Album: Reign In Blood
Year: 1986
Genre: Thrash Metal
Why on Earth am I writing anything about Reign In Blood? Other than possibly Ride The Lightning or Master Of Puppets, is there another metal album held in higher regard by millions? Let’s be realistic at this point, not even the mighty Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden have albums that command the reverence of those three pinnacles of thrash. They changed the world and set metal on a new course which, to the chagrin of some, included worldwide fame. Not much else to be said about this record, right? Well, here’s the deal. I recently threw a copy of the album on my turntable to play test. I’ve owned this album since the day it was released, but I came across another copy that I am going to sell. To be a diligent record dealer, I play-test expensive items. It was late at night. Everyone was asleep at my house. I had nothing to do. I sat in a chair right in front of my overly large speakers and listened to this monumental album from the first note to the last. I haven’t enjoyed Reign In Blood as much as I did in that short 30 minutes in many years.
This is where the reason for writing this comes into play and raises a pivotal question with classic albums that you burned into your brain enough times that it’s now part of your DNA: what albums have you heard so much that you almost feel you don’t need to play them again? It sounds strange, but after listening to an album for just under 40 years, it might not be an unreasonable inquiry. I imagine it’s akin to riding any thrill ride over and over and over and each time the thrill lessens a bit. You may even have to take some time off so your memory of experience fades to allow it to become exciting once again. I cannot begin to count the times I’ve played Reign In Blood. Whether it was listening while riding my bike, being stupid at a friend’s house, repulsing some random girl in my car, or hiding under the covers with my off-brand Walkman when I should have been sleeping, it was in constant rotation in my life for quite a long time.
The title of this blog is named Every Note, Every Word, Every Chord for a specific reason. Reign In Blood falls comfortably in the parameters of knowing every note, word and chord. That means I’ve studied every inch of the album like I was going to be given an enjoyable test. It also means I know it so well that I don’t find myself going to listen to it very often as more time passes. It’s a possibility that I’ve amassed a huge amount of music since 1986 so it gets lost in the shuffle, or it’s made such a sizable imprint on me that I don’t need to listen to it much. Either way, this listening session hit me like a ton of bricks dropping on my head from a 747. I found myself mesmerized by the songs and actively realizing how fucking brutal this album is…again. Not that it ever wasn’t brutal, but music has gone in such and extreme direction that the forefathers could be viewed as a bit more tame in comparison. I focused on the speed and the precision of the playing. I was once again amazed with the stripped-down production and the razor-sharp clarity of the recording resulting in each instrument standing alone only to converge into an aural killing machine. I also was reminding myself that I was a couple weeks away from getting my driver’s license when this was released. Reign In Blood was a revolution in many ways including: label, producer / production, Billboard chart, lyrics, and most importantly, its continuing legacy and profound impact on heavy metal. It’s an astounding sliver of music history that cannot be outdone or reproduced.
Listen to "Criminally Insane" here.
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