About the album
Social Distortion are among the best bands in punk still around today. They make their debut a very long time ago, we have to go back in 1978 when Mike Ness formed the band. They come all the way from Orange County, California. Social Distortion have really special sound of punk rock mix with a lot of inluances from rock and punk bands. Taking influances from such bands like The Clash, The Ramones, The Rolling Stones, Johhny Cash and many others. The album I will review today was their first album, Mommy's Little Monster. This album was realeased in 1983 after the single Playpen in 1980 and Mainliner in 1981. Mommy's Little Monster was follow by Prison Bound in 1988, then Self/Titled in 1990. The band also released in 1992 Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell, in 1996 White Light White Heat White Trash and finally in 2004 Sex, Love and Rock'n'Roll.
The album sound a bit different from newer records, but it is still very similar. This album include nine songs. We can find on this album the classical The Creeps and the awesome Mommy's Little Monster. Mike Ness is doing the vocal and guitar for this album. Dennis Danell play guitar, he became later bassist for Social Distortion and he died in 2000. Brent Liles is on the bass and finally Derek O'Brien play drum. Now let's take a look at this album.
Good Aspects
The sound is great, I don't think I have anything negative to say about it. I mean the drum is really present in each and every songs.It give an awesome beat to each tracks.It is fast,hard and loud, it give a lot of power to songs. The guitar is excellent like on any other Social Distortion's records.The bass is also good. Another strong aspect are Mike Ness vocals, I have always found is voice kind of diffferent of other punk singers. It have a lot of emotion in it and it catch right into the heart when he sing.
I would also say that the lyrics are good. They talk about politic, social problems and also about personal experiences.They are in majority written by Mike Ness. My favorite lyrics are in the song an Hour of Darkness. The song talk about being on drug adiction. Here is a part of the lyrics, it is really well written:''
An hour of darkness, an hour that's passed, this life I feel just won't be surpassed. Death life as I've never seen before, one more trip like that I'm in the morgue.''
The song is really meaningful and really point out a big problem in society.Now,if we look at the songs in general,we can easily notice The Creeps which is a classical Social Distortion's song. It is kind of really fast, it have nice drum, great guitar riff and Mike Ness vocal just give the right anwser to the sound of instruments. I think it is easily one of the best tracks on this album. Then, my favorite on the album, Mommy's Little Monster which I really like for the amazing beat. Everything is good in this song, it have a quite joyful sound and Mike Ness voice just catch your attention enough to make you really like it. It is easily one of the best ever by Social Distortion. Also, songs like Telling Them, All The Anwsers and Moral Threat are all good songs that make the album really worth to listen.
Negative Aspects
The first negative aspect, is the fact that the album only have nine songs and it last 27 minutes. It is not very long when you pay the full price for an album. It is also really short for a Social Distortion's album. For example, L.A. Prison Bound, have ten songs and last more than 40 minutes. So people who prefer longer album will maybe not like this fact. Also the production of the album is not the best, it sound old, well it's not that bad, you can easily go through it. I can't really point bad songs on this album. Some average yes, like Anti-Fashion that is my opinion the worst track on this album. It's not a bad track, but not as good as the other one. I don't think of any other negative aspects about this album.
Conclusion
Well this album is surely something that Social Distortion fans couldn't miss. It have great songs, good lyrics, nice vocals and it will not deceive fan of this band. I also think that any good punk fan will like it. It is not the best that this band can do, but it is still a powerful work. This band have always been one of my favorite since the day I know them, this album only prove how much talent they have. In conclusion, I give to this album
4.5/5. It truly deserve it, believe me.
Recommended Tracks
The Creeps
Mommy Little Monster
Moral Threat
