Band:	Exodus
Album:	Fabulous Disaster
Style:	Bay Area thrash metal
Release date:	January 1989

01. The Last Act Of Defiance
02. Fabulous Disaster
03. The Toxic Waltz
04. Low Rider [War cover]
05. Cajun Hell
06. Like Father, Like Son
07. Corruption
08. Verbal Razors
09. Open Season
10. Overdose [AC/DC cover]
11. Fabulous Disaster [live] [2008 reissue bonus]
12. Toxic Waltz [live] [2008 reissue bonus]
13. Cajun Hell [live] [2008 reissue bonus]
14. Corruption [live] [2008 reissue bonus]

If you think Exodus is a one album band then I would get your brain checked out and pop this album in your CD player; featuring some of the best songs by the band, Fabulous Disaster is an album that is a serious contender as one of the best thrash albums going but one that also doesn't let itself get lost in being self-absorbed. It is the equivalent of George Corpsegrinder giving you a lecture on hell while wearing a clown nose and squeaking it every so often.

Holt and co. weld together some of the finest guitar work around with excellent drum work to create some of the finest metal you will hear from the Bay Area. Fronted by Souza who is underrated as a front man, you have a band who can stand toe to toe with nigh-on anyone in metal and come out on top. The album is well produced, with each instrument being given its own space but connecting together to create a tight unit that can propel the songs.

From the off, Fabulous Disaster runs through three instant classics in "The Last Act Of Defiance", "Fabulous Disaster" and "The Toxic Waltz" that will grab you by the back of the head and force you to head bang from their sheer quality. It is not an overstatement to say that these three tracks are some of the best thrash of the 80s.

While the album does not again hit the heights set by the first three tracks, that is not to say the rest of the album has no merit. "Verbal Razors" and "Corruption" are a good dose of metal straight to the serotonin centres of your brain that deserves regular replays, they just miss the bar set by the opening three tracks.

So for the more novelty songs of the album? I don't get why they're disliked; sure, it punctures the atmosphere set by the rest of the album but they're not bad songs. "Low Rider" is a fun listen and is well played. "Cajun Hell" takes a nice detour through Southern-eque sounds before building into a standard thrash tune; if you think the topic is a stretch too far, at least it's a change from the standard Satanism theme that was prevalent at the time. "The Toxic Waltz" is probably the exception to this, with fans overlooking the novelty factor due to it being so damn catchy and moshable.

The album isn't faultless though, with "Like Father, Like Son" being a song that is good in concept but the band don't pull it off convincingly, and you can feel it drag its heels through its eight-minute run time. "Cajun Hell" skirts close to being a bad song, again, a song that is good in concept but just keeps its head above water.

Fabulous Disaster is an album that ranks high in Exodus's discography, an album that saw the band create some of the best songs in their history while shaking up their formula slightly and keeping things fresh. Highly recommended as the album to go to after Bonded By Blood and [i]Tempo Of The Damned/i], you will find plenty to enjoy here and plenty of reason to get it stuck in your record player.