Bad Brains - Build A Nation - review
Bad Brains - Build A Nation - review
Tracklist
01. Give Thanks and Praises02. Jah People Make the World Go Round
03. Pure Love
04. Natty Dreadlocks 'pon the Mountaintop
05. Build a Nation
06. Expand Your Soul
07. Jah Love
08. Let There Be Angels (Just Like You)
09. Universal Peace
10. Roll On
11. Until Kingdom Comes
12. In the Beginning
13. Send You No More Flowers
14. Peace Be Unto Thee
A review by
jupitreas September 09, 2007
Unfortunately, first impressions of Build A Nation are bound to be somewhat negative. In the past, H.R. would only use his 'jah' vocals on reggae songs, while offering a schizophrenic and charismatic mix of screams, rapped verses, operatic choruses and jazzy improvisation in the heavy songs. This is no longer true - as the band performs thunderously, H.R. seems to be singing from behind a substantial cloud of dope smoke. Needless to say, this sounds weird. The Bad Brains' brand of metallic hardcore is really powerful here, reminding me even of current heavyweights such as Converge and the reggae vocals just seem terribly out of place. On the other hand, this approach is also original and unique so in the end, it is up to the individual listener to decide if this approach is suitable or not. I did manage to accept this vocal approach and only then did I realize what a great little album Build A Nation is. Fast metallic hardcore played with jazzy finesse, interspersed with some bona fide reggae tracks - great stuff. "Jah People Make The World Go Round" and "Expand Your Soul" are some of the highlights, with the latter even recalling the awesome sound of I Against I. Meanwhile, "Universal Peace" shows that the band can speed along at breakneck pace with the best of them and even incorporates a reggae bass passage that morphs into a hardcore breakdown (something I have never heard before, and its performed masterfully here).
I suppose it is fitting that a band like Bad Brains would release and album that is pretty hard to get into. If you have the patience and are open minded you can definitely find some things on this album that will blow your mind; however, at the same time, this music is definitely not for everyone. Also, when all is said and done, the Brains have much better albums in their discography. Its a fun album but not as good as 24-7 Spyz' comeback album last year, for example. Buy at your own risk.
Comments
Comments:
4
Visited by
68 users
 Posts: 7263 |
Posts: 7263
hmm, I didn't even know that they were releasing anything new. Since they're one of my favorite hardcore bands, I'll definitely check this out.
Loading...
|
 Posts: 9726 |
Posts: 9726 Written by Dangerboner on 10.09.2007 at 03:25 Didn't know you were into Bad Brains, Pyro. I got I Against I for Christmas and have only recently started to really enjoy it, so I'm starting to shop around for some more Bad Brains stuff. Took a listen to a few of these samples on youtube, HR's vocals definitely seem a little weaker now....probably end up getting it anyways, ignoring the vocals it seems like a pretty wild album.
---- "I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck." - George Carlin
Loading...
|
|
Posts: 537  |
Posts: 537
One of the few hardcore bands i can stand, great frikkin band thou^^ listened to them for quite a while now, thou i prefer their older stuff this is a solid release, great review!
Loading...
|
|
Posts: 95  |
Posts: 95
They are the fathers of the hardcore fast tempos and many other fusions. Max Cavalera and Randy Blythe loves them.
Loading...
|
Hits total: 5300 | This month: 2