It isn’t unusual for a band to change its thematic sound over a period of time, whether through a desire to ‘keep up with the times’ or by a gradual build of the band’s members to move in that direction. Any number of bands for instance made changes to their core sound as they moved from the 1980’s into the 1990’s and made a change to remain hip and relevant, most without success. The band Suicidal Tendencies definitely changed the way they were making music by the time they reached the point of making their third studio album during 1988. Their debut album five years earlier had been a hardcore punk release, utilising all of the core elements of that genre of music and making a mark as a result. Their follow up album didn’t appear for four more years, and with the addition of Rocky George on guitar. This album, “Join the Army”, had begun the change in the band’s sound, dialling back the outright hardcore punk sound to include a more crossover theme beginning to involved a metal sound, something that had a lot of their long term fans less than happy with the results. There was less of the punk antics and screaming from vocalist Mike Muir and a more songwriting-centric feel about the songs, something that began to find new fans as the older fans found disillusionment.
Despite this, more changes were afoot as the band came off the road and began to prepare for their new album, “How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can’t Even Smile Today”. Muir had joined the speed metal band No Mercy as well, who released one album before the other members apart from band leader Mike Clark departed. Rather than continue on, Muir, who was becoming more excited about heading down a more metal path than the band’s previous punk ideals, recruited Clark to join Suicidal Tendencies as the guitar partner for Rocky George, who had already shown his metal influences in his writing on the “Join the Army” album. This then resulted in original bass guitarist Louiche Mayorga being moved on, as he was trying to keep the band’s original punk influences in the songs against the flow of the torrent that was coming against him. Clark took on the majority of the band’s songwriting for the new album, with his speed metal leanings becoming the dominating factor along with Rocky George’s electrifying solos. The term ‘crossover thrash’ probably wasn’t coined solely for Suicidal Tendencies in this era of the band, but it certainly tied in nicely to the sound that was about to be released on their 3rd album.
Even for the era that this was released, it was a pretty impressive upgrade in the music that the band had produced on their previous two releases. It isn’t a genuine thrash metal album, and there is very little of the band’s initial punk influences here either. But in a combination of the two styles, Suicidal Tendencies have created an album that meshes two high velocity genres into something that transcends both. The more complex writing and guitaring paths, along with timing changes that create this new collective, are a winner. Mike Clark’s introduction to the band as a co-writer on the majority of the tracks with Mike Muir is superb, and with the writing allowing for a better use of Rocky George and his soling. By creating places within the songs for him to freeform in that way, it highlights the points of difference from the band’s earlier material and allows this to be an album that breaks their mould and begin looking over the horizon to the future.
The album opens with the mind-blowing “Trip at the Brain”, the first single from the album and whose music video was a favourite on all music videos shows. There’s a bit of everything on this track, from the punk to thrash to rapping-like vocals in the middle of the song. It has always been a fan favourite and is still great fun to listen to. “Hearing Voices” follows this and does so in great style, again raging against the warriors and featuring great heavy music at a pleasing pace reminiscent of that speed metal that Mike brings to the album in his writing. Then comes “Pledge Your Allegiance”, which incorporates the chants that crowds would give to the band at their live shows, and encapsulates them in a song that gives the crowd their opportunity to be a part of the band.
The title track progresses from the serene-like beginning of the song to the hard core lyrical crowd chanting of the chorus, and then highlighted by the amazing solo section in the middle of the song that screams all of the best aspects of the thrash metal template. That middle section is one of my favourite parts of the album, as both Rocky and Mike left fly in a cacophony of guitars that has even well-past-middle-age fans jumping around. “The Miracle” again melds the past and present, a song that has a real thrash metal edge to it but is sung and played in a hardcore punk style of yore, before expanding itself into a progressive thrash-type middle section, and then crashing back into the high speed hard core back third of the song. Just awesome. “Suicyco Mania” repeats the thrash crossover style, at a faster and harder pace that is summed up in the title of the song.
“Surf and Slam” is an amazing revival from the 60’s surfing sound, a song that perfectly encapsulates the surf rock sound that bands like The Atlantics used in their music, and upgrades it markedly to the present day. Without the use or need of lyrics apart from a couple of chanted lines, this song is engaging to the skate/punk tribalism that the band first attracted, and puts the foot down to increase that feeling. It’s a great song that nicely merges the past and present of Suicidal Tendencies.
The closing four songs on the album don’t let up in intensity. “If I Don’t Wake Up” is a great song dominated by Rocky’s lead through the middle of the song and a great riff-and-drum based rhythm through most of the track, with Mike Muir wonderfully on song with his vocals. “Sorry” is one of the best, fast paced apology songs ever written. Power metal bands would make a cock up of this kind of track and make it into a power ballad, but here Rocky and Mike just go faster and harder and allow the apology of the track to be utilised as a headbanging song. Perfect if you ever need to express your regret at some time in life. “One Too Many Times” is more of the same, with Muir’s vocals again expressing regret in the lyrics but escalates it to an emotionally charged upbeat song. And the album concludes with another ripping song “The Feeling’s Back” that takes those same kind of emotions and then unleashes them in a positive thrashing song, letting out all pent up feelings and delivering a sensational conclusion to an amazing album.
I came into Suicidal Tendencies a bit later than others, and indeed didn’t really know of them at all until the guys in the band I was in during the late 80’s and early 90’s told me – not asked, told – that we were going to play “Trip at the Brain” by Suicidal Tendencies, to which I replied... I don’t know any of their songs. The tape duly arrived, and we did end up playing that song, and it was fun and raucous. Good times. About a year later I was visiting my grandmother neat Maitland and I popped into a nondescript record store there, and the first CD on the shelf under “S” was this album, which I purchased immediately. And thus, a love affair began.
It’s funny how this album comes out to be played. It can be a few years between it coming out, but when it does, I remember all over again what a terrific album it is, and it then invariably stays in the CD player for more than a few listens before it goes back to the shelf, waiting for the next time it comes into my peripheral vision. And despite the fact I think the band is great, this is still the only Suicidal Tendencies album that I own. I have had this playing over and over once again for the past month as I go through these albums to review, and not once has it failed to lift my spirits or make me think “wow, that is still a great song!”.
This album proved to be a catalyst for the band, and they continued in this direction over the next couple of albums, which introduced the frenzied funk of Rob Trujillo on bass guitar. I saw the band live for the first time on their first tour of Australia, as support for Alice in Chains, and they were amazingly awesome, proving they could do the job live just as well as they laid it down in the studio. But surely there should never have been any doubt that they could do that.
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