Best Wishes

I don't think I even need to go into who and what the Cro-Mags are and what they represent. Without a doubt, the definitive New York hardcore band and that's saying a lot just due to the fact that there's a good handful of bands from that genre/scene but nothing compared to these cavemen. Certain bands brought certain things to the genre's table: Agnostic Front brought the image of tough guys with shaved heads playing loud music and possibly the most famous/mainstream crossover appeal. Sick Of It All brought the muscle but lyrically the heart and intelligence of trying to be able to cope with everyday life. They taught you you could be tough but still have a heart. Leeway brought a comic book-esque type vibe that easily nudged the shoulders of Overkill and Nuclear Assault. Even Sheer Terror literally brought the fucking hurt with it's Celtic Frost-influenced New York sound that would even go on to influence the likes of Winter.....but Cro Mags? They were the NY Bad Brains in a nutshell. They were pretty much the more dangerous of all the bands. Some bands seemed like you didn't even want to walk their way. Some bands just plain looked scary. Cro-Mags were the band that if you knew were walking down the block, you would hear doors being locked, window curtains being closed and babies start crying with mothers trying to quiet them. They were the real deal and alternatively they were the most spiritual of all the bands. New York hardcore with the teachings of Hare Krishna? Nobody ever accused of the Cro-Mags not thinking outside of the box.

"Age of Quarrel". Instant classic. Still hasn't been touched to this day. "Best Wishes"....takes what you thought about "Age Of Quarrel" and kicks your ass to the next few levels. It also takes our spiritually-minded, but street tough guys to a territory that got them into some trouble. Not that they were fucking trouble on 10 legs with a Navy Seal for a the head, but this album got them into trouble with just about everyone around them. Hardcore fans, I don't know if they are more closed minded than metal heads. Not saying that both musical camps are close-minded fools, but there are a lot that are still pussy-sore about their bands changing AND THEY WEREN'T EVEN BORN WHEN THE BAND WAS AROUND. Go fucking figure. What got Cro-Mags into trouble is that for one, they started flirting with a more metallic direction in the riffs. Not that anyone with a fucking brain couldn't hear the influences of Black Sabbath and Motorhead in their music to begin with, but Cro-Mags ditches the Discharge and optimizes for the Overkill. Yep, they really did go crossover thrash with this bad boy. And not only did they go crossover thrash (name me one NY band that didn't have a few metal riffs in their late '80s early '90s albums? I cannot find one. Even Judge had metal riffs, damnit), they lost their Navy Seal frontman and had their guitarist Harley singing in place. There's times where he sounds just like John Bloodclot Joseph and there are times where you hear him try his own thing and it comes off as somewhat comical/funny (ex: The Only One), so I can understand for some fans this was too much of a change, but when you get down to it, it's the same Cro-Mags, the same riffs, and the same teachings....only more metal.

"Best Wishes" for the lack of better word represents a time that was coming to an end as well. It's almost like the last golden crossover thrash/hardcore whatever album of the 80's. There were plenty of bands with their gems; Cryptic Slaughter, Wehrmacht, C.O.C., DRI, Suicidal Tendencies, etc.etc. Majority of them also started out as hardcore-punk bands and like the Cro-Mags also were considered the founding fathers of their respective scenes. But for the Cro-Mags, time didn't deal for them a good hand. Aside from the musical change, even line-up change, the times were changing and it was showing. That's not to say that Cro-Mags was playing generic shit like Defiance, or Hexx or some other 50th rate bay area-wannabe act, far from that. This is hands down some of the best combination of New York hardcore and thrash metal, but it was probably too late seeing how it was released in 1989. If they had released it say may be a year earlier, may be it would have gotten a better reception than "The Age of Quarrel" or may be it wouldn't have gotten tagged with the whole crossover/thrash tag. Like they were doing the right thing by changing yet they missed a beat somewhere. Sad when you think about it because the music here doesn't let up. It's fast, it's furious, it's thrashing, it's stomping, it's melodic, it's heavy, and above all, it's spiritually and mentally intelligent.

