The Adolescents : The Adolescents/Welcome to Reality E.P

.
The Adolescents : The Adolescents/Welcome to Reality E.P

1981

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. I Hate Children  2. Who is Who  3. Wrecking Crew  4. L.A. Girl  5. Self Destruct  6. Kids of the Black Hole  7. No Way  8. Amoeba  9. Word Attack 10. Rip it Up  11. Democracy  12. No Friends  13. Creatures 14. Welcome to Reality  15. Losing Battle  16. Things Start Moving


1981:  Ronald Wilson Reagan, 40th president of the United States of America, takes his place in office...



Cue 80's hardcore...

If you're into breakneck, melodic, SoCal punk, this is pretty much the start of it. The fact that it was made by a bunch of high school kids blows my mind, yet isn't surprising at all. I'm blown away that kids wrote these wonderfully melodic ideas and played this excellently performed music, on the other hand lyrics like, "I can't live in a world this gay!" could only have been written by confused kids...or whoever writes Katy Perry songs. But I don't mean this as an insult, really (not for the the Adolescents anyway...I guess Katy Perry's songwriter's should be insulted...unless they're 16 year old kids too....) those same pissed-off, jumbled teenage emotions are probably what makes this album so spectacular in the first place...

They pull off the first hardcore epic in the "Kids form the Black Hole." If punk's your thing, you seriously cannot overlook this one! That guitar line is the shit! Tony also turns his limited vocals into a strength. It doesn't just sound like some guy singing lyrics to a song...This guy believes with all his impassioned heart that  society as we know it is collapsing all around him. And what's he singing about? Homeless kids! Check out Phil Colllins, when he sing about homeless people!  It's usually some smooth ballad. Not these guys...It's still shocking to them. They're pissed about it, and I love them for it!  I also love them for those great backing vocals on "Amoeba,"and their relentless 200 mph beats.  Fans of Bad Religion who haven't moved onto this yet are doing themselves a serious injustice!



This CD also contains the follow up e.p. "Welcome to Reality."  The year of its release seems to be a bit difficult to pinpoint. All I know is it came out shortly after the first record. The title track of the e.p is quite a few clicks slower than expected. I couldn't tell if they were aiming for metal or a slower, sloppier "Flipper" sound. Either way it's still pretty good. The other two tracks from the e.p are at a tempo comparable to the self titled album, but the hooks aren't quite there. Still  a lot of snotty fun...

So let's go back to 1981, eat some pudding pops...



...and crank up "Kids of the Black Hole!"