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Blood, Sweat and No Tears

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Blood, Sweat, and No Tears
Studio album by
Sick of It All
ReleasedMay 1989
StudioNormandy Sound
(Warren, Rhode Island)
GenreHardcore punk
Length28:26
Label
ProducerSick of It All
Sick of It All chronology
Sick of It All
(1987) 		Blood, Sweat, and No Tears
(1989) 		We Stand Alone
(1991)

Blood, Sweat, and No Tears is the debut studio album by the American hardcore punk band Sick of It All, released in May 1989. Sick of It All formed in 1986 and released their epynomous debut extended play through Revelation Records in 1987, after which they signed a seven-album record deal with Relativity Records' newly formed hardcore imprint In-Effect Records. The band recorded and mixed the album in three days with engineer Tom Soares at Normandy Sound in Warren, Rhode Island. Future Sick of It All bassist Craig Setari assisted during recording and contributed to the lyrics of "Bullshit Justice" and "The Blood and the Sweat".

Sick of It All promoted Blood, Sweat, and No Tears through tours of the United States with Bad Brains, Leeway, Nuclear Assault, D.R.I. and Agnostic Front, and a music video for "Injustice System". A suprise success, Blood, Sweat, and No Tears sold over 100,000 copies and is retrospectively regarded as an influential and defining New York hardcore album, although vocalist Lou Koller considers it to be unlistenable due to quality of the band's performances. After initially planning to re-record the album in its entireity, Sick of It All re-recorded a number of its songs for their tenth album XXV Nonstop (2011).

Background and recording

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Sick of It All were formed in New York City in 1986[1] by Lou and Pete Koller, who respectively took on vocals and guitar.[2] Lou initally started on bass before deciding to become the band's vocalist.[2] The band initially jammed and wrote songs in their basement of their parents' house during vacations, where they would invite various musicians over to come jam with them.[2] Sick of It All later moved their jam sessions to Giant Studios in Manhattan, where Straight Ahead—featuring future bandmates Craig Setari and Armand Majidi—rehearsed.[2] Sick of It All's first show, booked by Setari, took place at the Right Track Inn in Long Island,[3] with Youth of Today, Straight Ahead and Crippled Youth.[2] The band's lineup for the show included bassist Mark McNeely and drummer Dave Lamb. Following the show, McNeely was fired and Lamb quit, after which the Koller brothers recruited Rich Cipriano and Majidi, whom were both in Rest in Pieces, for the recording of their first demo.[2] In 1987, Sick of It All recorded and released their epynomous debut extended play through Revelation Records.[1]

Following further performances around New York City, CBGB,[1] and the East Coast of the United States, Sick of It All signed to In-Effect Records in 1988.[4] In-Effect was a new imprint of Relativity Records, co-founded by Howie Abrams, a salesman for Combat Records who felt that the label was neglecting its roster of hardcore bands, and Agnostic Front guitarist Steve Martin.[5][6] Abrams had also attened Sick of It All's first show.[6] As the band was preparing to record their debut album, Abrams and Martin approached Sick of It All about signing with In-Effect.[5][7] Revelation had expressed interest in releasing Sick of It All's debut but told the band they would have to wait a year as they were planning to release an album by Gorilla Biscuits.[5][7] Knowing they had no contract with Revelation, Abrams said he "[let Sick of It All] know that we could not only do better, but could get them to where they wanted to go".[6] Believing they would disband after their first album, the band signed a seven-album deal with Relativity.[8]

After signing with In-Effect/Relativity, Sick of It All recorded Blood, Sweat and No Tears with engineer Tom Soares at Normandy Sound in Warren, Rhode Island. Lou said that the band wanted to record at Normandy Sound as they liked the sound of Leeway's debut album, Born to Expire.[7] The band had three days to record and mix the album and its songs; Soares mixed the album in a single twelve-hour session.[7] Setari assisted the band during recording, tuning instruments. He also worked with Majidi on the lyrics of "The Blood and the Sweat" and wrote the chorus of "Bullshit Justice".[9] "Clobberin' Time" features a spoken word intro by KRS-One of Boogie Down Productions, who briefly visited the studio after the girlfriend of Pete and Lou's oldest brother Steve told him the band were fans of his music.[7]

Composition and lyrics

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Blood, Sweat and No Tears is a hardcore punk album.[10][11] The album has a running time of just under 30 minutes,[12] with most of its 19 songs lasting less than two minutes in length.[1] The Encyclopedia of Popular Music called it "punishing, primal punk rock music",[13] whilst Mike DaRonco of AllMusic described its songs as "aggressive, start-stop hardcore".[10] The Morning Call labelled it the "aural equivalent of a mugging".[14] Its songs feature heavy,[12][15] "pummelling" guitar work,[14] no guitar solos,[16] anthemic choruses,[15] breakdowns,[17] and "airtight drum work" from Majidi.[18] Lou said that Sick of It All attempted to make a "heavy" sound without it being metal, in the vein of Negative Approach and Cro-Mags.[7] "Give Respect" and "Friends Like You" were both influenced by Oi! music.[7] Pete highlighted "Alone" and "Dissolution", the last two songs written prior to recording, for their metal and hip-hop influences; he and Lou viewed both songs as marking the start of Sick of It All developing their own sound.[7]

