Back in 1990 when thrash was a big deal in the Western world, a prolific Christian crossover (one part punk, one part metal) band recorded their debut album. The guitarist decided to record some songs on a 4 track for fun. These songs did not fit The Crucified’s style, so the demo tape ended up on the desk of REX Records… and the demo became an album. It was a good collection of thrash demos. What I did not realize until recently is that Greg Minier, who played and sang everything on the entire album, recorded the songs without bass. The rationale back then was that they were demos, and Metallica had released their …And Justice For All that year without bass (Jason Newsted actually did record bass on that album but thanks to ego-maniacs in Metallica, you can not hear them).
I thought the Minier album was solid then and I think it sounds better with age. The expanded edition is the Minier album plus demos done in 1988 and 1989, along with a radio show interview recorded around the time of the release. One of the expanded edition tracks worth mentioning is a fun demo entitled “Mulligan Barf,” which is Greg’s satirical rendering of the Vengeance Rising’s “Mulligan Stew.” I won’t spoil it for you, but you will spill a gut listening to it.
You can order this CD, complete with a 6-panel insert, at Boone’s Overstock. Just throw that in the search engine and wait for the tunes to arrive. Note: Minier is great for driving, cooking, and construction work. It might be good for cleaning fish, but it has been awhile since I’ve been fishing.
[2017 Retroactive Records | Purchase: boonesoverstock.storenvy.com]
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