BAD BRAINS
I And I (reissue, 1986)
BAD BRAINS/ORG
8/10
Landmark punk-metal fourth from DC Rastas
Bad Brains pioneered hardcore with the pummelling speed and precision of 1980’s “Pay To Cum”, splintered its fundamentalism with their equal faith in reggae, and helped lead black rock’s resurgence. Chops forged in a prehistory playing jazz-rock allowed them to repeatedly shuck punk straitjackets, and here they slowed the mayhem they’d helped spark, introducing metal and funk to the American underground. A template for Faith No More’s breakthrough sound is laid in passing, as the sludgy “Intro” drags the tempo into Sabbath’s doomy realm, before the title track revs up and back down, the tension between hardcore and metal’s culturally opposed approaches suggesting a new paradigm. “House Of Suffering” finds frontman HR’s resistant passion undimmed, as he sings of “Jah love… here in the underground/ In the hearts of your own children”. The pop chorus and production sheen of “She’s Calling You” even ponders engagement with 1986’s sonically brittle mainstream, a possibility quickly nixed by HR’s muffled “Sacred Love” vocal, sung down the phone from the slammer. NICK HASTED
JACK BRUCE
Songs For A Tailor
ESOTERIC
9/10
Cream hero’s solo debut expanded over two discs, plus Blu-ray
In August 1969, all three former members of Cream released their first albums following the band’s demise. The hype behind Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker’s new supergroup ensured that Blind Faith’s self-titled set debuted at No 1, but Bruce’s solo debut was not far behind, reaching No 6 in the UK charts – and ultimately, many judge to have been the more consistently rewarding album. Bruce took with him Cream’s wordsmith Pete Brown, whose lyrics were full of literate references, while Bruce combined rock riffs and jazz tropes with a rootsier influence derived from The Band, most evident on the album’s most endearing and enduring track,
