Review Summary: Nuclear Assault's defining album, arguably their best work to date and a shining example of east coast thrash.
The East Coast thrashers' gift to the rest of the world, "Handle with Care" can easily stand tall with other bay area counterparts. The 1989 release saw the band make the album they were always capable of, combining thrash with punk to near perfection. This album is not only the band's defining album, but one of crossover thrash's best recordings.
The music contained within this 35 minute powerhouse is heavy and fast, and has enough attitude to instantly grab your attention and never let go. One can tell right away from the album cover that this album will be very outspoken about politics, pollution, and of course nuclear warfare. The lyrical content deals with all the aforementioned and it is refreshing to a certain extent, to not hear some douche whining about his feelings and personal strife. And unlike their previous effort, the album is not lacking in song structure, with nearly each track transitioning nicely with one another. It also seems as if the band paid careful attention as to not write repetitive material, as each riff, solo, bass line and drum fill sounded fresh and never boring. The album also shows some maturity and direction, with hardly any joke tracks (with the exception of the annoying "Mother's Day'), the bands writes more serious material. One might say that the band took everything about their last album, "Survive", and improved on it until we have this as the final cohesive product.
The band's lineup stayed the same for this album, with John Connelly and Dan Lilker remaining the key songwriters, but drummer Glenn Evans would also be contributing his own ideas, resulting in a more band oriented writing process. Of course the album remains heavy and fast, but the band displayed some more variation in their sound with tracks like "Funky Noise" which is indeed a funk oriented track that is anything but metal. The band also moves away from the full out metal assault at some points, writing some very riff driven material, and even slowing it down in the last track "Trail of Tears" in favor of more melodic material. My personal favorite off this album was the incredibly riff-heavy "Critical Mass" but the whole album contains some of my most favorite thrash tracks. Each band member has their shining moments throughout the album, with the bass being heavy and audible, the guitars loud and skillful, and the drums fast and on point.
The band displayed their best material to date, "Handle With Care" being an understandably hard act to follow. The album took everything that made Nuclear Assault's sound unique, and improved on it. Unfortunately, the bands later material would be lacking, showing almost none of the creativity and cohesiveness exhibited here, but this material will always be remembered and enjoyed by thrash enthusiasts around the globe.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS
- Critical Mass
- Surgery
- Search & Seizure
- Trail of Tears
Dan Lilker - bass
John Connelly - vocals, guitar
Glenn Evans - drums
Anthony Bramante - guitar
Produced by Randy Burns
Recorded: 1989
Released: November 23, 1989
In-Effect Records
