Description
Burn This Record is a full-length album by the American punk/hardcore band The Lead, released on R.E.X. Music in 1989. The album was recorded and mixed at Criteria Recording Studios in North Miami, Florida; with Mike McNamee and the band producing.
If you faithfully attend the Cornerstone Festival every year, and throw yourself into the mosh pit that develops during the punk/thrash sets; this album is definitely for you! Although adorned with shots of stage-divers at the fest, this release caters to a larger audience than just the hard-core crowd. The addition of second guitarist, Andy Cole, and the high-quality facilities at Criteria Studios in Miami gave this album a beefy guitar assault that will thrill fans of Vengeance, Believer and Deliverance.
The lyrics range from biting attacks on sin in our lives («Oh No, Not Again», «I Can’t Find It In My Heart», and «Internal Pain») to suicide, abortion, and even a skateboard anthem – «Skate or Die». The diversity of sound mostly revolves around the vocalist. If Julio Rey is singing, it’s dark, fast, and heavy. If Nina Llopis is singing, the mood turns to fun and a groove.
Thrashers will want to buy this album istead of burning it. It’s way rad. [Doug Van Pelt, CCM, May 1990]
Okay, I know I’m too old for all this noisy, gritty thrash/punk rock music. I know that The Lead is not as musical as Suicidal Tendencies or as good players as Red Hot Chili Peppers or as progressive as Bad Brain, but then they don’t pretend to be. The Lead, now a quartet, take this thing completely seriously, and except for those moments in each song when I find myself smiling either because I can’t understand a word they’re shouting or that the music is threatening to become a noisy waste of time, I do to.
Vocals are traded between Nina Llopis, who nearly sings and has a nice voice, and Julio Rey, who seems to be competing with Roger Martinez of Vengeance for whos most menacing, but since no lyrics were contained in my advance copy I can only report that the titles seem be taken from the one line each verse that the casual listener can overhear. Not that you can put this on and remain casual, you’re either going to hate it or love it, unless you’re like me and too old for this stuff, in which case you won’t be able to help your self and you’ll just like it.
But seriously, you’ll either want to burn this record, or ‘Burn This Record’ will be your favorite record until Vengeance or the Crucified get their next albums out. As for me and my house we’re somewhere in the middle. [Brian Q. Newcomb, Harvest Rock Syndicate, No. 4, 1989 (Volume 4)]
Burn This Record + 30, Roxx Records, 2019 reissue
It’s 30 years since ‘Burn This Record’ was released and my original tape cassette version is practically unusable. Now Roxx Records have released this completely remastered version of one of the seminal hardcore Christian punk albums. In addition to the original recording, seven previously unreleased demo tracks have been added from the Florida legends to produce this celebration package. Known for their cutting edge hardcore, frenzied rhythms and the addition of a female lead vocal, The Lead produce a wall of noise. It is pleasing to see how well ‘Burn This Record’ has survived the test of time. Still sonically anarchic, these 22 cuts have sharp rhythms and a progressive feel. Marrying machine gun drums with precise riffing, each track exudes energy. A throaty bass underpins songs such as the demo «Defy», but the recording’s real strength is found in bold statements of faith that are as uncompromising as they are brutally honest. «Change The World», probably the most commercial cut, opens proceedings with a solid rumble and a call to personal holiness. Other notable tracks include the anthemic «Oh No, Not Again» which runs and builds into the nearest that The Lead get to a sing-a-long chorus. For fans of hardcore there is very little on offer not to enjoy, and for the curious, this is an iconic recording in the development of a branch of hard music. The Lead were pioneers and this recording with its extra demos gives a nice insight into the embryonic stages of the Florida hardcore scene of the early ’90s. [Ian Webber, Cross Rhythms, February 2020]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/burn-this-record/1826334022)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Change The World”
A2. “Boring World”
A3. “Suicide Is A Lie”
A4. “Internal Pain”
A5. “Hope You Stay Alive”
A6. “Oh No, Not Again”
A7. “To The End Of The Earth”
Side Two
B1. “Losers”
B2. “Who’s The Victim”
B3. “I Can’t Find It In My Heart”
B4. “Skate Or Die”
B5. “Kill Satan Mosh”
B6. “The Empty Sepulchre”
B7. “Defiance”
B8. “Wink Of An Eye”
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by R.E.X. Music. Available at Bandcamp: https://theleadband.bandcamp.com/album/burn-this-record-30
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