BAD BRAINS - Youth Are Getting Restless LP

Label: ORG Music

When it was first released by Caroline Records in 1990, The Youth Are Getting Restless seemed a bit unnecessary as SST’s Live, which was culled from performances from the same tour, was only two years old. But it quickly became clear that The Youth…, which crucially, unlike the patchwork Live, was a single concert, presented a far more dynamic and thrilling picture of the band as it was at its hardcore-metal-reggae height.

This electrifying show was recorded at the Paradiso Theater in Amsterdam in 1987, and though there is a parallel, equally valid argument that says that the real heyday of Bad Brains definitively ended with the release of I Against I in 1986, this remains a record of a band at the top of their game. Though this was recorded on the grueling I Against I tour, there’s still plenty of blistering hardcore on display. Whichever side of the fence you’re on, it’s impossible not to be impressed by the assured intensity of Dr. Know, Darryl Jenifer, Earl Hudson and H.R. at their peak, and there are 17 examples of it on this fantastic album.