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Rating: What was Ian Mackaye doing before playing with Fugazi but after disbanding Minor Threat, yet before founding Egg Hunt and after being part of Teen Idols? I mean, after dissolving Minor Threat for the second time but before stealing two members from Rites Of Spring to make them play in Foo-Gazzy?
But it’s obvious, he snatched three musicians from Faith (his brother's band) and formed Embrace.
...With which he recorded a wonderful album!
We are far from the rabid bursts of adrenaline of Minor Threat; the rhythms are slowed down, and the focus is more on the melody. We don't have the unpredictable time changes and the ultra-professional rhythm section of Fugazi, but the songs (with their ups and downs, to be honest) are engaging, the music is interesting, and the lyrics make you reflect on the ills of our society, as often happens in the works of our ex-Minor Threat.
Want a few titles? "Money" has a memorable chorus worthy of the Clash, "No More Pain" twists my guts with pain, "Dance Of Days" has an irresistible rhythm and melody; the best of the best is "Building", which starts restrained, sending shivers down the spine before exploding in the last chorus (!!!I'M A FAAILUURE!!!). All great, but what stands out the most is Mackaye's performance, never so emotional and histrionic; a Jim Morrison of punk, all caught up in his existential issues. Don’t like his voice? Forget about Embrace, whose main attraction is precisely the raw yet emotional sound emanating from the larynx (or pharynx?) of our beloved straight-edge (just kidding, just kidding, Ian hates this term as much as the word emocore).
Moreover... no, wait! Someone needs to explain this emocore thing to me. Emocore (for friends, Emo) stands for Emotional Hardcore: why are Rites Of Spring and the billions of groups that copied them (or copied Fugazi) called Emo? Why not other hardcore bands like Black Flag or Hüsker Dü? Maybe Zen Arcade and Damaged are less emotional/anti?
Well, Embrace certainly are, and in this sense, it's appropriate to call them Emo.
If you like Fugazi (AND YOU SHOULD), you'll probably like Embrace; if you don't know Embrace but don’t like Fugazi, that’s your business; if you don’t like Embrace, listen to Fugazi anyway!!
NOTE: These Embrace have nothing to do with the homonymous Britpop group that recorded boring and uninventive albums (in my opinion, clearly) like "The Good Will Out" and "Out Of Nothing"
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
04 Past (01:53)
I suppose I'm naive
But I find it hard to believe
A person could make
Life so cheap
It's worth nothing today
Because you threw it away
Self-indulgence took
You too deep
In a whole lot of nothing
You got up and went
Leaving behind all the
People you spent
I guess they could call you
A friend
You took them for a ride to
The very end
What a waste
So in the end you didn't have
No friends
Because they sat and watched
You die
A lot of bridges burned with no
Lessons learned
But plenty of reasons to cry
No communication
Complete separation
No talk, no chance to help
I am guilty
I failed you
As a person who should have cared
I shut my mouth
Because I was scared
I hid my feelings
When they should've been bared
I turned you off
And I, I should have cared.
07 No More Pain (03:11)
No more lying down
We've got to speak and move
No more righteousness
Everything is far too wrong
No more selfish tears
You haven't paid for them
No more dressing up
Please leave your costumes
Home
No more looking down
You might bump your head
The purpose is within yourself
The movement is within yourself
Your emotions are nothing but politics
So get control
No more alcohol
It's a Kool-aid substitute
No more heroin
Death is not glamourous
No more ruling class
You're a bunch of silly kids
No more image fight
It's just a sucker punch
Hurt wastes your energy
Suffering wastes energy
Your emotions are nothing but politics
So get control
No more number one
We've got to quit that game
No more attitude
Give it back to the TV set
No more tough-guy stance
I hear your mommy call
No more suicide
It kills everyone
No more petty love
No more petty hate
No more pettiness
No more pain
09 Said Gun (02:11)
Look what you've organized
Do you believe all those lies
There's no courage in hatred
Only in love
Look what you've organized
Attack, defend, you live a fantasy
Nobody wants anything that belongs to you
Sometimes I'd like to kick your fucking ass
But I guess you're just a human too
Why? Why are you here?
You're looking for a reason to hate
So you can fuck someone up
You'd hate yourself if you had the chance
I guess you already do
You fuck yourself up
Every night.
If you have to fight
Then fight the violence
That rules your life
Said gun, said knife
It's going to take your life
11 Money (02:37)
I can truly say I don't give
A fuck about your money
Because it means so much to you
(And all your money)
Why does it mean so much to you?
You speak the land of greed
I'm talking a world of need
Money has nothing to do
With the value of life
But that's just common sense
You call me up and talk
About money
I don't want to hear anymore
About money
Look what people do
Trying to get their money
To buy their fantasies based on
The book or the movie
Fortified cares
Modified principles
Convenience is the name of the
Game
Self-indulgence is the rule (selfish motherfucker)
There are no winners
We all lose
Thanks for nothing
You put yourself up for sale
You're all sold out
13 End of a Year (02:36)
I don't like parties
They avoid the truth
People lying
In search of a good time
We smile avoid
Unpleasant situations
Put it off, maybe
It will go away
Come together, divide by ages
We're always talking though
But nothing changes
It's the end of a year...
There's another one coming
There will be no victory
No progress made
If we do not stand apart
From the enemy
Oh weak foundations
That we've laid
Melt with the years
You are nothing
We don't move forward
But away
We distance ourselves from
Our history
We justify it with cheap cliches
We're just scared of dying
Words are not enough
14 Last Song (02:27)
I know this is the last time
Goodbye to you my friend
What you had to offer won't be
Seen around here again
And I almost find myself
Content
To let my quits come in, because
I know this is the last time
Goodbye to you my friend
Your demise is a reminder
To the truth that we all face
Nothing is forever
Our efforts can go to waste
But you haven't left me empty
Even if it was just a taste
Your demise is a reminder
To the truth that we all face
It makes me wonder when the
Time will come for me to stroll
When the feelings I embrace
Have nothing left to hold
And the life that I've worked for
Can be bought and sold
It makes me wonder when the
Time will come for me to stroll
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