Circle Jerks: VI
1987
Combat Records
Format I Own it on: Compact Disc
Track Listing: 1. Beat Me Senseless 2. Patty's Killing Mel 3. Casualty Vampire 4. Tell Me Why 5. Protection 6. I'm Alive 7. Status Clinger 8. Living 9. American Way 10. Fortunate Son 11. Love Kills 12. All Wound Up 13. I Don't
The Circle Jerks continue the hard rock direction they started on 1985's "Wonderful" which was an alright-ish record...
The cover is top notch, anyway...I don't own a copy of this anymore, but at one point I had the cassette of it, and I never really got too attached to it..."The Crowd" was a great song though, and it showed this new direction had potential...
...and I think "VI" largely lives up to that potential...It's incredibly 1987-sounding...The type of thin-sounding punk-metal that seemed to exist for only a brief time in the waning years of that decade...There's a couple of limp and forgettable tracks ("Patty's Killing Mel" and the so-so cover of Creedence's "Fortunate Son"), but for the most part it's fantastic riff-rock like "Tell Me Why" and "Casualty Vampires." I'm a big fan of this type of punk-metal and I can see how someone less enamored of this style might long for the pure hardcore of their first album, but I don't really miss it at this point...I like heavy metal...
"GRANDMAAAA...WHAT WAS IT LIIIIIIIIIIIIKE..."
"I'M GONNA BE DEAD IN 10 YEARS!" (Gluggity glug gluggity glug) "WHOOOOOOOO!!!!!"
All kidding aside, the Circle Jerks still skew very much towards the punk side of things, I can't imagine many Manowar fans were flipping their loincloths over this...If you've been digging on their first three records but are hesitant to take the plunge on their later material, you have nothing to fear...The attitude and catchy songs haven't changed a bit, just the tempos are a touch slower and the guitars have a little more crunch...So let's listen to "All Wound Up" by the Circle Jerks...Enjoy...
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