Questo album uscì nel lontano 1994 e purtroppo non fece il successo che meritava trovandosi a combattere con album quali “Punk in drublic” dei Nofx e “Smash” degli Offspring che calamitarono l’attenzione della critica mondiale. Quando lo sentii per la prima volta e venni in contatto con questa band fui letteralmente colpito dal loro sound un misto di potenza e velocità unito a testi altamente politici.Dopo che l’attenzione dei “media” calò dai due grandi fenomeni “commerciali”che erano diventati Offspring e Nofx, l’album acquistò l’attenzione che meritava e canzoni come”Broken” o “Lost?” diventarono veri e propri tormentoni punk.All’album seguì un primo tour americano e europeo che però non riscosse molto successo.I Punk sono abituati a vivere nell’underground e fortunatamente gli Strung Out non si sono abbattuti e hanno continuato a produrre grandissimo Hc. Voto 8 (Innovativo per l’epoca, con sonorità e testi sempre attualissimi)
Tracklist 01- Population Control02- Lost?03- Drag Me Down04- In Harms Way05- Talking to Myself06- Broken07- Ashes08- Faulter09- Away10- Alone11- Unclean12- Mad Mad World13- 14 Days
TESTI
Population Control – I kneel to you, when you preach to me you’re my god, you’re my t.v. You control what I say, you control what I hear you control what I see. My whole existence revolves around this cable to my mind. Its thought parole, population control its slavery of mankind. Under their control! and you’re loving their control! Don’t question the forces that govern your miserable life. Don’t seek out the answers that void your empty life. Cause this melancholy vision is just a brief episode in this game called reality. Its something I’ve been trying so hard to figure out.
Lost? – When I was young, America meant to me. Land of the beautiful and land of the free. Now I look around and all I see are Americans in poverty We’re all lost without a trace we can’t keep up, can’t find our place. We’re all lost without a clue and our leaders never know what to do. Taking things slow–one step at a time making sure we get left behind. Dreams of success, well they’re all gone.This American way of life, I’ve been robbed!
Drag Me Down – You gave in to your vice so quickly Now I die alone among these people I don’t know And faces I’ve not seen, your masquerade it made me blind well now I see what I must do. Don’t know where I must go to run from tonight. We’re going to drag each other down Again, going to bring each other down. To make believe made it alright to turn our heads the other way made it seem like we could try to hide from all Well I’m sorry and I know this hole we dig for ourselves will bury everything we feel, then bury us tonight. We’re going to drag each other down Again, going to bring each other down. I cannot ignore, I cannot deny, I cannot feel at all, I cannot hide–Just another day, just another war, just another time I must kill another part of me.
In Harm’s Way – Your democracy has become a tattered vision of truth.corporate sponsorship, raping and ruling the land do you think what you say will make it any better, it’s been this way two hundred years will stay this way forever! You made promises of health care still my teeth rot in my head. You once seemed so concerned now you left us all for dead. The unemployed, the uninsured, the homeless in the street, we’re the ones that put you there, buddy you’ve got promises to keep. We won’t survive, this road to power led by all your kings. It’s time to wake up and take back what you have lost.And when it all falls from this malady spread from within, it’s happened once before my friend well here it comes again. This state we’ve built is a sick reflection of all that we’ve become we’ve closed our eyes, been fed these lies do you know what your country’s done. In the land of mad consumers free to spend at their own will, we’re losing sight of what it means to be a free America. I cannot stand by, and watch them as they fuck up my life. Believe these lies, they’ll lead you to a path in harm’s way! Talking to Myself
Broken – The secret, kept safely hid in your mind.Betrays you, when you look into my eyes. Broken are the bonds that used to bind you and I.Broken like a promise bred from your world of lies. Broken are the dreams, the ones you let slip away. Trust me, two words I’ve heard once before. Shelter, your eyes from all that is real. Broken and distorted, your reality within your fucked up little worlds a shame of need and denial. I can’t stand by and let you lead me through this path It’s broke, It’s Broken. Noises, the ones you hear in your mind. They lead you away from something that’s real.