Song-wise, I cannot think of a bad song at all. It's just one of those albums you can listen to all the way through and time and time again for the most part. Aside from Harley's vocals, there's not much of anything I personally can't complain about. "Death Camp", "Crush the Demoniac", "Fugitive", "Down But Not Out" are the stand-out track for me personally. Also I forgot to mention that lyrically this is also not as fucking brutal as the first album. Where John Joseph screamed at the hippies and their ill-conceived notice of shit like world peace and literally showing no fucking mercy to anyone, here Harley takes it back a notch and tries to be a bit more mature in the teachings of vegetarianism and Hare Krishna. So the blue-collared violence is toned down a notch. But besides these slight differences "Best Wishes" is an album for any metal head or hardcore fan. It's the last album of a decade that gave us so many other classics and it's also the last best album by the Cro-Mags. The next two albums? Doozies. See my review on "Alpha Omega" on that case. But again, if you are a fan of thash, hardcore, crossover, punk, whatever, "Best Wishes" is a must-own.

With this followup to the mighty impressive and also legendary debut masterpiece in NYHC history, the Hare Krishna boys deliver with the same intensity albeit deviating more towards heavy metal this time. Best Wishes has managed to create a unique niche of its own without sounding like a replica of any of the bands on the LA front. With its crisp production and solid musicianship this one’s become one of my all time favorite records and gets atleast two spins every week. The record packs a certain punch that is clearly identifiable and is capable of demolishing pretty much all the pretty boy competition out there. Cro-Mags have done it again.

Starting off with “Death Camps” this one’s a treat for both moshers and punks. The hardcore delivery caters to the latter while the metal sound to the former. The drumming pounds mercilessly and the solos are slick and crisp. “Days Of Confusion” carries a starting riff that is slightly reminiscent of a certain song done by Chicago thrashers Cyclone Temple called “Sister Christian” and one which I became a huge fan of. This one too pretty much carries the same hardcore meets metal touch with no leanings towards either one genre in particular. The next track “The Only One” is a real catchy tune with that destructive riff, awesome bass intro and vocals done in a not so common way that shows a clear thrash metal side to this band. The fastest track on the album “Down But Not Out” is one furious slab of insanity and is likely to set any mosh pit on fire.

The next two tracks namely “Crush The Demoniac” and “Fugitive”are slightly different but still carry a fair deal of genuinity with some creative riffwork that keep the interest and adrenalin level right up there. “Then And Now” is more or less a funk meets hardcore track with a few thrash riffs thrown in to good effect. Now comes the real piece of the pie taker of a track “Age Of Quarrel” which is also the name of their brilliant debut album. My reaction upon listening to this track was something like “Holy mother, what a crazy main riff!!!” This is a trendsetter and defines their political opinions in the best possible way. The chugging guitar work and drums accentuate extremely well.

So what are you waiting for? Get this album if you couldn’t get enough of “Age Of Quarrel”. This one goes out to all those old school punks and crossover/thrash maniacs who need their vitriolic dosage on a regular basis. Awesome shit!!!!

This essential followup to the timeless "Age of Quarrel" is a must-own piece of crossover. It may not bear the same standard of perfect the original record attained but it's a worthy purchase in it's own right. Harley takes over the vocal department on this one and it works out well suprisingly. His shriek fits the newly metallic riffcore with reckless abandon. The band themselves are also in fine form crafting pounding riffs and melodies for Harley to shout over. The production values are top notch and the metal edge is more prevalent (but not damaging) than it was before. If the Cro-Mags could have kept with this step by step evolution they'd still be putting out perfect records to this day. Even so, this and the hammering debut are statement enough for Harley and company.

The material on this album varies a little more in quality than the stunning debut but classic songs are around every corner. The beyond-brutal "Death Camps" slays any toughguy hardcore before and after it. "Crush the Demoniac" sets a pounding standard that Pantera and their followers failed to match and "Days of Confusion" slides along with a certain NYHC groove that hammers with brutal metal guitarwork. The other songs don't dissapoint, though this CD lacks the "one highlight after another" feel of the first.

The Cro-Mags fell off the quality wagon at this point and released some "ok" albums that didn't even begin to touch the firepower of the first few releases. Even so, you can buy the first two powerhouse records on one CD at this point so why even bother looking for the rest?

BUY OR DIE!!!

http://www.cromags.com