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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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