Bad Brains. Forget about music genres. If there ever was a band that fuses together multiple Rock genres and flips the bird at the status quo simultaneously, it is Bad Brains. When I’m in the mood to listen to a band that plays from the gut, the heart… Bad Brains. Punk Rock, check. Hardcore Punk, check. Reggae, check. Hard Rock, um, check. Some flashes of Thrash? Bad Brains can. Oh, don’t forget about some Funk in the rhythm either… Bad Brains will deliver. Ska and Heavy Metal… it’s been part of Bad Brains diverse musical identity as well. If you are totally new to Bad Brains and all of this sounds confusing, need not worry, Bad Brains is the antidote to stagnant music listening. In other words, you are never going to hear of or find another band like them… and if you do, it would have to be a cover band of Bad Brains, which in the end would never come remotely close to the original.
Since Bad Brains released their debut, self titled album in 1982, there has been untold “flavors of the month” in Heavy, Extreme, Alternative and Punk Music. Since 1982, there has only been one Bad Brains. To span three decades while releasing eight ultra legit studio albums is monument. (Granted, their 2002 release I & I Survived was/is an instrumental dub album, with H.R. not present on vocals. Regardless, it shall always remain as a unique musical representation of/from Bad Brains). Think of it this way, it is easier to span three decades and release fifteen albums, all the while just two or three are justified. As I see and hear it, Bad Brains has accomplished what the Beatles, Ramones, The Who and Led Zeppelin, (to name more than a few), before them already had… an astoundingly identifiable style of music, which sound is impossible to confuse with any other band.
Bad Brains will forever be regarded as a Hardcore Punk originator and rightfully so. Only at the end of the day, what really matters is the overwhelming uniqueness that flows from their songs hot as magma, ultimately creating a cooling down – experience in music listening, which once again gets ramped up from the Bad Brains ride you embark on… a Bad Brains trip never stays the same. Sound cool? Bad Brains is just that. In the sad event you have never listened to Bad Brains, there is still time to redeem your hijacked and commercialized, MTV and/or VH1 soul. I picked the Bad Brains album – Quickness, as my listening choice today. Quickness may not be heralded as the greatest Bad Brains album made, regardless, I am not into any unfair comparisons to their iconic, self titled, debut album either. Quickness is a listen into just how an album can encompass so many great qualities of heavy, hard and at times softer song structure. This fantastic Bad Brains album was, (and always is), a slap to my forehead reminder that a band does not have to sell out sports stadiums and win multiple Grammy Awards, in order to be appreciated and accepted as realistically legendary, genuine, unapologetically diverse and damn right hard & heavy.
Bad Brains – Quickness was released in 1989, on Caroline Records.
Bad Brains – Quickness Track Listing:
Soul Craft
Voyage Into Infinity
The Messengers
With The Quickness
Gene Machine/Don’t Bother Me
Don’t Blow Bubbles
Sheba
Yout’ Juice
No Conditions
Silent Tears
The Prophets Eye
Endtro
The original Bad Brains lineup:
H.R. – lead vocals
Dr. Know – guitar
Darryl Jenifer – bass
Earl Hudson – drums
I am listening to Rancid today, all day. In my house, in my car, it does not matter. Rancid is my band of choice due to the slick and groove saturated Punk Rock style they bestow. They are Street Punk at many turns, yet they are so much from the Old School Punk Rock mold of the Ramones too. Kickin’ and fun, (gasp), did I just use the F word there? In my area today, the weather is miserable – rainy, semi-cold, of course cloudy and dank. What better band for me, than Rancid… to get my energy level back on high and to kick start my day and attitude. I am actually going to settle on one Rancid CD to crank today – …And Out Come The Wolves. The richness and foundation of Rock and Roll 101 is so evident in the Punk Rock of Rancid, especially on this album. My adoration for Rancid grows each and every time I listen to their Punk Rock. Out of the nineteen songs on this album, there is not one to skip over. I apologize to no one for being a rabid Rancid fan. Life is too short, I love the music I listen to – end of Metal story. Uh, not really… Rancid rules.
I just can’t explain it though, there are those certain bands that just make you feel like everything is cool and alright. Rancid is just that band for me. Over the weekend, I just hung up the very large Rancid poster that comes inside their new CD – let the dominoes fall. The front of the poster is the front cover group photo on that CD, (pictured to the left of this paragraph). On the back of the poster are all of the songs lyrics – real cool. I put this poster inside a very large, thick plastic sleeve for protection too. It is hanging up in my Rocked out basement. It serves me right. Plus, my daughters dig Rancid like there is no tomorrow and this poster being hung makes the basement that much more homey for us all. Rancid is a Punk Rock Band that you should give a try, especially those who are sitting on the fence about wanting some Punk Music in their life. The social commentary and relevance of Rancid’s lyrics are entertaining as they are legitimate. In my most honest of Metal opinions, I just cannot resist the damn credibility of Rancid. The overall realness of …And Out Come The Wolves and any of the other Rancid albums overflows. I can’t ever jump onto that dreaded word – Pop, and attach it to this band… never. Rancid is not Pop Punk – period.
