Friday 31 January 2014

BAD BRAINS - ROCK FOR LIGHT 1983

I thought I'd start trawling through my vinyl collection to see if 
there was anything that would be suitable to grace this noise filled site 
and got as far a "B" before I pulled this album out which hadn't seen a 
turntable for possibly near on 20 years!

    

It simply exploded through the speakers as the stylus did its stuff and my
speakers wondered what the hell had just happened !! I also pondered as to
why it had taken this long to listen to it again. An absolutely brutal assault
of an album that will please all you hardcore punk fans out there who
may be unfamiliar with this legendary American band. 


The tracks come thick , fast and furious but thoughtfully the band give
us time to gather our collective breath by interspersing the onslaught with 3
excellent chill out dub/reggae tracks....not sure if this is a good thing or not,
as no sooner have you been lulled into a nice mellow groove then without
further delay you are towed along again at 100 mph. Vocals are lightning
fast, but all the words are in there somewhere !! You seriously can't read
the lyrics and keep up with what you are hearing at points. The
instrumentation is full on and very together with very good production
throughout. The album was actually produced by Ric Ocasek who was the
main man in US-style rock band The Cars....if you've ever heard anything by
them ( I seriously DON'T recommend that you do if you haven't !) you may,
like myself, wonder how he came to produce this lot !!



If you are unfamiliar with Bad Brains here's a few bits and pieces to give you a taster...


First up an alarming clip of them from 1982 performing "Banned In DC" 
 ....Would YOU ask the large gentleman in the yellow t-shirt with 
the mohawk to "kindly leave the stage " ??!!
Banned in DC live 82

Next up ...a track from the album



and to further whet your appetite....   



and here's one of the dub/reggae numbers
  


I was lucky enough to see them live at The Astoria in London in 1989
.....they didn't disappoint. 

Right.......off now to continue my search for more long unplayed goodies
festering away in the racks that you might find of interest.

DOUG E DOGG

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