Artist: Life of Agony
Label: Roadrunner
Release Date: 1/25/00
Average Rating: 4
Go to Judgment Committee Reviews of this Album
|
|
Title: 1989-1999 Artist: Life of Agony Label: Roadrunner Release Date: 1/25/00 |
There are currently 2 Reader Reviews of this album.
Average Rating: 4 Go to Judgment Committee Reviews of this Album |
|
|
||
Submitted by Kefka X (7/21/02):
Life of Agony was one of the first bands to introduce me to metal. I remember when I was 13 and in middle school when I first heard River Runs Red. Everyone else in my class listened to Nirvana and Cranberries and constantly made fun of me for my taste in music and would shank me and hang me by the school flagpole by my underwear---I'm straying from the point. So Life of Agony is no longer putting out any new music since Keith has left the band. So here's a compilation of unreleased material spanning their 10-year career. The first track on the cd is "Here I am, Here I Stay," taken from the Stain Remains demo. Your first reaction will most likely be laughing due to the striking resemblence to the chorus of the Scorpions song (you know the one I'm talking about). If you were a fan of River Runs Red, you'll like this track, the heavy, crunching guitars from Joey Z. are very existent here. Depression, the second track is from the same demo, and has its moments, but for the 6 minutes the song lasts, it tends to lag on. The next few tracks on the cd show the evolution of the band from their older sound. You can either appreciate this evolution or skip to the later tracks. I skipped onward (shoot me). The next noteworthy track is Dancing with the Devil, which stands out because of it's chorus (think back to a certain song on Ugly). The next two tracks after this are more of the older, more punk/thrash inspired demos...I plowed through. The next track is an S.O.D. cover of of March of the S.O.D./Sgt. D, with Joey doing vocal tracks. The outstanding track of the cd however, is Coffee Break, which was taken from the limited edition of Ugly. The song completely tears your emotions out of your heart more than almost any other LOA song written. You can practically touch Keith's pain and tears. The rest of the tracks on the cd are either live cuts (Lost at 22 and I Regret) or covers (Redemption Song and Tangerine, neither rendition doing anything groundbreaking with the original). The band does remake How it Would Be, one of the weaker cuts from Ugly. The remake is completely unorthodox of LOA and ultimately sounds too overdone and...cheesy. All in all, for the songs that stand out, it really makes this cd scream to be in your library if you're an LOA fan. And if you're not an LOA fan yet, just grab a copy of River Runs Red and use it as a stepping stone to the other albums. Otherwise, this compilation isn't that bad and serves as an excellent tool to see the progression the band has undergone throughout the years.
Submitted by Chris Ayers (11/10/01):
Without a doubt, Brooklyn's Life Of Agony were one of the most exciting metal bands of the '90s. Frontman Keith Caputo had a set of soulful pipes that, coupled with the band's heavy-handed hardcore rhythms, afforded the group their share of accolades over the course of three albums. As the title implies, 1989-1999 compiles mostly pre-River Runs Red demo tracks that show the band's development with a handful of rarities thrown in that are worth the price alone. 1990's "Step Aside" and "Colorblind" are the most primitive-sounding as LOA followed a metal trajectory similar to that of neighbors Biohazard. '91šs "Here I Am, Here I Stay" and "Depression" sees Caputo's powerful tenor and sustain moving into the forefront, fully realized in '92's excellent "Drowning" and "3 Companions." Parts of the unreleased "Dancing With The Devil" were later incorporated into "Other Side Of The River" (off '95's full-length Ugly), and the superior "Coffee Break" and an unplugged reading of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" (though Fluf's punk-charged version is better) are included from the limited tin box format of Ugly. Another cover, S.O.D.'s "March of The S.O.D./Sgt. 'D' and the S.O.D." seems rather anemic to the original, but an acoustic take on Led Zeppelin's "Tangerine" (with Anthrax/S.O.D. drummer Charlie Benante guesting on guitar) forgives any previous shortcomings. A poppier version of "How It Would Be" (originally from Ugly) is radiantly sonic, and the live cuts "Lost At 22" and "I Regret" give punchy credence to their onstage prowess. Long live LOA!
[- Metal Judgment Home -] [- Email Metal Judgment -]
©1999 Metal Judgment. All rights reserved.