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Ed eccoci arrivati a "Handle With Care", quarto capitolo della saga dell'assalto nucleare, cominciata tre anni prima con "Game Over". Quest' album appunto è considerato, assieme all'ultimo qui citato, un autentico capolavoro della Thrash-Speed Metal Band newyorkese, formata e guidata dal membro sicuramente più conosciuto e blasonato del gruppo: il bassista Danny Lilker, che in precedenza aveva suonato con Bands del calibro di Holy Moses, ma sopratutto ex Anthrax. Ci troviamo sicuramente davanti al prototipo di disco Thrash-Speed: un Sound martellante e pieno di carica viene plasmato da chitarre scheggianti che sfornano giri iperveloci, un basso vibrante che sa accelerare i tempi e una batteria che da vita a controtempi impensabili.
Qui le sei corde di John Connelly e Antony Bramante viaggiano come razzi creando riffs e assoli molto veloci. Buona la prestazione di Lilker che, con il suo basso sempre in evidenza sa spuntare sempre di qua e di là, senza far mai sembrare la sua presenza "pesante" per il Sound, già graffiante per conto suo. Da elogiare anche la performance di Glenn Evans, che dietro le pelli tiene tempi e cambi di velocità perforanti. "Handle With Care" fa perno su autentici capolavori quali la distruttiva "Critical Mass", l'imprevedibile "Emergency", la fulminea "New Song" e soprattutto la grande "F# (Wake Up)" che, diciamo, giganteggiano al cospetto di altre canzoni molto buone come "Inherted Hell" e la raggelante "Surgery". In questo ciddì c'è anche spazio per la sperimentazione con "Funky Noise" e "Mother's Day", canzoni per me evitabili, anche se alla fine (almeno per quest'ultima) piacevoli da ascoltare.
Ci troviamo di fronte ad un Connelly ispiratissimo che, oltre ad aver scritto praticamente da solo questo album, offre alla chitarra, ma soprattutto alla voce, grandi prestazioni: esso interpreta infatti testi a velocità molto elevate con tonalità molto alte, in modo quasi strafottente, sparlando di paure e timori della Band verso l'energia atomica (tema che si trova massiccio in "Critical Mass"). Non penso ci sia nient'altro da dire su questo album se non che va da considerarsi, anche se non tra i migliori del Metal di sempre, un buonissimo lavoro che indubbiamente ha portato alla ribalta definitivamente i Nuclear Assault come uno dei migliori gruppi Thrash americano e perché no, anche mondiale.
(P.S. Volevo ringraziare i fratelli Bui, Poe e il loro cugino Paz, che gentilmente hanno scannerizzato la copertina di questo disco visto che io sono sprovvisto dello Scanner).
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 New Song (02:58)
Closed books is what some people's minds are like
Shut tight, new ideas, they just always get passed by
Prejudice, living in their thoughts and deeds
Ignoring all the other people's needs
You say a double standard's OK
I'm telling you that this is insane
What is it that you've got in your fist
Could it be another one of your lists
Noone else can do the job just right
Unless they're Anglo-Saxon white
Foolish, the minds that have this attitude
You can't judge everybody by that rule
You say a double standard's OK
I'm telling you that this is insane
What is it that you've got in your fist
Could it be another one of your lists
No place in this country for this
Everyone has to have an equal place
Nazis, they lost it 40 years ago
Rednecks just realize this a little slow
You say a double standard's OK
I'm telling you that this is insane
What is it that you've got in your fist
Could it be another one of your lists
02 Critical Mass (03:18)
The bio-sphere, the place we live
It seems like we don't give a damn
Other species flushed down the tubes
We need another race to rape
The way we live, we will destroy
Every other living thing
Till none are left except our race
And then we will destroy ourselves
Another oil spill!
Atomic waste displaced!
Another forest dies!
Bring on the acid rain!
Slightly insane, the type of greed
That makes a world unfit for life
Toxic wastes destroy our seas
While poison gas pollutes the air
A waste of life, while no one cares
The earth becomes a giant tomb
Critical mass will be achieved
And ruins will be all that's left
Another oil spill!
