It's The Size Of Your Heart, Not The Length Of Your Hair

On Suicidal Tendencies sophomore album we see the crossover influences taking shape. Actually, this is probably the bands most punk/thrash crossover album of bunch. "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow" and "Lights, Camera, Revolution" are flat out thrash and the funk elements of Trujillo add a heavy dose of groove to the later albums. However, "Free Your Soul ..." sees the band moving back to their punk/hardcore roots.

Anywho, "Join The Army" is one of the first ST albums I bought (along with "Controlled By Hatred, Feel Like Shit, Deja-vu"). It still retains a strong punk edge with a raw guitar sound and speedy breaks. The main difference is some longer songs and heavier riff structures. It's a fine transition album without feeling like a transition album.

Kicking the album off is "Suicidal Maniac" which is fast paced with punk conviction. "I feel Your Pain" and "Human Guinea Pig" are also fast paced raw tunes. "A Little Each Day", "The Prisoner" and "Possessed To Skate" have mid-paced tendencies with bursts of speed, but loads of groove and melody. Mike Muir starts to expand his vocal range here and sings most songs while keeping his punk aggression creating a more varied vocal performance. He will continue to improve on each album.

The stand out tracks for me are "Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right (But They Make Me Feel A Whole Lot Better)" mostly cause it's a great title, but it has the balls of a killer tune too. The title track is an anthemic call to arms building the Suicidal Army. It is a mid-paced piece with positive lyrics and killer riffs and loads of melody. It's also the first of anthems that pop up over future albums with songs like "Pledge Your Allegiance" and even "Straight From The Heart".

My favourite song (which just slightly squeaks past "Join The Army") is "War Inside My Head". It's a little faster then mid-paced with solid riffs and catchy lyrics. It's the song that I skip to mostly, but not always as this is a solid album all around and worthy of my full attention.

I hope to have another review out shortly on ST's "How Will I laugh Tomorrow" before branching out to some other bands/albums.

Stay tuned.