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Sudore a frotte, muscoli contratti, scintille che navigano veloci come cavi in fibra ottica nei meandri della corteccia cerebrale, caffè espresso gusto catrame, poghi scomposti sopra i tavolini della prima classe di un Frecciarossa direzione Bologna Centrale…
La facilità con cui riescono a farmi salire l’adrenalina i SOIA è una qualità che non posseggono in tanti. I Sick Of It All sono l’anti-epica, un manifesto rivoluzionario da working class, da piccolo garage di periferia sporco, pieno di attrezzi e cacciaviti e con macchie d’olio sparse ovunque. In un piccolo scenario così iniziarono a suonare da qualche parte nel Queens nel 1986. Erano in quattro: i fratelli Lou e Pete Koller, Armand Majidi e Rich Cipriano. Dopo le qualificazioni si entra subito di diritto nel girone Champions del CBGB facendo la conoscenza e suonando con i loro stessi idoli.
Una manciata di ep (l’omonimo e “We Stand Alone” tra il 1987 ed 1991) ed a sandwich il primo lungo “Blood, Sweat and No Tears” tutti sotto Relativity Records. Poi nel 1992 viene lanciata la bomba “Just Look Around” che segna anche la fine della collaborazione con l’etichetta per l’approdo su East West Records.
La cosa meno piacevole di “Just Look Around”, probabilmente, è il font rosso e grassoccio di copertina che fa bruciare gli occhi, per il resto c’è veramente tanta carne al fuoco e pezzi quali “We Want the Truth” e “Stand Alone” (rectius: sing along) sono già dei classici. Lo spot-mazzata di “What’s going’ on” è il jolly capace di deragliare dai binari quasi da subito con una velocità di manovra quasi folle. Il confine tra hardcore punk e thrash metal sembra sempre più labile, con la chitarra sempre più satura.
La sensazione che rimane impressa, a parte i tanti notevoli numeri da “Violent Generation” e “Locomotive” a “Shut Me Out”, è quella di un disco molto cupo perfetta visione dall’alto di una metropoli notturna inquinata dai fumi dei gas di scarico, dalle grandi industrie, sporca e degradata. Ed episodi più rallentati ed inusuali come la title-track “Just Look Around” e “The Shield”, in cui il cantato di Lou si avvicina vagamente ad uno stile rappato, rafforzano questa narrazione decadente e stradaiola, rispetto ad “Built To Last” in cui invece usciranno anche fuori le loro influenze oi-punk.
Il punto di rottura, con le relative polemiche, arriveranno presto con la firma major, ma l’unico rumore da ricordare sarà come qui solo quello dei decibel assordanti fuoriusciti dalla chitarra di Pete e i ruggiti di Lou uniti ai ritmi secchi ed incessanti di Armand Majidi alla batteria (“What’s Goin’ On” e “Violent Generation”), senza dimenticare a completare la sezione ritmica, il basso di Rich Cipriano, distorto e spesso in evidenza (“The Shield” e la stessa title-track).
Mettiamola così: non sono ancora riuscito a sciogliere la questione sul quale sia il loro disco migliore tra questo (che tra i tre è quello con una componente hardcore leggermente più marcata), Stratch The Surface e Built To Last, quindi nel dubbio celebriamo questo per tutti, che torto non si fa, visto che siamo di fronte ad una delle pietre miliari dell’hardcore americano degli anni Novanta.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 We Want the Truth (02:55)
Abused used the way we felt
Dirt cheap the way you dealt
Talk talk nothing's said
Speeches promises don't mean a thing
Empty words from your mouth
Token actions gave you clout
Time's now to end your luck
No more talks cause we don't give a fuck
About your alibis, about your lies
and all your excuses
Think we can't handle it
Think we would cave in, why don't you try it
No more stories, no more double talk
and no more cover ups, we just want the truth!