According to The Morning Call, the album's lyrics are "mostly about survival on the street and the hypocrisy of everyday life in America."[14] Mike Gitter of Kerrang! compared Sick of It all to D.R.I. in that they "[waste] no time in getting to the point of matters, empathetically ranting 'gainst whatever they've got on their minds."[16] Citing the songs "World Full of Hate" and "Friends Like You", Jason Roche of The Village Voice described its outlook as being angrier than that of Sick of It All's later releases.[15] Lou said the lyrics are "mostly personal"—"Dissolution" and "Alone" being particular examples—with some "political stuff" inspired by the English punk bands Crass, Discharge, and the Exploited.[7] The title of "Clobberin' Time" is a reference to the Fantastic Four.[19] "Pushed Too Far" is about Lou's perceptions on the hardcore scene,[7] and dealing with harrassment from outsiders.[2] He wrote "Bullshit Justice" after watching a murderer "get off on some technicality" on a crime TV show.[20] "No Labels" is about hypocritical people who claimed they were "super straight edge".[2] Likewise, "The Deal" is about bands who formerly criticized, but are now supported by, big record labels.[21] "Injustice System" was inspired by an incident in New Rochelle, New York, where the Koller brothers and Minus frontman Jason Krakdown were attacked by police after a riot broke out following a concert supporting Murphy's Law, with Pete being arrested for biting the fingers of an officer and held for three days before charges were dropped.[20]

Release and promotion

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External audio
audio icon Audio of Sick of It All and Born Against's debate on WNYU-FM on YouTube

Blood, Sweat and No Tears was released through In-Effect and Relativity in late May 1989.[22] The inner sleeve photo shows a "wall of death" at a Sick of It All concert supporting Warzone at The Ritz in New York City.[2] Sick of It All opted to not include a full lyric sheet with copies of the album to expand its reach and allow it to be sold in malls and chain stores, which usually did not carry albums including swear words.[23][24] Sick of It All's decision resulted in the band being called into a radio debate with Born Against, whose frontman Sam McPheeters argued that the album was "compromised" by their censorship, on WNYU-FM.[23]

Around the time of the album's release, Sick of It All embarked on their first national tour with Bad Brains and Leeway,[25] joining halfway through the former's Quickness tour in Salt Lake City,[3] and touring the West Coast of the United States for two weeks.[26] Following the tour, Majidi left to focus on his other band Rest in Pieces, and Max Capshaw was recruited as his replacement.[1] In the fall of 1989, the band toured the North Eastern United States supporting Nuclear Assault.[25] The band also filmed a music video for "Injustice System". Lou was dissatisfied with the video, believing it was too censored and that Majidi should have been in the video instead of Capshaw, since he performed on the record.[19] Majidi ultimately returned to Sick of It All for a tour with D.R.I., with Capshaw "[not working] out because he was too young", according to Lou.[19] Prior to touring with Agnostic Front in 1990, Cipriano and Majidi and both left Sick of It All. The Koller brothers decided to continue the band,[26] replacing both departed members with Eddie Coen and E.K. (Eric Komst), respectively.[19] Both members appear alongside photos of the old lineup in the liner notes of the We Stand Alone EP (1991), which Lou and Pete intended to show they were committed to continuing Sick of It All.[26] Coen left to join Cycle Sluts from Hell following the Agnostic Front tour, and E.K. was later fired.[26] By the time Sick of It All recorded their second album Just Look Around (1992), Majidi and Cipriano had rejoined the band.[1]

Reception and legacy

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[13]
The Great Metal Discography6/10[27]
Kerrang![16]
MusicHound Rock[11]

In a contemporary review for Cashbox, Jannis Garza called Blood, Sweat and No Tears a "tuneful, humorously cynical [album]" and a "slammer's paradise".[28] Kerrang!'s Mike Gitter praised the album's catchy songwriting and production and believed that "with a smidgeon of good fortune", Sick of It All would set "the standard of Thrash for the decade to come".[16] Ira Robbins of The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock (1997) called it a "clearly articulated" albeit unoriginal debut.[29] Brian Ives of MusicHound Rock guide considered the album to be "more explosive than any of [Sick of It All's] subsequent releases (though not by much)".[11] The album was nominated in the Heavy Metal category at the 1989 NAIRD Indie Awards.[30]