Alone – I’m alone, but you point your finger and laugh at me and thank god that you are nowhere close to me because we’re different And you try so hard to hate me, to go home I’m alone and I cannot stay, What do you know about being alone has life ever had a suicidal tone, no one wants to know me for they slip me out I’m outside looking in, I’m alone. Think I’m under pressure while I’m here today but we only know the right words to say that has come and gone if they had only known they couldn’t go through life alone. Help me, two words I don’t know how to say I’m in pain but thats a message you can never convey. Hear me, and I’ve tried to make you understand without love, life will kill the strongest man
Ashes – There’s a blood stain on the floor by the door where your whole world fell and died. There’s a silent chair in the corner of the room where you sat alone and cried. Well she got something to say to you, but the words never mean a thing, so she took that needle to her pain and set herself free. Burn! Burn it to the ground. When times got tough, you got a little tougher then you slowly fell behind. Running to catch the things you could not see, running to catch what you could not find. Well I never wanted to need you, now it’s time for you to see, this forgotten pain that you tried to hide, buried in your apathy. Burn! Burn all to the ground…
Faulter – Do you believe there’s hope for your kind that your insatiable quest for direction will one day help you find veracity and meaning to your existence as a whole that all your dreams of happy endings will be achieved with faith and sometimesdo you feel that cold wind blowing you beyond all you think is right, beyond all realm of human thought, beyond your foolish thinking, one step ahead is one inch closer to the end but means nothing at all and sometimes. Now watch your cities fall, now watch your gods come down and deliver you from all that you built.Your futures now a vision of your past soiled by all that you’ve killed. Hush your children now, there’s no need to cry were building a future for you.
Away – Underneath the moon in a place far away I know a place where we can run away. If you believe in me and you let me lead the way. I take your pain, I’ll wish it all away. So far away. I’ll take you by the hand, tell you never to fear In a world where we can be one so far away from here We’ll kiss the sky together among the stars we will play They’ll never ever find us in our castle, so far away Well I just can’t seem to forget the places that I’ve been Why don’t you help me understand the things I really fear When the words, they never come out right and the things you say never mean a thing thing, when you look me straight in the eye and say everything’s alright.
Unclean – Centuries of wasted blood stain this war-torn land As our leaders look up to the sky and await their next command Why must we die? Why must we die for their cause? Terminations become the common way to cleanse the blood found unclean In the eyes of Christ, in the eyes of man, in the grasp of a god unseen. Why must we die… The sky has turned a crimson red as the dead lie everywhere. There’s Christians, and there’s Catholics, then there’s Muslims and there’s Jews. Fighting for the name of God, for the color of their hate When will we ever learn before it’s too late? So tell me why we must die for their God? Listen up! They try, they try to drag you in always will, Try and try to pull you in, You must resists now! Centuries of wasted blood stain this war-torn land again Leaders look upon the sky. you finance your atrocities with lives of those you swore to protect in order to achieve strategic goals How can your princes justify this misery set upon the land? Watch them change the course of your history
Mad Mad World – A friend is dead you look so hard but you can’t find a cause what does it mean? In one brief moment a life is lost what does it a life of hurting, a life of chore, what does it mean? When all we leave is just a memory, It’s a mad mad world We’re all doing time in a mad mad world, we’re all left behind in a mad mad world, and all we leave is just a memory I think about the things you said “live each day like it was your last” I think about your life, and how it went by so fast When you lose a friend it hurts so fucking bad inside. Especially when that friend commits suicide. A friend is dead you can look so hard to try a find a cause What does it mean in one brief moment a life is lost… All I have is your memory
14 Days – My day begins with a sigh as I slowly feel awake. Then it’s off to work thinking how much shit I have to take It’s been two weeks since I’ve had a smile upon my face. I miss the days when all I know fits in it’s place 14 days I killed myself alone, 14 days tried so hard to understand 14 days I’ll never forgive you My world came crashing down as if I stood aside and watched all the monsters in my head control everything I feel I can see the door that traps me in this place I can see my way out of here but I just can’t find the key.
