FLOTSAM AND JETSAM — No Place for Disgrace (review)

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM — No Place for Disgrace album cover

Album · 1988 · Thrash Metal

3.5/5 · 2017-09-24
Kingcrimsonprog

No Place For Disgrace is the sophomore full-length album by the cult US Thrash Metal band Flotsam & Jetsam. It was released in 1988 as their old bandmate Jason Newstead was working on Metallica’s …And Justice For All album.

The Phoenix, Arizona band’s musical style here is mostly more or less a direct continuation of that found on their fondly remembered debut album Doomsday For The Deceiver. Its quickfire but not Slayer levels of fast. Its not succinct but never progressive. Its got melody but isn’t overly sugary or radio-pleasant. It reminds me a little bit of Death Angel’s The Ultraviolence at times.

Highlights include the Title Track, especially when it breaks down to a soft section where singer Eric AK describes a man killing himself via hari kari (hence the album’s artwork) as well as the brief instrumental ‘The Jones’ and ‘I Live, You Die’ which is perhaps the fastest song on the album and has some of the finest guitar work.

On an interesting note, there is a rather odd decision here to cover Elton John’s ‘Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting’ which does hold some gimmick value but doesn’t really match the rest of the material.

Compared to some of the more famous bands like Exodus or Anthrax or Overkill or Megadeth, Flotsam & Jetsam are maybe lacking something in character, however they are far from the most generic or forgettable band to play Thrash. A possible exception to this would be the very fun, PMRC-baiting track ‘Hard On You’ which is arguably the catchiest track they’ve made to this point. For me this track, as well as the improved production job, arguably tip this album over their debut, which admittedly was more charming than this at least.

If you like Thrash and want to try something less obvious, this is definitely worth checking out. If you are interested in the band, this is definitely the first album of theirs I’d recommend for you check out (unless you’re just in it for the Newstead connection in which case although some songs were still co-written by him here, the debut he actually plays on is the more obvious way to go).

more than 2 years ago
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voila_la_scorie wrote:

more than 2 years ago

The only F&J album I ever had way back in the eighties. I seem to remember liking it but not loving it. But I've been thinking about it recently and here it shows up on the MMA home page!

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I have their debut and I love it. This one has (so far) failed to make the same sort of impact on me though.

Unitron wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I really like the Elton John cover as well, how can you not love a band turning a song like that into a mosh anthem?

Vim Fuego wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Funny, I love the Elton cover. I always thought it overshadowed most of the album except the title track. "It's 7 o'clock and I wanna mosh..."

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I´m a pretty big fan of F&J. Eric AK is one of my favorite metal singers.

siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I just got this recently but ended up with the re-recording of it. I loved it but now i'm curious what the original sounds like since i've missed it. The Elton John song was a baaaaaad choice. Love the song by Elton but it does not work here at all