Abused used the way we felt
Dirt cheap the way you dealt
Talk talk nothing's said
Speeches promises don't mean a thing
Empty words from your mouth
No one cares what it's about
In the past give us proof
No more talks, we just want the truth!
And what about the youth
Never told the truth
Never told what it's all about
It's all about the wealth
There's no one there to help
and everyone's looking out for themselves
Put our faith in you and our trust too
Have you no conscience
We know the story, it's money and glory
Don't care who you step on
No more speeches, no time for apologies
We heard it all before
All of your alibis, all about your lies
and all your excuses
Think we can't handle it
Think we would cave in, think we can't take it
No more stories, no more double talk
No more cover ups, we just want the truth!
02 Locomotive (02:12)
Trapped in a rut and i can't get out
don't see a way to be free
working at it everyday nothing that i do
or say can break my poverty
my desperate eyes will close tonight
and i hope i won't feel a thing
cause i know tomorrow i'll continue
with my sorrow
and my desperate eyes will sting
I don't understand, is it some kind of plan
to keep us in our places
no matter how we try, no matter how we strive
we just can't seem to get ahead
Same old stuff all over again
but necessity keeps me here
every week that passes
i'm gettin' weaker, faster
i'm living in constant fear
suffering is at an all time high
and they tell me i'm a lucky man
if lucky is to suffer, then i wish it on another
and i really don't give a damn
Day in day out, feeling the grind
someway, somehow, gonna leave it behind day in day out, feeling the grind
someway, somehow, gonna leave it behind
day in day out, feeling the grind
someway, somehow, gonna leave it behind
03 The Pain Strikes (03:06)
the pain strikes, the pain ascends
too much to comprehend
come down, remove the breath
come down, remove what's left
loss of the will to live, the loss of everything
i know we'll say goodbye someday
goodbye said in an eternal way
too precious just to throw away
it's a waste, such a waste, what a waste, you know
i can't believe it's happening
the pain strikes, the pain's at hand
too much to understand
wind blow, remove the pain
wind blow, put out the flame
you won't admit to the pain you've submit to
you fight it every inch of the way
you don't deserve this, it's such an injustice
just watching you slip away
you on the other hand - pathetic i reprimand
you for all the things you believe
nobody wants to know what you're up to
when all you want to do is deceive
04 Shut Me Out (02:12)
Pressure cooker about to explode
the ignorant ones are litenin' to fools
radical factions add fuel to the fire
to satisfy their hateful desire
We as the innocent suffer the most
paying for crimes we did not commit
here to serve penance for history's sins
detested for something we've never been
All their grandstands, all their big plans
didn't change a damn thing
how could you explain
i don't know your pain
understanding how you shut me out
trust - is lost - we'll gain it back
give us the chance
look in our past and what do you see
history of violence for centuries
the truth isn't written in history's page
this is the source of frustration and rage
we have no rights to ask for your trust
to gain your acceptance we'll do what we must
we'll make a stand for whatever's right
we'll make a stand equal and tight
Shut me out don't you
shut me out don't you
shut me out don't you
shut me out
06 Never Measure Up (01:37)
No one can see you, no one can see
no one can sense humility
no one can hear you, no one can hear
inadequacy's in the air
The greatest fear for you to be
exposed for all the world to see
Never-measure-never-measure-never-measure
never-measure-up
I know they see me, i know they see
i know they sense humility
i know they hear me, i know they hear
now i face my greatest fear
07 Just Look Around (02:41)
The question they keep asking me
how can one so young be so bitter and angry
well, the answer is plain to see
maybe if they wern't so blind they'd see what i see
i see the homeless livin' out on the street
on every corner they're asking for money
i try to help them whenever i can
but sometimes i can't afford to help myself
i see diseases and modern plagues of our times
the greed of our leaders has made them blind
to our problems
they spend millions overseas,
people right here are fightin' wars everyday
I see the whites that hate the blacks
blacks against the jews, race against religion
and the're all too blind to see
When we fight each other it puts all of them at ease
