Agnostic Front: Liberty and Justice For...

Agnostic Front: Liberty and Justice For...

1987

Relativity/Combat Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Liberty and Justice  2. Crucial Moment  3. Strength  4. Genesis  5 Anthem  6. Another Side  7. Happened Yesterday  8. Lost  9. Hypocrisy  10. Crucified  11. Censored


Oh yea, I didn't check the condition when I bought this and brought it home only to find it was covered in...I dunno....Drywall plaster, maybe? I had to chisel away a sheet of chalky rock, but eventually I located the black vinyl underneath and surprise, surprise, it plays great...Maybe the white crust helped to keep the record perfectly preserved...Hey, "White Crust" sounds like a pretty cool name for a Hardcore band...

Anyway, it's great to have a copy of this around the house...80's tough-guy music with thick, slabs of clear, pounding metal/hardcore... Roger Miret cleanly pukes out the vocals while the band alternates between speedy blur and black sludge...Highlights? You might have to listen to it fifty times before much of anything stands out, but I've always viewed the "The blood, the honor, the truth!" gang chant on "Anthem" to be a fairly definitive moment in hardcore...I also find the choruses of "Hypocracy" and their cover of Iron Cross' "Crucified" sneaking into my head here and there...

 To be fair, there are very few hardcore records that I listen to for their melodic content (Youth Brigade might fall in that category)...I listen to hardcore because I want barely-controlled chaos...A mad rush of adrenalin...I want to mindlessly flail around around while punctuating gang chants with my fist...If there's a catchy melody there, great...If not, it's not a deal-breaker...And I do honestly believe that nowadays they scan as "generic hardcore" only because their distinct style became the standard default for less imaginative bands..Not their fault... C'mon....That opening pledge of allegiance leading into the title track? Freakin' classic...

Despite my enjoyment of some of their later stuff, I consider the run of albums from "Victim in Pain" to "Live at CBGB" to be the band's peak...Where they went from "Punk/Hardcore" to "Thrash" to "Punk/Metal" and finally on "Live at CBGB" fitting the pieces all together and putting a point on the whole New York Hardcore thing... "Liberty and Justice For..." was vital in that progress, showing they could metal it up a bit but were not going to lose that hardcore sound that keeps bald kids in red suspenders stomping around in circles for all eternity...

Here's "Anthem"...Enjoy...

Agnostic Front: Live at CBGB

Agnostic Front: Live at CBGB

1989

Relativity Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Victim in Pain  2. Public Assistance  3. United Blood  4. Friend or Foe  5. Strength  6. Blind Justice  7. Last Warning  8.Toxic Shock  9. United and Strong  10. Crucified  11. Liberty and Justice  12. Discriminate Me  13. Your Mistake  14. Anthem  15. With Time  16. Genesis  17. The Pain Song  18. Fascist Attitudes  19. The Eliminator




After listening to this again, I might have to declare it the ultimate New York Hardcore album...I don't know...Maybe I'm forgetting another obvious choice ("Age of Quarrel"? "Start Today"?) , but this album seems to have everything: Lion-hearted, muscle-headed aggression...Yellin' at bouncers...Recorded at CBGB, no less, and if I were a betting man, I'd wager it was done on a Sunday afternoon...(baby needs a new pair of combat boots...)

It also helps that the album was recorded directly after their third album, "Liberty and Justice for..." so it happens to catch them right at their peak...



The sound is great too...Every instrument is front and center and surprisingly Roger Miret's vocals are crystal clear, which is never the case with live Hardcore albums (and often-times with studio hardcore albums). Were there studio overdubs?

 Man, who cares with a set-list and performances like this..."Crucified"? "Victim in Pain"? "Liberty and Justice"? All present and slamming.  If you want your freakin' head torn clean off the hinges on a Friday Night toss this on...I'm not kidding you...I put this on the turntable a couple months ago and seriously had to get up and start shoving around imaginary skinheads in the comfort of my bedroom...

I almost stomped on my "My Little Pony" collection in the process...This stuff is that potent....

"BLEEYOOO BLEEEYOOO BLEEEYOOO BLEHHH!!!"

If you're into the hardcore shit, you're gonna flip for this (that is, if you haven't already committed it to memory)...I couldn't take this off the stereo when I first picked this up at Revolver Records about 8 months ago...So put on your sweatiest wife-beater and lace up those Cherry Reds...

...Cos here's "Liberty and Justice" by Agnostic Front. Merry Fridaymas, everybody....

Agnostic Front: Victim in Pain

Agnostic Front: Victim in Pain

1984

Relativity Records/Combat Core records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Victim in Pain  2. Remind Them  3. Blind Justice  4. Last Warning  5. United and Strong  6. Power  7. Hiding Inside  8. Fascist Attitudes  9. Society Sucker  10. Your Mistakes  11. With Time

I bought my old beat up vinyl copy of this album from the Zia records in Tempe...It's got that cool embossed "Back In Black" style cover. I wasn't especially aware of this but, I guess the original cover was much different...



 I probably prefer the plain black cover since It's pretty hard to say, "Oh yea...that photo of the WWII atrocity is a lot of fun to look at !" But there is something  about the blood red font over the stark black and white photo. I actually think both covers effectively capture the mood of the album within.

The music contained under the bleak cover is pure hardcore. Not even a tinge of the metal that would later take over their sound. In fact this is probably the most capital "H" hardcore album I own. I have lots of hardcore records but they usually have some quirk, or sense of humor, or twist. Not this...You can close your eyes and read the graffiti on CBGB's walls when you put this on. I've never even been there, but I can tell the place stinks like piss just from hearing this. The sound is that pungent. And Roger Miret sings like a regular guy on this one, albeit a regular guy engulfed in flames. This record is relentless.  One pissed-off hardcore assault after another, only slowing down to let the guitars really grind you to a pulp.  The final track "With Time," isn't even fast. It's just a thick, black pool of sludge. designed to suck all the joy from existence. So why do I enjoy this so much?

I'm really recommending this record if you feel like inviting a few friends over and throwing them around the room.

That brings up a good question, what do you drink while throttling your guests and listening to this album?

That's right...



Pure unleaded!

Let's take a look at what else was going on in the world of music in 1984...

Music superstars convene to record the benefit record for famine relief, "Do They Know it's Christmas?" Agnostic Front are not invited...



MTV holds its first annual Video Music Awards, Agnostic Front is snubbed in the "Video of the Year" category in favor of the Cars' "You Might Think..."



Michael Jackson gives a Roger Miret-like vocal performance while being burned alive during a Pepsi commercial...



Let's go back to that wonderful year of 1984 and throw on "Victim of Pain"...Maybe toss around a few elbows...