UMUR "The Art of Rebellion" is the fifth full-length studio album by US, California based crossover/thrash metal act Suicidal Tendencies. The album was released through Epic Records in June 1992. It´s the successor to "Lights, Camera, Revolution" from 1990 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as drummer R.J Herrera has left. He hasn´t been permamently replaced and therefore the drums are recorded by session drummer Josh Freese.

While "Lights, Camera, Revolution (1990)" proved to be a very successful release for Suicidal Tendencies (both artistically and commercially), "The Art of Rebellion" ended up being their most commercially successful release (they are still active, so they still have time to top it, but I doubt it). It´s not like all sails weren´t set to achive that though, as being signed to a major label like Epic Records, meant there was money to hire prolific producer Peter Collins (Rush, Alice Cooper, Bon Jovi...etc.). As a result "The Art of Rebellion" is a very well produced release, featuring both power and a wealth of details and layers.

Stylistically the material on "The Art of Rebellion" is quite different in style to the material on "Lights, Camera, Revolution (1990)". The funky bass playing by Robert Trujillo is explored even further on this album and lead vocalist Mike Muir sings more high pitched and melodic than before. Summed up this is probably more a funk infused alternative heavy rock/metal album than a thrash metal ditto, although the band occasionally touch thrash/crossover territory.

"The Art of Rebellion" opens with "Can't Stop", which is in part both a soft and a relatively hard edged track. It opens with Muir softly singing over acoustic guitars and a soaring guitar lead from Rocky George, before it explodes in a tense building section featuring speed talking by Muir. Ultimately the main riff heavy vers/chorus section of the song kicks in and the conclusion is that it´s an immediate highlight of the album. It´s one of the few tracks on "The Art of Rebellion", which could have been featured on "Lights, Camera, Revolution (1990)". "Accept My Sacrifice" follows and it´s a heavy and funky track, which works really well. The opening trio of tracks conclude with the melancholic power ballad "Nobody Hears", which along with "Can't Stop" is my pick for THE highlights of the album. Everyting is well composed and well performed in that track, but I have to mention the stellar guitar work from George as something really special. His guitar harmonies and leads are nothing short of exquisite.

From then on the album is a little more standard quality with less standout tracks, but the remaining part of the album still features high quality material and the sound and style of the music are unique. You won´t find anything anywhere which sounds like the music on this album, and originality should always be praised. Personally I could have wished for more thrash metal riffs, crossover hardcore aggression, and more variation in pace (most tracks are mid-paced and only few feature faster paced sections), but as a listener I just have to respect that "The Art of Rebellion" is a different type of beast from the previous releases by the band, and that at this point Suicidal Tendencies wanted to make something a little more melodic and accessible, and they ultimately succeeded in doing that. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Lights, Camera, Revolution" is the 4th full-length studio album by US, California based crossover/thrash metal act Suicidal Tendencies. The album was released through Epic Records in July 1990. It´s the successor to "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today" from 1988 although the two full-length studio albums are bridged by the 1989 "Controlled by Hatred / Feel like Shit... Deja Vu" EP. There´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as bassist Bob Heathcote has been replaced by Robert Trujillo.

The addition of Trujillo and his considerable playing skills have provided Suicidal Tendencies with another dimension, which they opt to explore on several tracks on the album. Trujillo´s funk influenced slap-bass is especially audible on "Lovely" and on "Send Me Your Money". Overall "Lights, Camera, Revolution" features a much more mature sounding Suicidal Tendencies than heard before. Everything from the songwriting, to the level of the musicianship, to the quality of the sound production have been given a lift since the predecessor. The music style is still at its core crossover thrash metal, but the hardcore influences have decreased, and the band have incorporated more melodic heavy metal elements and more "regular" (non-hardcore punk influenced) thrash metal riffs and rhythms to their sound. Lead vocalist Mike Muir has also increased his vocal style repetoire, and proves how versatile a vocalist he actually is.

