Review Summary: Classic hit. Really.
Personnel:
Jesse Michaels - lead vocals, backing vocals on "Bad Town"
Lint - guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Bad Town"
Matt McCall - bass, backing vocals
Dave Mello - drums, backing vocals
Review:
What to say? Operation Ivy, a hardcore punk/ska punk band that influenced many other bands such as Green Day, Rancid, No Trigger and many is just a classic these days. However, the band has released only one studio album and that is Energy. Sure, there was Hectic, but that is just an EP, and that doesn't count at all. So what is the difference between the two? Personally for me, Energy feels lyrically-wise more mature than Hectic. It also mixes the hardcore punk and ska punk very well, making it a landmark album of the third wave ska/ska-punk and one of the most iconic albums of the 80's and 90's alongside with Green Day's Dookie, Rancid's ...And Out Come The Wolves, Offspring's SMASH and NOFX's Punk in Drublic. Also, Energy features 19 songs, and there's the problem. After the first 14, they just seem kind of generic. Of course, the songs vary in their style, for example, the album starts off with hc punk song "Knowledge" (probably the most famous Op Ivy song, covered by Green Day, Rancid and many others) and then fades into the more ska "Sound System". The thing i prase at most are Jesse Michaels' vocals, which are just perfect for this genre. They are rough, loud and angry. What kind of dissapoints me is the fact that Tim Armstrong a.k.a Lint has only one song where he does lead vocals (see "Bad Town"). I mean, his voice is maybe better than Jesse's! But he enjoyed his glory as the lead singer of Rancid few years later. Also that line "a few years later" hurts me. Why? Because the band broke up the same year this EP came out. Considering it's little mainstream success and the talent of the band itself, i personally think that they would be in Green Day's place if they didn't broke up.
So overall:
+ Awesome mix of hc punk and ska punk
+ Perfect lyrics
+ Musically mature
- Way too many songs
