Not so bold
This is a retrospective album that sees us follow the band from their early days as Crippled Youth in 1985 to the split in 1989. The first few tracks have been released in various forms already, sometimes even twice, as fans will already be aware. More interesting is the rare stuff, like the original release under their former name at 13 years old and still at school, bless 'em. These tracks appear half way through the album- I can see why- they're for real fans only. They sound like kids, altogether a talented bunch, but unless you're that age, you'd really just leave the young'uns there to watch and go and find a bar until the grown ups came onstage. The less I hear shouting 13 year olds, the better.
From these early songs, you can see the progression and transformation into an altogether different kettle of fish. They have always been classed as out and out hardcore, but in the later tracks you can see the influences of metal and more conventional rock. There are times when you could be listening to Motorhead or Judas Priest. Their early exposure to such classic bands as Kids Shines make for a very interesting sound though. To be honest, some of the lyrics read like they are written by their mom, the rest, as you might expect, are aimed at the angry, angst ridden American youth of today (well, 1985 anyway). Their playing on the other hand is flawless, truly brilliant in places, full of energy and sounding very mature. The vocals reflect the 'kiddiness' of the band, never quite sounding like a grown up bloke.
The album is peppered with two or three versions of the same song in rapid succession, I'm sure they could have split it up a bit better as it gets a little irritating when you hear a song you heard ten minutes ago, even if it is a different version.
The album makes no chronological sense either, as mentioned the earliest stuff is at the end of the album, their Swansong 'Looking Back' the title track from the 1994 mini album (when the band reunited briefly) is the third track!
Put this together with the fact that there's very little dating information for any of the tracks, it just turns out to be a tad disappointing. All it needed was a few more liner notes, some dates and a bit more thought into the order of the tracks. It could've been a cracker!