A couple of years ago, I purchased All Hallow’s E.P. by AFI… man, this is a cool Horror Punk gem. Released on November 3, 1999, on Nitro Records, this is AFI when they were creating Horror Punk and it is worth every penny I spent on it. A tidy E.P. it is, with four songs that are lathered with quality Horror Punk attitude and speed. Davey Havok on lead vocals sounds vintage, even though it has only been about a decade since this E.P.’s release. Every time I listen to All Hallow’s E.P., I walk away believing Davey Havok was born to sing this style of Punk Rock. I could listen all day to this Horror Punk style of AFI. I have been currently rummaging through my Metal and Punk Music collection, sifting through the spooky titles of both albums and songs and putting them on my daily rotation of music listening. Horror Punk will always stand out when searching for the creepy tunes, All Hallow’s E.P. is an obvious choice. With the Halloween season knocking at my Metal doorstep, rounding up the scary stuff to listen to has become an annual right of Horror passage for me.
Osaka Popstar and the American Legends of Punk are a band I can’t get enough of. Punk Rock that is cool, fun and of course… Rocks, is Osaka Popstar. I bought this self titled CD a while back at a flea market in Berks County, Pennsylvania… for around thirty three cents. Thirty three cents this Osaka Popstar cost me!!! Plus, as a Metal bonus, this CD was still factory sealed!!! How was this CD only thirty three cents you might wonder? The dealer I came across selling CD’s had a “three for a dollar deal” going down at his booth! Not too shabby and quite the find. So, with Autumn upon us, the insects are getting a tad crazy right now… especially those damn yellow jackets. I cannot stand yellow jackets, they either are buzzing around spoiled picnic food, outdoor garbage pails or looking to sting you. By definition alone, the yellow jacket is a predatory wasp!! I had one of these evil yellow jackets sting me in the right arm two weekends ago – for no reason at all. I was sitting down in my backyard, taking a break from some yard clean-up, sipping on a cold beer, then the burning sting sensation hit me! A yellow jacket chose me for it’s sting of the day. That is why I have decided once and for all, to choose Insects to be the Punk Rock song of the day. This song is just plain good Punk Rock fun. My daughters get the biggest kick out of listening to Insects… I do too. The way in which the bugs outside are acting up right now… Insects could very easily be the Punk Rock song of September!
Throughout my travels to antique stores and thrift shops, more often than not, I come across albums and/or CD’s that grab my attention in milliseconds. I usually find the Metal, Punk Rock or Extreme Music that is not in stock at your local Walmart, Best Buy or f.y.e., therefore my journey’s to these eclectic shops are never in vain. Sure, the vast majority of underground and obscure music titles can be had online just about anywhere you look, I am an avid consumer of online purchases this way. However, it is just a tad more cool to actually hunt down or stumble upon a CD of a band that is not on any mainstream or commercial charts… not in the limelight whatsoever… and this band is unique, a definite qualifier for existing in the world of Extreme Music. Please excuse me, if I say that the three dollars I paid to bring home Violent Femmes “Why Do Birds Sing?”, (released in 1991), was a smart move. Three dollars versus the eleven dollars (or more) it would have cost me to buy this CD brand new online… not counting the shipping and tax costs. Used CD? Is there such a thing? Man, a CD really has to be scratched up and bent out of shape for me to consider it used. Besides, I am not that naive to purchase a used CD without inspecting the surface wear of the actual disc itself. Crap, I better get on with the actual music found here, on “Why Do Birds Sing?” and stop this ranting about the science of used CD hunting and purchasing.
Rancid – “let the dominoes fall” took me by surprise as I walked the CD aisles at Target today. Why is this? Well, for one, it was actually there, in stock. Secondly, the humane price of $7.98 was screaming out at me to – buy now! $7.98… that is cheaper than buying two happy meals for my daughters. Talk about value… there are also 19 songs on the new Rancid CD as well. It is a cool treat to finally not get ripped off by the retail CD prices… when I find a great deal, I tell people. The liner notes in this Rancid CD are a bonus – it is a very large Rancid poster (depicting the CD cover of band and logo). This poster is so large, it is suitable for hanging on your wall of choice. (Sorry, I did not take an actual measurement of this poster, take my word for it, it is large). On the backside of the poster you will find all the lyrics to the songs. 
Metal Odyssey > Heavy Metal Music Blog 
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