An oddity / rarity from the titans of Rastafarian hardcore thrash / dub reggae / spiritual metallic crunch, this boot recently turned up on my radar and I just couldn't help myself; I don't know when this fairly well-known "fan club" release Soul Music... first started making the rounds, but it's been apparently for a while. For a boot, the sound quality is tight, but the main appeal of this is the mutant apparition of the band's classic "Re-Ignition" that appears here, in a fairly radical change from other live versions and the album recording. I'm a Bad Brains fanatic, so I'm always on the hunt for rare performances / versions like this.
Tracked at the Rock Hotel in NYC in July of 1985, the "Om Side" version of "Re-Ignition" is a slower and weirder take than the official album version that would show up on I Against I the following year; according to one of the expert sources I referred to when tryin’ to learn about this 7", it seems that this is likely an early studio demo version of the song; this is the only release it's seen on vinyl. Bottom line, however, is that it destroys; I've seen a couple of folks comment that they prefer this strange and rare version over the actual album take. What differentiates it? As I mentioned, the band takes a slower attack, beefing up the riffage with more metallic stomp and skull-beating bass; there are some differences in the lyrics of this version; and there's a twin-blast of berserk overdubbed singing and screaming background vocals from HR that is absolutely bonkers (making this sound a bit nuttier than the later recording), and some killer squealing guitar solo work that, while buried a bit in the mix, definitely injects this with a slightly different "vibe". It rules. One of the coolest iterations of this classic tune that I've heard.
A whirlwind of hyperspeed energy, "How Low Can A Punk Get?" and "You" careen off the grooves of the "Alf" side at staggering tempos and tightness, HR's vocalizations completely unhinged, ferocious, scathing; the recording of these two songs is from the Paul Rat (he of the infamous Rat Music For Rat People compilations) session on March 30th, 1982, in California according to my sources, and these are purportedly the same recordings/versions as what appeared on the now famous Hardcore Punk compilation Rat Music For Rat People that came out the same year. The recording dates on the sleeve and on the Rat Music Discogs.com page don't quite match up. A mystery or typical boot sloppiness? I don't have a clue, but I can safely assure you that these two cuts are fuckin' ravenous.