Atomic waste displaced!
Another forest dies!
A hell on earth, what we create
Dragging life to death with us
All living things destroyed or used
By shortsighted human beings
We do these things, let them be done
Apathy creates despair
The damamge done will be too great
The world wounded beyond repair
Another oil spill!
Atomic waste displaced!
Another forest dies!
05 Emergency (03:20)
Alcohol and pills, a night with some thrills
Go out with my friends and leave a good will
Some smoke and some buff, now I'm so tough
My ignorant habit gets deeper and deeper
I'm Batman, I'm Robin, I'm Bonnie & Clyde
For truth and justice, the American way
Now I've become what I wanted to be
But I can't face reality
Emergency <i>[2x]
I've come a long way, do you hear what I say
There's no need to bother with an education
My school grades are dropping and I've lost my job
The pain in my soul gets weaker and weaker
The party has started it's Saturday night
Time to strech my imagination
The darkness of night, a bright flashing light
There's no turning back, it's time to die
Emergency <i>[4x]
An ambulance ride to a hospital bed
Feel such an effort to open my eyes
An IV tube, some hypo shots
My blood is polluted with conflicting drugs
The last thing I see as the darkness drops down
I am surrounded by nervous doctors
My body grows cold, my eyes won't stay open
Finally my heart stops it's useless stuggle
07 F# (Wake Up) (02:58)
What have you been doing with yourself these years
I really think that you have no idea
You waste your time and pass your days with no pursuits
You take no interest in what's going on
One day, on your own
All your life you've been afraid
Of success and defeat
You've made your life a living Hell
Wake up [4x]
I think that you should take a look around
You'd be surprised at what you see
There's a world out there you never learned
It may be time to learn some new ideas
One day, on your own
All your life you've been afraid
Of success and defeat
You've made your life a living Hell
Wake up [4x]
Now is not the time to hide out in a cave
Or stick your head into the sand
It's time to face life on your feet and on your terms
Respect yourself or noone will
One day, on your own
All your life you've been afraid
Of success and defeat
You've made your life a living Hell
Wake up [4x]
08 When Freedom Dies (02:33)
United in a time, a time of need
Against a common foe, the enemy
The years of death endured, the years of pain
Against an evil force, a force not sane
We become the enemy!
When freedom dies for security
And then the world endured, a victory won
Against an insane man and his cohorts
But once the war was done, blind fear prevailed
And years of darkness came, freedom was nailed
We become the enemy!
When freedom dies for security
We let our freedom die, we let it wane
We feared an enemy's atomic rain
But what was on our minds, what we became
We and the enemy
We are the same!
We become the enemy!
When freedom dies for security
We become the enemy!
When freedom dies for security
10 Torture Tactics (02:21)
Walk the path of hate
Leave others to their fate
Never looking back
Never feel regret
Alone you stand
Alone you fall
Feel no pity nor shame
Mercy, you have none
Fear the revolt will come
Your laws come from a gun
Alone you stand
Alone you fall
The tread of boots they fear
The passbooks they must bear
Freedom, they have none
Their only law, a gun
Alone you stand
Alone you fall
They walk the path oppressed
Their only one release is death
Perhaps their day will come
Then they will have the guns
Alone you stand
Alone you fall
12 Trail of Tears (05:43)
Another day has passed you by,
And now it seems that you don't care.
You've let your life slip away,
You feel no pain, you feel no joy.
You've let your feelings fade away,
You've let life tear apart your soul.
Feel... ...no pain!
Feel... ...no pain!
You must wake up and perceive,
That you are not a victim here.
You're a traveller through this life,
No one persecuted you.
You've brought it down upon yourself,
And now you're standing on the edge.
Feel... ...no pain!
Feel... ...no pain!
Take a look at where you are,
And then look back to what you were.
And think of how you got there,
Work at repairing your life,
You can't just throw it all away,
You've got to stick it to the end.
Feel... ...no pain!
Feel... ...no pain!
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