At the request of my friend Geoff, I was asked to randomly pull a record out from the shelf and just talk about it. After all the color variation collections I have been doing lately, it sounded like a good idea. I closed my eyes, ran my finger across some record spines and pulled out this gem.
Dirty Rotten Imbeciles - 4 of a Kind.
Looking back to 1988, I wish I could tell you of stories of listening to Gorilla Biscuits and Youth of Today, skateboarding half pipes and discovering Krisha consciousness.
The truth is that I was still a banger into thrash metal, some crossover hardcore before I knew the label existed, and Living Color. Yeah, the band; not the TV show. The shame I feel.
I was also sporting a legendary mullet and driving a 1984 Toyota Corolla. I was the poster child for awkward, hot mess 19 year olds everywhere.
One thing I did right that year was pick up this album. To me it was the absolute perfect blend of the music I loved. The crunchy guitar sound Spike had was amazing and became the blueprint of what I wanted all guitars to sound like. The recording was so different than "Dealin' With It!" or "Crossover". It was so - loud.
This was also the last DRI album with the classic Kurt, Spike, Josh and Felix lineup. This was a band of longhair punks who loved metal and wore t-shirts and jeans. They became my role models for years to come. Well, maybe not sleeveless t's.
More than sound and image, this record still means a hell of a lot to me. "Suit and Tie Guy" was the very first song my first band ever played. I nearly blew my voice out singing it. I had a bottle of Chloraseptic spray I would use between verses. I had no idea what I was doing, but I loved every minute.
This was one album I bought and played the hell out of just for the love of it. Way before collecting. I'm glad it is on glorious black vinyl and was never repressed.
Excuse me now, I have some "Manifest Destiny" to listen to in the basement.
Awesome post. Man, our musical pasts were pretty similar. I remember picking up 4 of a Kind in '88 as well, and was neck deep into Thrash at the time. The only difference is that you picked it up on vinyl, while I bought it on CD. The funny thing is that I had pulled out D.R.I.'s Thrash Zone this morning and gave that a spin while at work.
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