Suicidal Tendencies
When punk rock met the formless rebellion that permeated L.A.'s working-class suburbs in the early '80s, a weird hybrid was born, drawing equally from heavy-metal thunder and Ritalin-generation aggression. Suicidal Tendencies' frontman Mike Muir was one of them, and they knew it immediately, latching onto the half-spoken, half-screeched brain bomb "Institutionalized" as an instant classic. That song is certainly the best-known track on this, the group's debut, but it's hardly the only essential one: "Fascist Pig," "I Shot the Devil," and "Possessed" all rage on mightily, the arcs of guitar from Rocky George and Mike Clark serving to push Muir to new heights of blind frenzy. In less powerful hands, this album would be little more than an extended temper tantrum, but in the mitts of Suicidal, it's something far, far more dangerous.--David Sprague