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Mince together country, a little rock-a-billy, amp shaking guitar, and lots of straight forward rhythm, what do you get? Social Distortion! The band blended all of the above like no one else. Bringing to the rest of America the original American garage punk sounds of Orange County C.A. This recording uses some of the best from all their albums, but each song is mega powered here, live. Giving the listener an authentic feeling of a live performance, this album definitely makes the top 100 list of best live recordings of all time. Story Of My Life comes from the band’s debut album, titled appropriately, Social Distortion. A large amount of the band’s hits came from this CD and no wonder, it was a great unveiling. Social Distortion was released in 1990, and judging by the photography the label didn’t quite know how to market them. The back photo looks posed, they were probably going for the Stray Cats look, but lucky for us these guys were the real deal. Under My Thumb is from 1995’s Mainliner: Wreckage From The Past and 1996’s White Light, White Heat, White Trash albums. I know there are a lot of Stones fans out there that will want to kick my ass, but I like the Social D version better than the original (live as well as studio versions). This adaptation is even louder and faster than the Wreckage tune and it rocks, big time. Prison Bound is from another 1995 album of the same name. Lead vocalist and songwriter Mike Ness show a staggering amount of stamina on all these songs and he never losses a beat. Mommy's Little Monster is from another one of the same name. This version gender bends the original a little but, it still makes good girls want to go bad and bad girls feel proud. The next few songs, MASS Hysteria, The Creeps, and Another State Of Mind, are of the serious punk variety. If you hear these songs you better be ready to slam or get out of the way, and you’d better make up your mind which you’ll do and fast. Telling Them and I Was Wrong from 1993 and 1996 reflect Ness’ rebellious youth and the accompanying consequences. Ball & Chain from the Social Distortion first major label LP is the band’s anthem and they do it justice with this performance. One of my favorite songs of all time, this one just about says it all for an entire generation of punk music. Long before it became fashionable this band had a thing for the man in black. They do a wonderful cover of Ring Of Fire, also from the first SD album. This is the final song and even though you’ve been rocking for 17 tracks and about an hour and a half you can’t believe its over. Mike Ness has gone on to do two country albums, Cheating At Solitare and Under The Influence. The former includes Bruce Springsteen, Brian Setzer, and members of the Royal Crown Revue, showcasing how versatile Ness really is. Drummer Chuck Biscuits, a former Black Flag member, joined the band in 1996 and their music got a real boost from him, he still plays with the band. In 2000 founding member, rhythm guitarist, and Ness boyhood friend passed away from natural causes. Give these guys credit, they re-energized a dieing genre and introduced it to a whole new generation. The Social Distortion website has an excellent bio and discography going as far back as the ‘80s and chronicling even their best bootleg albums. Of course there is schedule info there too. If you don’t know Social D you definitely need to, they are not just another American punk band, they may be THE American punk band. |
Regressive Music Review