"Lights, Camera, Revolution" is an album loaded with quality material. Highlights include "You Can't Bring Me Down", "Lost Again" (the main riff is such a tasty and heavy thrash metal riff), and "Send Me Your Money", but tracks like "Get Whacked" and "Disco's Out, Murder's In" also score high in my book. There´s actually not a single sub par track on the album, which also features a well constructed tracklist ensuring a good album flow.

As mentioned the musicianship is on a high level on all posts. I´ve already discussed the skills and performances by Trujillo and Muir, but guitarists Mike Clark and Rocky George need a mention too. The former for his strong rhythm guitar playing and the latter for his many incredibly well played and melodic guitar solos. George has often been celebrated for the great guitarist he is, but I´ll still give him one more deserved praise here. Drummer R.J. Herrera is probably the most regular musician on board, but he gets the job done well too.

To my ears "Lights, Camera, Revolution" is the peak of Suicidal Tendencies career, although they had/have released great albums both before and since. It´s their masterpiece and through and through a high quality release. It´s a combination of a band with a unique sound, who are technically skilled, and who can write music and lyrics which leave a lasting impression on the listener. If I was to name some classic thrash metal albums from the 80s/early 90s to a thrash metal newbie as mandatory listening, this would definitely be one of them. A 5 star (100%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family" is a compilation release by US, California based crossover thrash metal act Suicidal Tendencies. The compilation was released through Suicidal Records in September 2010. The 14 tracks on the 47:46 minutes long album are predominantly re-recordings of tracks from Suicidal Tendencies second full-length studio album "Join the Army (1987)" and the debut and sole full-length studio album "Widespread Bloodshed...Love Runs Red (1987)" by Mike Muir´s and Mike Clark´s side project No Mercy. In addition to that "No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family" features three No Mercy tracks which weren´t originally featured on "Widespread Bloodshed...Love Runs Red (1987)". Also in re-recorded versions. A couple of the tracks were also featured on the split album "Year of the Cycos (2008)".

It´s the second time Suicidal Tendencies have re-recorded No Mercy material for a Suicidal Tendencies release, as the "Controlled by Hatred/Feel Like Shit...Déjà Vu (1989)" compilation album also features re-recorded No Mercy tracks. "No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family" also marks the second time the band have re-recorded material from "Join the Army (1987)", as "War Inside My Head" and "A Little Each Day" from that album, were already re-recorded and included on "Still Cyco After All These Years (1993)".

Re-recording material from classic releases isn´t always the greatest idea, and in many cases the end result upsets the fans and critics. In the case of "Join the Army (1987)" and "Widespread Bloodshed...Love Runs Red (1987)", both releases featured relatively poor sounding productions in their original versions, and in that regard re-recording material from those releases at least makes sense from a sound quality point on view. If the band are able to capture the raw primal energy of the original versions is another matter, but sound quality wise "No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family" features a sound production where you are able to hear every instrument and what is being played. It´s not necessarily a great sounding production though, and to my ears the bass is too metallic "clicky" and lacks bottom. The addition of funky slap bass playing on "Suicidal Maniac" isn´t that great either, but on the other hand I understand the 2010 version of Suicidal Tendencies wish to put their own spin on the material. The slap bass playing is thankfully a bit more restrained on the remaining tracks.

The overall tracklist flow and the consistency and quality of the material are high enough and if nothing else listening to the re-recorded versions of the "classic" tracks made me want to go back and listen to the original albums again. Compared to "Still Cyco After All These Years (1993)" which was also a re-recordings compilation album, "No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family" aren´t nearly as accomplished, but to those who had a hard time enjoying "Join the Army (1987)" and "Widespread Bloodshed...Love Runs Red (1987)" because of the poor sounding production jobs, this may be a good way of getting aquainted with the material from those releases. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Controlled by Hatred / Feel Like Shit... Deja-Vu" is a compilation release by US thrash/heavy metal act Suicidal Tendencies. The compilation was released through Epic Records in October 1989 and bridges the gap between the band´s third and fourth full-length studio albums "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today (1988)" and "Lights... Camera... Revolution! (1990)". The band have often been cited for calling it a double EP, and tracks 1-4 of the release are labeled as "Controlled by Hatred" while tracks 5-9 are labeled as "Feel Like Shit...Deja-Vu". No seperate EPs ever existed though.

