Band:	Flotsam And Jetsam
Album:	No Place For Disgrace
Style:	Thrash metal
Release date:	1988

01. No Place For Disgrace
02. Dreams Of Death
03. N.E. Terror
04. Escape From Within
05. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting [Elton John cover]
06. Hard On You
07. I Live You Die
08. Misguided Fortune
09. P.A.A.B
10. The Jones

Flotsam & Jetsam is an Arizona-based thrash band that was formed by drummer Kelly David-Smith and bassist Jason Newsted in 1983. Despite the fact that they were immensely talented, they never seemed to find their place in the limelight and seemed doomed to be forever overshadowed by the more "big name" thrash bands of the time. This was probably because by the time their name started really circulating among the different metal scenes and crowds it was already the early 90's and thrash music was no longer trendy. Their second album has been on repeat in my car for the past couple days, it's pretty damn savage. The sound is aggressive yet still catchy, many of the tracks have an "eastern" feel to them as you might expect from the cover art. It's the type of album you'd put in the deck when going out on the town with the boys for a night of debauchery. The song topics are engaging and thought provoking without taking away from the fun, definitely highly recommended.

So, this is the album where they lost Jason Newsted to Metallica. You might say they were better off without him because to me this album's better than the first one, if even just by a little. The production is definitely a step up from the first album, the songs sound cleaner, which isn't always a good thing for thrash, but in this case it works. Troy Gregory, the bassist who replaced Newsted, fills his shoes nicely, though I couldn't fairly call one better than the other since they're both great.

The songwriting is stellar and I like that Gilbert (the guitarist who wrote most of the songs) decided to take a stand against the Parent Music Resource Center (who are targeted in the song Hard On You). I commend him for bumping heads with an organization looking to limit his creative freedoms; this was a dangerous move for a band that hadn't really found a massive fan base yet. I also really liked the Hari-Kari themed title track and how you can feel the Samurai's emotions change with the tempo and tone of the song when he commits the final act. Yet, what I love most about this album is the aggressive beats. The drummer, David-Smith, is fully-automatic when called for but without "masturbating" and trying to steal the song. The two guitarists, Carlson and Gilbert, do a great job of synergizing their twin axe attack throughout, top-notch players. They've got some sick facemelters on here, too: check tracks 1, 4, and 8 for examples.

I can't really call this album original though, they seem to be following a path set by Metallica's Ride The Lightning. I hear a lot of fast paced tempos into melodic interludes and vice versa, it just feels as if they were influenced by it. I'm not trying to say they bit off them or anything like that though, Metallica was so influential at the time. Also, when I first heard this album I was like "Damn, this guy sounds like somebody," then it hit me. Eric A.K.'s vocals are somewhat similar to Joey Belladonna's, listen to the first part of "No Place For Disgrace" and then listen to the first part of "Indians" and judge for yourself. Again, not saying this was ripped off, they just sound similar. Eric probably has a better traditional singing voice as well, if you listen to some of their other stuff. Still, even though this album might not be groundbreaking for its time, by all means it's still a great thrash piece and is worthy of the high rating it holds on Metal Storm.

Favorite Tracks: "No Place For Disgrace," "I Live You Die," "Misguided Fortune," "Escape From Within"