This particular cut's from some Don Fury sessions, a guy that every band worth their salt (and some who aren't) has recorded with. You can find 'em all online as one big long MP3, but the kind folks at Blogged and Quartered separated 'em out and selected the best dozen to include. Good site, backtard. They still making stuff?
I think I might actually prefer this version slightly more than the one on Defiance but what do I know? Jason O'Toole's vocals have always been Life's Blood's key element, the ferocious blend of an East Coast hardcore shout and melodic oi yelp. Still, Life's Blood has a continuing legacy amid some varied influences and seeing 'em pop up is always a trip. They get a good following from Japcore enthusiasts, Skins, NYHC nerdarios and old punkers. Honestly, I think I generally found out about 'em through MK-Ultra covering "It's Not in Our Heart." Like a less fruity (and preachy) Fugazi, the Life's Blood banner is one that lots of us misanthropic goofballs could fly.
Please stop turning your kids into bumper stickers.
I like to think of "Youth Enrage" as sort of a "dark side of the force" to the Saccharine-posi tomfoolery of "Young Til I Die" cuz it's a titch more pessimistic and angry (the potent ingredient that 7 Seconds generally lacked), nastier in riff and tone and about being a kid. The boot camp/pencil on a desk drumming is killer and I like how O' Toole wobbles slightly out of rhythm at the "Youth Enrage to strain and strive" bit near the end. Prank's supposed to be giving all this Life's Blood stuff the vinyl once-over in the near future, so keep your peepers peeled for that...or keep posing. Life's Blood can't be beat.
Originally by Killing Joke blah blah blah. I don't need to talk about myobsession with Metallica. Any male that didn't come up on this stuff...well he's probably perusing Ikea catalogs and/or writing Fan Fiction for some cut rate shit-com like Psych. A few thoughts: A) "Killing Joke" is a name that Metallica drops a lot. Critics (like Mick Wall in his book Enter Night: a Biography of Metallica) say that it was supposed to broaden their appeal, and prove that they weren't just brainless metal boner biters. However, like a moth to a freshly squeezed cake of goat dung, it's around this time that Lars Ulrich would do everything in his power to alienate fans, and James Hetfield would start growing his facial hair out in weird patterns (and Mullets...just look to the left). B) It was also around this time that Metallica started messing around with a lot of punk covers. Hetfield admits to liking punk songs because "they're all about me. Not about dudes riding on horses wielding sabers." (Note to self: Write a HC LP specifically about dudes riding around on horses wielding sabers). C) Hetfield's vocals sound like they were recorded over a prison phone that's been submerged in a pool of mouthwash....I like them a lot. D) Kirk Hammett's solo is pretty heavy on the whammy bar (per usual) and a good indication of the kind of stuff he'd do on the Black album (and those thereafter) a few years later. E) This is a (not very) produced attempt at initiating Jason "Newkid" into the band, and they slapped it on their $5.98 Garage Days Revisited EP. It's pretty much the same cracker-dry production they'd use on ...And Justice for All and further drive Jason into emotional devastation. F) It was used in that dumb Jack Black movie where he molests all the kids and has a Fugazi sticker in his van. Truth be told, I don't really hate the movie because that montage with the Ramones song is pretty bitchin. G) The intro is really eerie, and it's just one of the fifty Metallica riffs that hardcore bands should start pilfering for their own intros. Thus far, I've only ever seen "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (by Frostbite on the Posi Numbers '03 DVD) and "Seek and Destroy" by a metalcore band that I dare not name. H) Does it not baffle anyone else that an EP composed entirely of covers managed to chart? That's fairly incredible to me. I) Final thoughts: Metallica makes the tune their own. I didn't look too far into the lyrics, because Killing Joke lyrics are usually stupid. This is kind of the beginning of the end for good Metallica, but I'm a glutton for punishment, so I tracked the cassette down last time I was at Amoeba in Hollywood. There are a few live versions of this song, but they're usually from the crappy "Madly in Anger with You" tour, and I'm not tryna make you any angrier at this band than you already are.
Song is copyright 1987 Elektra/Vertigo. Don't download it or Lars will be bummed. Low hanging fruit. I grab it.
Young 'til I die, ay Kev?
