Harley's War "Cro-Mag" CD
[Loud Fast]
What can I say? I've been looking forward to hearing this for awhile. A lot of people hate everything the Cro-Mags did after "Age of Quarrel", but I fucking love everything off of the first three records, and I always thought Harley's vocals were fucking awesome. On this disc, which is sort of a "then and now" collection of tracks coming straight from Harley himself, a noteworthy lineup takes part. Harley handles bass, vocals, and some rhythm guitar, Rocky George from Suicidal Tendencies is on lead guitar, and Crazy Jay Skin from Warzone is on rhythm guitar. Then "Spirit of '77" features some guest guitar from the one and only Vinnie Stigma (Agnostic Front) and some guest vocals from The Business' Mickey Fitz. The first seven tracks are all new and cover a pretty wide range of styles. Most of the stuff is rooted in melodic yet heavy hardcore/punk, but "Spirit of '77" has more of an oi influence happening (understandably), and tracks like "Who Survived" are a bit more involved as far as layering guitar parts and incorporating different styles into the same track. The songwriting is really pretty fucking good. I like the vocal arrangements, I like the mix of melody and hardness, Rocky's lead playing tends to be pretty good (though less structured than his work with Sucidal Tendencies), the basslines are powerful as hell, etc. Then there are four songs that were written and recorded solely by Harley in 1982/1983, acting as rough sketches for the first Cro-Mags record (including early versions of "Don't Tread on Me" and "Do Unto Others"), as well as a live track from The Stimulators recorded in 1981 (with Harley on drums). The production is pretty good. It's raw, but it doesn't bother me. I definitely think that if it were cleaner and the mix was a bit more rounded out the songs would be even more powerful, though. It's got a dirty edge to it that I can appreciate, but I think this stuff would benefit from a really clean sound, especially the basslines and the vocals. Of course the sound on the bonus tracks is rough, but they still sound pretty damn good. The 1982/1983 demos are an awesome addition, and it's impressive to hear Harley playing all of the instruments and handling the vocal duties at such a young age. The live track's the roughest of the bunch, with a lot of low-end and loud vocals, but hey... it is from 1981, so what can you expect? The layout is pretty straightforward, with lyrics, liner notes, etc. Most all of the photos are of Harley throughout various stages of his life, nailing the point home that this is his pet project. Lyrically most of the songs deal with the fucked up state of the world, reminiscing about the old days, personal issues and tribulations, etc. Some of the content I don't particularly agree with, and none of the lyrics are particularly interesting, but they don't hold back. "I don't care what you believe, They say I'm a criminal, so is that all that's left for me? Fuck the pigs, fuck the government, I don't give a fuck, criminal for life, This ain't the land of the free, It's the land of hypocrisy, We live in a police state." There are also some brief liner notes starting out with Harley's first punk band in 1977 (When he was only 10!), and coming to a close with statements like, "So here we are after 20 long years. I lay the Cro-Mags to rest. After too many rumors, lies, lineup changes, reunions, confusions, delusions, outright treachery and betrayal it is finally over..." People who bitch and moan about post-"Age of Quarrel" Cro-Mags material likely won't appreciate this, but I dig it, and I look forward to hopefully hearing more in the future. It's a shame this thing is so short, I would have loved to hear more new material here. Maybe next time... (7/10)
Running time - 25:43, Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: Fuck the Middle East (Last Days), Skarred 4 Lyfe, Don't Tread on Me, Dead End Kids]
Harley's War - http://www.cromags.com

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