Sick of it All

Four friends from various NYC boroughs, celebrating an escape from the derision and conformity that was daily life in their drab working class environs. Today, those sentiments constitute a paean to a global community, given voice by the one universal constant throughout hardcore's often turbulent existence: SICK OF IT ALL. As torchbearers of this only true remaining worldwide musical underground, SICK OF IT ALL is the one band upon which each and every fan can depend. From Finland to Japan, from Argentina to the UK, hardcore fans have remained under the commercial radar for going on two decades strong. Whether deliberately shunned or accidentally overlooked by the mainstream, these hundreds of thousands of kids live for something that cannot be fabricated for or target-marketed to them: Lyrics that capture their alienation, music that channels their rage, and the emotional release provided only by the most energetic and communal of live shows. Call To Arms, SICK OF IT ALL's fifth album, draws on virtually every stage of the venerable career of hardcore's foremost outfit. The opening salvo of "Let Go" instantly recalls the traditional purist hardcore

Click Me!!of SOIA's eponymous 1987 EP and 1989 debut LP, Blood Sweat & No Tears, as do several other songs ("Falter," "Guilty," "Pass The Buck"). First single "Potential For A Fall," "Falling Apart" and the scathing closer "Patsy" harken back to forays into darker moods SOIA's second and third LPs, Just Look Around (1992) and Scratch The Surface (1994). Elsewhere, the infectious choruses and arrangements of "The Future Is Mine," the aforementioned "Sanctuary" and "Quiet Man" pick up on the measured progression of 1997's Built To Last.