"Controlled by Hatred / Feel Like Shit... Deja-Vu" is a bit of an interesting collection of tracks, as the compilation features four No Mercy covers, one Los Cycos cover, one unreleased track from the "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today (1988)" recording sessions, one freshly recorded original track, a "heavy emotion version" of "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow" and a video edit version of "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow". While the latter is a bit redundant if you already own "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today (1988)", the rest of the material featured on the release is definitely worth the price of admission.

Both Los Cycos and No Mercy were short lived side-projects led by Suicidal Tendencies frontman Mike Muir (Muir co-founded No Mercy with guitarist Mike Clark, who would soon after become a member of Suicidal Tendencies), while he worked on deciding if he would continue Suicidal Tendencies. Suicidal Tendencies ran into several issues during their early years, because of violence at their shows and the Los Angeles Police accusing the band of gang relations, which eventually led to a ban from playing live shows in their home town. Muir therefore gave it some serious thought if he was gonna continue with Suicidal Tendencies, and in the meantime kept busy with both Los Cycos and No Mercy as well as starting to produce music and also created his own record label Suicidal Records.

Los Cycos only recorded one track titled "It's Not Easy", which was originally featured on the "Welcome to Venice (1985)" compilation album and No Mercy (who also appeared on the "Welcome to Venice (1985)" compilation) only released one studio album and a couple of minor releases. The four No Mercy covers on "Controlled by Hatred / Feel Like Shit... Deja-Vu" are all culled from that project´s sole studio album "Widespread Bloodshed Love Runs Red (1987)". Stylistically neither Los Cycos nor No Mercy are very far from the crossover thrash metal of Suicidal Tendencies, and if you didn´t know better you´d probably think this was just leftover Suicidal Tendencies material from 1985-1988. So despite the different recording history of the original tracks, there is a good flow and stylistic consistency to "Controlled by Hatred / Feel Like Shit... Deja-Vu".

Highlights include "Waking the Dead", "Feel like Shit... Deja-Vu", and "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow (Heavy Emotion version)". While acoustic versions of classic tracks aren´t always the most successful formula, the "heavy emotion version" of "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow" is actually quite intriguing. So it´s definitely worth a mention here. "Waking the Dead" is a nice heavy track with a menacing thrashy riff and rhythm. Maybe slightly too long and repetitive, but damn... that riff is heavy. "Feel like Shit... Deja-Vu" is the track on the compilation which sounds mostly like a transition track between "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today (1988)" and "Lights... Camera... Revolution! (1990)".

Upon conclusion "Controlled by Hatred / Feel Like Shit... Deja-Vu" is a compilation that most fans of the 1985-1988 period of the band´s discography will probably enjoy listening to. To my ears the sound production could have prospered from a more powerful guitar tone, but it´s overall a relatively well sounding release, considering the time of release. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Warthur You say the revolution will not be televised? Suicidal Tendencies beg to differ! This album finds the band having evolved far from the skate punk of their debut and so deep into crossover thrash territory that, depending on exactly where you draw the line, they risk busting out the other side into straight-up thrash territory, with Mike Muir's vocals retaining a bit more of a hardcore punk style to them as a reminder of the band's origins.

As far as what kind of thrash we're looking at... imagine if peak-era Anthrax (singalong moments and all) went substantially darker with their lyrics, and you'll be somewhere in the right region. On the whole, a hell of a fun album. I'd say any thrash metal fan will find plenty to enjoy here, but if you come at crossover thrash from the hardcore punk end of the spectrum, you may need to adjust your expectations accordingly.