EPLP - Subhumans

Advantages: Real Punk At Its Very Best
Disadvantages: None

...The Subhumans are the first band not on the Fat Wreck label to have been invited to record for their 'Live In A Dive' record series and are also the first with the original credentials and pedigree of a punk band. Originally formed in 1980, out of the backlash of the Sex Pistols, the Subhumans were based in Warminster, Wiltshire, and always offered quality political antagonism alongside their gritty vocals and guitars. Having gone through several personnel changes throughout their early years, the Subhumans return with a collection of 25 past releases, plus one new song, all recently recorded live at the Showcase Theatre in Corona, California, in true punk style: this is a collection of songs, punk at heart and just too damn real for its own good! Live records always carry with them a kind of magic that ordinary records quite... Read review

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Advantages: see review
Disadvantages: see review

...One of the first albums I bought was Slave To The Grind by Skid Row, and its still one of the finest albums I have ever heard. Full or raw energy and aggression, there are few rock albums which come close to it. However, despite being a huge fan of the band I was less than impressed by the few tracks I had heard from their later album - SubHuman Race and never got around to buying it. However, when I came across the CD recently second-hand for only £3 I thought I might as well give it a go... ...and to be honest it broke my heart. One of the most striking and impressive things about Slave To The Grind, was the quality, aggression and sheer pent up energy which came through from frontman Sebastien Bach's vocals - something which is strangely lacking here. Whether because he can no longer hit the same notes, or whether his vocal chords... Read review

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Advantages: 1970's American rock at its finest
Disadvantages: The "bonus" tracks are not much of a bonus

...appears on here as a bonus track. "I'll choose to steal what you choose to show....." musically it's solid enough but not the best song on this album. The next track Subhuman, certainly is one of the best, a slithering bassline leads the band into the power chords of the chorus. This is what I so love about early 1970's rock music, it's for the most part just simple 4/4 but when its played so well as this it the groove does exactly that, groooooove,. "So ladies fish and gentlemen, welcome to my dream". A gorgeous middle section here too, as the song slowly closes out. The powerhouse rocker Dominance And Submission tears this album open, with a story of sibling incest in the backseat of a car "back in 1963". A simple but ingenious riff leads the way with dead-on drumming. It's a terrifying ending too...the band come... Read review

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