of metal and hardcore, a release that has something that How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today does not, memorable songs that you can play over and over again without wearing them out. These being of course the singles of You Can't Bring Me Down, and Send Me Your Money, but there is more than just these two songs, as tracks like Alone, Go'n Breakdown, and Discos out murders in " keep this album moving along nicely. Although I concede it isn't as equally balanced as the former release, and that it hasn't aged as well as some other thrash metal classics, it remains the benchmark and high point for crossover thrash, a genre that would fade into relative obscurity until its resurrection by bands like Municipal Waste.

**** Stars

You Can't Bring Me Down




Send Me Your Money



Discos out, murders in




So here is where I jump of the suicidal train, as their next album would be more of a lackluster commercial venture into alternative rock before they attempted to save their skins by returning to thrash in their subsequent release, but by then too much time had passed and no one cared, so I think I'll end this on a high note. Next up, a band that helped spearhead the Cali powerviolence/thrashcore movement of the last several years.

Pg 1 Sisters of Mercy (Goth rock)
Pg 2 Blood for Blood (Hardcore)
Pg 3 Gallows (Hardcore)
Pg 3 Smiths (Alternative Rock)
Pg 5 Ceremony (Hardcore)
Pg 5 Violent Femmes (Alternative folk/folk punk)
Pg 6 Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Indie Rock)
Pg 7 Metric (Indie Rock)
Pg 8 Suicidal Tendencies (Crossover Thrash)

William_the_Bloody

Trash Talk

Thrashcore isn't a genre that I would usually get a strong desire to review, but because the band Trash Talk has been making waves over the years, I figure they're worth the listen.

For those who don't know, thrashcore is simply hardcore played slightly faster, so its quite different from thrash metal and other punk genres that utilize heavy metal guitar techniques (grind, crust ect) Its cousin Power violence, is an even faster and more brutal form of thrashcore. Anyways the punk/metal underground is filled with all sorts of **** genres that the general public never hears off, but they all have one thing in common... they're better than Nu metal!

I'm going to skip over Trash Talk's initial self titled ep, as there were limited copies printed and a lot of their songs appear on their next release so...

Walking Disease ep 2007

As far as thrashcore goes this is a pretty good album, though the quality songs are straight up hardcore. After the first three tracks it pretty much becomes you run of the mill thrashcore album with the ep clocking around 9 minutes in length.

*** stars

F.Y.R.A/Worthless Nights



Walking Disease

William_the_Bloody

2008 Trash Talk (self titled)

Trash Talk's first full fledge album, not to pan it, but there isn't really anything worth reviewing here, its straightforward thrashcore bordering on power violence at times, sheer aggression but no real stand out songs.

* 1/2 stars

Well of Souls

William_the_Bloody

So next up we have a serious of small ep's and singles all of which I will skip over, about 2 stars each.

Steel Trap / Trash Talk 2008
Plagues EP 2008
East Of Eden / Son Of A Bitch 2009

after that....

Eyes & Nines album 2010

Their second album running slightly longer this time at approximately 14 minutes. Standard thrashcore, It has the popular song Explode, but other than that there is not much there.

** stars


Sigh...I think I'll wrap up my Trash Talk review prematurely as this band is just not brining me any joy, so I'll leave you with there Awake ep

** stars

Awake



If your digging this more than I am

119 Album 2012
No Peace album 2014


Next up: The sorry state of American hardcore has been really off putting, so I think I'll just hunker down and do a long set of classic British hardcore from the 80's.

Pg 1 Sisters of Mercy (Goth rock)
Pg 2 Blood for Blood (Hardcore)
Pg 3 Gallows (Hardcore)
Pg 3 Smiths (Alternative Rock)
Pg 5 Ceremony (Hardcore)
Pg 5 Violent Femmes (Alternative folk/folk punk)
Pg 6 Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Indie Rock)
Pg 7 Metric (Indie Rock)
Pg 8 Suicidal Tendencies (Crossover Thrash)
Pg 8 Trash talk (Thrashcore)

William_the_Bloody

Discharge

I shall start my set with Discharge as they are typically cited as the godfathers of British hardcore, crust and D beat amongst other things. I did a hardcore countdown over a year ago where I posted a lot of my favourite songs by these types of bands, but this will allow me to revisit things in more detail.

A couple of things to note, although I enjoy writing, I just do this for self therapy, so if a review seems short it is because my words matter not, it is only the music that is important.

Reality of War ep (1980)

Although I am aware of the historical significance of this album that has resulted it being praised by music reviewers as a groundbreaking feat for 1980, it is simply not very good when you compare the ep it to its American hardcore counterparts that predate by two years. (Black Flag: Nervous breakdown 1978, Misfits Bullet 1978) I would recommend these instead for your fledging hardcore kick.

** stars

Society´s Victim

William_the_Bloody

Fight Back ep 1980

Their second ep, 5 songs...most of them are brutally awful including War is no Fairytale, but another glimmer of hope keeps me from panning the ep, I vaguely remember this song, but it starts off with a nice driving bass line, and Tony Bones guitar playing helps out a bit.

** stars

You take part in creating this system

William_the_Bloody

Decontrol 7 inch 1980

Three songs of better production value with a band that seems to be finding their step. Decontrol is a decent single but nothing special, still I'm feeling generous.

**1/2 stars



Why? album 1981

Man if I were on a punk rock forum, I'd be on a collision course with Discharge fans because I really don't think there is anything redeeming about this album, especially when I compare it to what else had already been released, or was to be released in the punk world that year. I could ramble off a dozen or so albums & singles that were better, but what really drives me batty about Discharge's early releases is the redundant chord progressions on many of their songs, da da da da da da da da, dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee and repeat. Nevertheless, it should be noted that I am a big fan of Tony Bones guitar work overall, so an evenly balanced album, but unfortunately nothing stands out.

** stars