Bad Brains: The Youth Are Getting Restless

Bad Brains: The Youth Are Getting Restless

1990

Caroline Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. I  2. Rock for Light  3. Right Brigade  4. House of Suffering  5. Day Tripper/She's a Rainbow  6. Coptic Times  7. Sacred Love  8. Re-Ignition  9. Let Me Help  10. The Youth Are Getting Restless  11. Banned in D.C  12. Sailin' On  13. Fearless Vampire Killers  14. At the Movies  15. Revolution  16. Pay to Cum  17. Big Takeover



Damn, this record rules...I was introduced to the Bad Brains via "I Against I," but this is what made me a life-long fan...

I really can't imagine a better introduction to the band...The greatest hits album was good, but the varying fidelity of their recordings and their shift in genres made it seem a tad uneven...But "The Youth Are Getting Restless" was recorded on the "I Against I" tour, which was the perfect time to record a live album since they hadn't produced a single dud at this point... So you get a very balanced overview of their output which ranges from whiplash hardcore, funky thrash metal, and roots reggae, that turns out to be seamless when presented in a live setting. In fact, I actually prefer some of these versions ("Sacred Love," "Rock for Light") to the original studio takes due to their ferocity, melodicism and clarity...

Points of interest: A couple of covers, which include a dubby version of Dennis Brown's "Revolution" and a fairly pointless reggae take on the Beatles' "Daytripper" that's probably the album's only dead spot...On the other hand we get the title track which is an original that doesn't appear on any of their studio albums (as far as I know), which is easily my favorite Bad Brains reggae track...If you're a hater who automatically dismisses the reggae on the band's albums, this song might be a good entry point, since it has a slight intensity that a lot of their other reggae tracks are lacking...I don't know though, I always thought they were pretty adept at this style, although I readily acknowledge it's not as immediately gripping as their usual furious hardcore...

I absolutely recommend this to anybody who is interested in what all this Bad Brains shit is about...If you can't get into any of this, then the band's probably not for you...If the hardcore side intrigues you, check out the first album, if the metal stuff does it for you, move onto "I Against I."

Here's "The Youth Are Getting Restless"...Enjoy...