1998

As I said before in a previous post my friend Robby and I met in 1998 when we were Freshman at Norwood High School and we were both in the same gym class. I had listened to punk at the time but started to talk to Robby about hardcore and Straight Edge. Robby let me borrow some hardcore CDs. I thought I would show you the ones that I remember him letting me borrow and what helped me dive into the world of hardcore music. At the time I don't think Robby probably gave much thought to what CDs he grabbed to let me borrow. But looking back at it and the time period of the late 90's he picked a pretty awesome set for someone wanting to hear hardcore music and see what it was about.



Prayer For Cleansing- I remember listening to this album and not liking it at the time. To me it was just too different and crazy for me, something I had never heard. They were a band that were trying to add alot of metal parts including Black metal. I remember people loving this band and alot of bands trying to be Prayer For Cleansing. If a band now days tried to do some of the stuff that this band did I think people would just laugh at it. But if you listen to this band now I think it brings about a certain time and era of hardcore. And has to be respected as a classic album.



Buried Alive- what a classic album, hard and heavy as fuck. Showcased as one of the best Victory records releases, at a time when Victory records was dominated by hardcore. Lyrics are awesome, some would even make you think that Scott Vogel was Straight Edge (which he never was). If someone every asked you to sum up what mid to late 90's hardcore sounded like. I think this album would encompass that time as a whole.



All Out War- Heavy band with some hard breakdowns, where the only thing you can picture is kids with baggy pants and size XL shirts doing spin kicks and windmills. You can tell that these guys loved Slayer with the metal parts thrown in. Another classic Victory release.



Hatebreed- A band and a record that needs no explanation. To me Hatebreed started heavy/mosh hardcore. This album is great from start to finish, there is not a bad song on this album. This album came out in 1997 and Hatebreed did not write another album until 5 years later. That is when you know that you have perfected your sound.



Earth Crisis- What a great 4 song EP for this band. I remember reading the insert in this record and being blown away, along with the lyrics of the 4 songs. Makes you think immediately about the killing and consuming of animals. I don't think another band has done more for veganism in the hardcore scene. The single guitar intro of this record is awesome too.



Sick Of it All- This is a classic from a NYHC classic band. With an intro like "It's Clobberin' Time" and songs like "Friends Like You" and "Bullshit Justice" makes for an awesome record. And is a piece of NY hardcore history.



Reach The Sky- I really liked this album when I heard it because I listened to punk and pop punk at the time. Not that this is a punk record but it made for a good transition from punk to hardcore with Ians vocals and the music being really melodic. I heard this whole album was about a relationship with a girl, which makes since when you read the lyrics. Just when the record starts the first song it's sooooo good.