I think this is one album that any fan of punk needs to have in their record collection:
Rise Against - Revolutions Per Minute.
2003 was a year that finally brought Rise Against to prominance and it was the year that Geffen spotted them and signed them. This is album is entirely responsible for that and on it, are 12 damn good reasons why.
While Rise Againsts first album, The Unravelling, was pretty long and didn't really have enough stand out tracks to justify it's length (and I'm pretty sure Fat Mike was still not a fan after hearing it. After all, he only signed them because they promised him they'd be great...), it was also the album that introduced me to the band way back all those years ago and I'll be the first to admit it was also the album that made me pass them off as just another average punk band. RPM is truely the album the gave them a place in my heart.
From the opener "Black Masks and Gasoline" its evident what you're getting here. Balls out melodic hardcore. With nods to Bad Religion, Kid Dynamite and 88 Fingers Louie (rather obviously since the guitarist and bassist from the band are in Rise Against) in equal measure. It's pretty safe to say these guys know where they are and what they want to do.
Every single track on this album is a classic. From the blistering "Heaven Knows" to the brutal "Dead Ringer" the radio friendly (as they could get in this period anyway) "Like the Angel" in the space of the first 5 tracks this band have shown every aspect of their arsenal. Showing that they can play melodic hxc with the best of them, punk it up with the most elietest of them and pop it all out with the most melodic of them. From there on in, the band blast through each track with passion and energy that most bands seem to lack. With a heavily poltical backdrop to the lyrics and some raw (but not too raw) production bringing out the fire and passion burning within the beating heart of this band, this album just doesn't set a foot wrong.
Stand out tracks for me, apart for the 4 previously mentioned, are "Blood Red White and Blue" (simply for the angry outro), "To The Core", "Torches" and the hidden track, a cover of Journeys "Anyway You Want It". But that's not to say the other tracks are mere filler or don't stand up to the more stand out ones. That's simply not the case. Each track is as good as the previous, and the album is solid and is sequenced very well. Not one track feels out of place and by the time it's all over, you're gonna want to put it back on again. It's simply that good. There are not many albums that I can put on and not want to skip a track in (their latest effort falling into this catagory, for many reasons. Such as the producion on the guitars seems to make them lose a bit of their urgency...) and this is one of those albums. It's passion, it's angry, it's raw, it's urgent, intelligent and very relevent. No fan of punk should be without this album. Quite simply because, this is one of the best albums I've ever heard and it's an effort the band will never match (unless they prove me wrong with their soon to be released 4th album "The Suffering and The Witness"). Thus far it is a career defining moment and one of the best punk albums in existance, and that's not something to be said lightly. Not something to be said lightly indeed.
Rise Against - Revolutions Per Minute.
2003 was a year that finally brought Rise Against to prominance and it was the year that Geffen spotted them and signed them. This is album is entirely responsible for that and on it, are 12 damn good reasons why.
While Rise Againsts first album, The Unravelling, was pretty long and didn't really have enough stand out tracks to justify it's length (and I'm pretty sure Fat Mike was still not a fan after hearing it. After all, he only signed them because they promised him they'd be great...), it was also the album that introduced me to the band way back all those years ago and I'll be the first to admit it was also the album that made me pass them off as just another average punk band. RPM is truely the album the gave them a place in my heart.
From the opener "Black Masks and Gasoline" its evident what you're getting here. Balls out melodic hardcore. With nods to Bad Religion, Kid Dynamite and 88 Fingers Louie (rather obviously since the guitarist and bassist from the band are in Rise Against) in equal measure. It's pretty safe to say these guys know where they are and what they want to do.
Every single track on this album is a classic. From the blistering "Heaven Knows" to the brutal "Dead Ringer" the radio friendly (as they could get in this period anyway) "Like the Angel" in the space of the first 5 tracks this band have shown every aspect of their arsenal. Showing that they can play melodic hxc with the best of them, punk it up with the most elietest of them and pop it all out with the most melodic of them. From there on in, the band blast through each track with passion and energy that most bands seem to lack. With a heavily poltical backdrop to the lyrics and some raw (but not too raw) production bringing out the fire and passion burning within the beating heart of this band, this album just doesn't set a foot wrong.
Stand out tracks for me, apart for the 4 previously mentioned, are "Blood Red White and Blue" (simply for the angry outro), "To The Core", "Torches" and the hidden track, a cover of Journeys "Anyway You Want It". But that's not to say the other tracks are mere filler or don't stand up to the more stand out ones. That's simply not the case. Each track is as good as the previous, and the album is solid and is sequenced very well. Not one track feels out of place and by the time it's all over, you're gonna want to put it back on again. It's simply that good. There are not many albums that I can put on and not want to skip a track in (their latest effort falling into this catagory, for many reasons. Such as the producion on the guitars seems to make them lose a bit of their urgency...) and this is one of those albums. It's passion, it's angry, it's raw, it's urgent, intelligent and very relevent. No fan of punk should be without this album. Quite simply because, this is one of the best albums I've ever heard and it's an effort the band will never match (unless they prove me wrong with their soon to be released 4th album "The Suffering and The Witness"). Thus far it is a career defining moment and one of the best punk albums in existance, and that's not something to be said lightly. Not something to be said lightly indeed.