it keeps us so busy, so they can do what they please
election time comes and they're out for votes
that's when you see and hear from them the most
this is what they're calling a democracy
that's just another word for hypocrisy
we keep fallin' for the bait
when we realize, it's always too late
I see the whites that hate the blacks
blacks that hate the jews, brother against brother
and they're all to blind to see
As the rich get richer, the poor goin' hungry
i've seen the toll it takes on the workingman's family
education system that's obsolete
can't hold a kid's interest or keep 'em off the street
see a father's fear, hear a mother's cry
what kind of a nation lets their children die
government's corrupt and full of red tape
then you're gonna ask me why i hate
Why don't you open up your eyes so you can see
open up your ears so you can hear
take a look around and you will find
take a look around and you will find out why
08 Violent Generation (01:32)
Hard times, is what we're in
and it ain't getting any easier my friends
friends, search for the easy way out
and they don't care how it comes about
youth, they just wanna get paid
they don't wanna end up working like slaves
slavin', for nickels and dimes
so they turn to the quick money of crime
Morals are gone, no respect for human life
but what was it that you'd expect
take a look around at this world we live in
tell me you wouldn't grow up cold and callous
prejudice, is one of their tools
and we fell for it like a pack of fools
fools, is what we are
we follow their plans to the letter so far
each other, at the other's throat
they sit back, to them it's all a joke
joke, but now the joke is on them
they can't deal with this generation so violent
We stand accused of the crimes
the crimes that take place
they point the finger
but they're the ones that set the pace
they beat you down, to try to keep you in your place
they were the ones, they were the ones
they were the ones that taught me to hate
09 The Shield (02:37)
Lowered my shield, lowered - defenses
happier now feeling - all senses
heighten my soul and my - awereness
isn't it great being - defendeless
a long time ago i was - protected
the choise was mine and i - selected
the joy and the pain were - connected
lowered my shield, now i'm not protected
I never used to let it down
never used to let it down
i never used to let it down
never used to let it
there's something i've got to see
i never used to let it down
never used to let it down
i never used to let it down
never used to let it
i've got to see what's realy inside of me
Now i understand that emotion
now i undrstand why ther's commotion
all this time without - a notion
all this time without - devotion
why waste time being - suspicious
come taste life it's - delicious
expose yourself to the - malicious
expose yourself, they're - so vicious
All these years / will this shield disappear
and will i stand / a stronger man / no shield in hand
i'll have to overcome the pain the best that i can
11 We Stand Alone (02:44)
Here it is, once again,
Tales of betrayal by the ones we call our friends
Took us long to get where we are
Now we're told what we've done is wrong
We all started with something to say
Was it our different views or jealousy in the way
Now you're the ones setting the rules
Just like the establishment you're so against
Lay down your laws, say what you will
Tell me i'm wrong and i'll defy you
Who are you to make up rules and put us down?
With our friends, we'll stay to the end
And if it comes down to it, we'll stand alone
Here it is once again, tales of conformity
By the ones who would be king
We never set out to impress anyone
It's just an outlet, our chance to be heard
At first you said we hated to much
Now you say we just can't hate enough
Now you're screaming that we've changed
We've grown up but our beliefs are still the same
It's still an outlet for anger and strife
But one more thing, it's also our life
(We) We don't need any help (stand alone)
Our beliefs are strong enough to (stand alone)
Our desire's burning deep, in our hearts
It's in ourheads, it's in our souls
(We) We defy your fucking lies (stand alone)
You question our beliefs (stand alone)
Our desire's burning deep, in our hearts
It's in our heads, it's in our souls (stand alone) (x2)
People from the past, they dont want to hear us
The ones they call our peers, they just fear us
Ain't handin' no lies but reality comes off as cold
What you hear from me comes from deep down inside us
This just ain't a song of defiance,
I'm just tellin' you how it goes
We stand alone!
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