Certain General, "An Introduction To War"

Certain General were a living contradiction of a band. They were bothahead of their time and perfect for the time they were a band. They hadpunk rock energy for a post-punk alternative sound. And, as thiscollection shows, they were at the top of their game even when itseemed like it was all falling apart."An Introduction To War,"available at the Sourmash Records USAwebsite, is a 2CD deluxe set featuring completely unreleased CertainGeneral material. The first CD, "Dead Rabbit Gang," would have been theband's second album, culled from recording sessions that took placeupon their return from a successful UK tour. This material wasprevented from release by internal band turmoil, as the liner notesstate, but you couldn't tell by listening to it. All fourteen trackspulse and crack with raw energy: the mark of a band at their absolutepeak. There's so much to hear in these tracks to prove what an affectCertain General had on the musical landscape of the time. You hearelements in these tracks that definitely reveal the Generals'influences, such as the Velvet Underground-esque melodies andbasslines, but there's so much more in what influence the Generals hadon bands of that timeframe. It's in the vocal delivery tried by justabout every 80s band, and the power in the drums, and the wailingguitar. These bands may not be trying to rip off Certain General, perse, but after hearing this collection in comparison to other bands,it's hard to deny that they at least heard the music and appreciatedit. It would have been a fine proper album at the time, and now it's atimeless classic heard finally. The second disc, "Savage YoungGenerals," captures the band live on tape at several shows at CBGB andCity Gardens over a 13 month period. If the raw energy present on thestudio material doesn't grab you, the live album will definitely blowyou away. The showmanship on display for these recordings is the kindmost bands would die to have. Sixteen of these songs have never beenreleased in any format, and it's good to hear them alongside the oddcover and the traditional but higher energy interpretations of thesongs off their releases. 77 minutes of pure sonic delight. Takentogether, these two discs represent a fine document of a, as theirwebsite puts it, "criminally overlooked" band. Try out the soundsamples if you don't believe the hype, but anyone would be impressed bywhat they'd find here. - 

samples from Dead Rabbit Gang:

• Uptight
• In a Bad Way
• Guts

samples from Savage Young Generals:

• At Peace
• Dachau Now
• Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida

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