Still Cyco

The self-titled debut album from Suicidal Tendencies came out in 1982. As I’ve made reference to before, I was a little skate punk when I was in high school. I’m guessing I picked this album up trying to maintain that vibe even though I was by then living in Arkansas, in the military, and had left my board at home.

Honestly, I never got too much into this record when it first came out. By the early 80s, I was headed in a more metal direction as far as my musical tastes. Suicidal’s disk was hardcore, but not in the dumbed-down way I liked my punk rock back then. It really took a few years for this album to grow on me. Now it’s considered a classic and I guess you could say I was ahead of the curve by buying this when it came out. Or something....

Some quick bio and other interesting notes about Suicidal Tendencies: The band formed in Venice, CA, in 1982. That same year, Flipside magazine voted them "Worst Band/Biggest Assholes.” Rumors of gang affiliation have hounded the band on and off since its beginning. Those who believe such things cite singer Mike Muir’s trademark blue bandanna and the frequent appearance of the number 13 as evidence. The gang-affiliation allegations also caused the City of Los Angeles in 1983 to ban Suicidal from playing. It was 1991 before they performed again in their hometown.

Indie label Frontier Records released Suicidal Tendencies in 1982. The album “owed much more to hardcore punk than to the later hardcore/heavy metal hybrid they would become known for, but it's still quite possibly their best album,” wrote Steve Huey for Allmusic.

The tracks I’ve posted are “Institutionalized,” which rock critic Ira Robbins called “a unique, devastating centerpiece,” and “one of the era's quintessential expressions of teen dislocation.” The other song, “I Saw Your Mommy...” originally came out on the Slamulation compilation shortly before Suicidal put it on their own debut. Video gamers may also recognize it from “Scarface: The World is Yours.”

Institutionalized.mp3
I Saw Your Mommy....mp3

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NOTE:
Sometime the first week of March I’m going to clear out all the January files, so if there’s anything you want, now’s the time to get it.

posted by aikin @ 10:59 PM