VIBRATING COSMIC WAVES--Bad Brains and I vs I

I remember when I heard Bad Brains for the first time--they were on the Rat Music for Rat People comp. vol 1. I was amazed by the power and velocity of their live performance. Also when I heard the shrieking of lead singer H.R., initially I thought maybe it was Herve Villechaize from Fantasy Island singing. And that visual for some reason has stuck with me for a long time. So of course had to hear more things by this group.

I had heard some good reviews about their most recent lp I vs I. Also I saw on the back cover that it was recorded in Worcester, Mass, where I went to college. I put the record on and it was a bit different than I had anticipated and my first impressions were not that good. Fortunately, I gave it another shot and found that I liked the album on its own terms. Sometimes if I listen to a record to carefully, too intensely, its essence can elude me. In my humble opinion this album is a pretty perfect melding of metal, punk & reggae. The riffs are huge and ferocious, the lyrics psychedelically weird.

I know that the Bad Brains first album is the one that has the most notoriety, but this album deserves its due.
These guys are true bad asses, and they were the fastest most technically accomplished hardcore punks that I know of, and the first album is an absolute mile a minute adrenalin rush (interspersed with Reggae) that is worthy of all the accolades it has received. But I keep coming back to I vs I. That album shows so much variety and other aspects of their musical gifts.

I starts with a big metallic intro that segues right in to the fast and furious I vs I. House of Suffering is the equally intense follow up. ReIgnition is a slowed down riff based spacy tune. HR does some serious crooning in Secret 77 and the band makes good use of dynamics on this number. Let Me Help is basically a revved up metal song, sounds great. She's Calling You is a funky pop tune with a metallic sounding chorus. Sacred Love is a song much in the vein of ReIgnition, sort of a creepy love ballad. Apparently HR sang this song over the telephone when he was in jail on a narcotics bust. Hired Gun is basically a revved up reggae song with big metallic shards of guitar. Return to Heaven starts out with HR crooning over a  monstrous crushing dubby riff from Doctor Know, and switches over to a metal rap spiel before there was really such a subgenre. The album is kind of short, but you are definitely receiving quality time.

Gotta Let Some Joy In!!! Hr,DrKnow,Earl,Daryl rule

HR definitely sings with a real spiritual zeal on this album. What he is singing about, I'm not entirely sure, though there seems to be a lot about self-affirmation and finding inner peace in a tumultuous world. There is a real air of esoteric mysteriousness on many of the cuts which I think is pretty cool. Probably the thing you notice most about this album is the outstanding guitar work--Dr Know is a real master here. But without HR's unique singing, this album would not be as noteworthy as it is. Darryl and Earl are (as always) a great rhythm section on this. Musically this is a sonic masterpiece and HRs vocals really bring the whole thing together. By all means look into their First Album and their Rock for Light album, but give this disc a try. If there was a Mount Rushmore for Hardcore Punk, those 4 guys should be memorialized there.

I sometimes think that people malign this album for all the big metally riffs, but the songs sound great and Dr Know is a one of a kind guitarist. People really need to get over this. If you have ever heard Time's Up by Living Color you will have a good idea of the Bad Brains sound, albeit inferior to the originators. My beliefs about music seem to be generated from punk or at least the idea of it. You have to be inclusive and sometimes at times an iconoclast. Otherwise you lose out and you don't grow as a person. There are always people who try to put things down or analyze things in a narrow way and in doing so, they are no better than the same people who in the past attacked punk rock, long hairs, free jazz, prejudging anything a little different from the status quo. So maybe check this out, if you don't like it, its not the end of the world-- but eventually if you open yourself up a bit, you will definitely find something great to listen to from a most unlikely source.