A suprise success,[31][32] Blood, Sweat and No Tears sold over 100,000 copies and became "a source of inspiration for many bands from [New York]", according to Rock Hard.[32] DaRonco of AllMusic credited the album, alongside releases from Gorilla Biscuits and Youth of Today, with popularizing the breakdown in hardcore.[10] Chris Ingham of Metal Hammer called it a "blueprint" for New York hardcore in the 1980s,[33] whilst Joachim Hiller of Ox-Fanzine said it "heralded a generational shift in NYHC, establishing the tone for the 1990s and the growing popularity of the genre."[34] Kerrang! likewise said it "helped change the definition of New York hardcore as the world knew it."[17] Hit Parader ranked the album as the greatest hardcore album of all time in 2007,[35] whilst The Village Voice ranked the album at number 16 on its 2013 list of the "Top 20 New York Hardcore and Metal Albums of All Time".[15] Revolver ranked the album at number 18 on their 2018 list of the "50 Greatest Punk Albums of All Time",[36] later including it on their 2021 list of "10 Essential New York Hardcore Albums".[12] Noisecreep also listed it as one the "Top 10 New York Hardcore Albums".[18] Numerous musicians and artists have the album as either an inspiration or an influence, including Keith Caputo of Life of Agony,[37] Vinnie Caruana of The Movielife,[38][39] Thomas Sheehan of Indecision and Most Precious Blood,[40] Strife,[41] Dennis Lyxzén of Refused,[42] Bryan Kienlen of the Bouncing Souls, Joe Principe of Rise Against and Brandan Schieppati of Bleeding Through.[43]

In The Blood and the Sweat: The Story of Sick of It All's Koller Brothers (2020), Lou said he found Blood, Sweat and No Tears unlistenable because of Sick of It All's "weird" performances on the album, which he attributed to the band's limited studio experience prior to recording.[44] He also believed fans who called it their favorite Sick of It All record liked the "era" surrounding it more than the album itself.[7] In 2011, Sick of It All released their tenth album XXV Nonstop, which features re-recordings of a number of songs from their back catalogue, including the Blood, Sweat and No Tears tracks "Rat Pack", "World Full of Hate" and "Injustice System".[45] Sick of It All had contemplated re-recording Blood, Sweat and No Tears in full prior to deciding they would only redo a certain amount of tracks, alongside those from their other albums.[45] Lou considered the re-recorded tracks representative of how the originals would have sounded if the band had more time to record.[7] KRS-One reprised his appearance on the re-recording of "Clobberin' Time".[46] According to Lou, KRS-One asked Sick of It All to send him three XXXL t-shirts and a copy of the finished album before doing his part; he does not remember whether the band fulfilled his request.[44] In 2014, Sick of It All played both Blood, Sweat and No Tears and their third album Scratch the Surface (1994) in their entireities at the Fun Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, Texas.[47]

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."The Blood and the Sweat"1:50
2."Clobberin' Time/Pay the Price" (featuring KRS-One)1:37
3."Give Respect"1:08
4."Breeders of Hate"1:12
5."Pushed Too Far"1:56
6."Friends Like You"1:07
7."Bullshit Justice"1:30
8."Rat Pack"0:44
9."Pete's Sake"0:56
10."Stick Together"0:51
11."G.I. Joe Headstomp"1:19
12."Alone"1:58
13."My Life"1:42
14."World Full of Hate"2:05
15."My Revenge"1:12
16."No Labels"1:59
17."Disillusion"2:05
18."The Deal"1:08
19."Injustice System"2:07
Total length:28:26

Notes

  • Track 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 15 and 18 are re-recordings of the songs from their first EP, Sick of It All (1987).

Personnel

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Personnel per liner notes.[48]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Kemper, Nick (n.d.). "Sick of It All Biography". AllMusic. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Koller, Koller & Abrams 2020, chapter 3.
  3. ^ a b Stocks, Matt (February 16, 2015). "Famous Firsts: Sick Of It All". Metal Hammer. Retrieved March 27, 2025 – via loudersound.
  4. ^ Sharpe-Young 2005.
  5. ^ a b c Hill, Mike (April 11, 2015). "An Oral History of Sick Of It All, Part II: NYHC Comes Alive, Metal Crossover, and the In-Effect Effect". Vice. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  6. ^ a b c Ramirez, Carlos (October 10, 2018). "Interview: In-Effect: Learn the Story Behind the Influential Record Label". No Echo. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Koller, Koller & Abrams 2020, chapter 6.
  8. ^ Hill, Mike (April 26, 2015). "An Oral History of Sick Of It All, Part III: The Major Label Trip, Fat Mike, and Looking Back". Vice. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  9. ^ Macomber 2012, p. 66.
  10. ^ a b c d DaRonco, Mike (n.d.). "Blood, Sweat and No Tears - Sick of It All | Album". AllMusic. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  11. ^ a b c Ives 1999.
  12. ^ a b c Enis, Eli (November 15, 2021). "10 Essential New York Hardcore Albums". Revolver. Retrieved March 25, 2025.
  13. ^ a b Larkin 2006.
  14. ^ a b c Anon. (May 18, 1990). "Sick of It All is Antidote for Rock's Rebels Without a Cause". The Morning Call. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
  15. ^ a b c d Roche, Jason (July 8, 2013). "The Top 20 New York Hardcore and Metal Albums of All Time". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on September 3, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  16. ^ a b c d Gitter 1989b.
  17. ^ a b Krovatin, Chris; Fixell, Ethan; Jones, Cat (August 8, 2019). "The 50 Best Albums Of 1989". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on March 21, 2025. Retrieved March 21, 2025.
  18. ^ a b Ramirez, Carlos (February 25, 2010). "Top 10 New York Hardcore Albums". Noisecreep. Retrieved March 25, 2025.
  19. ^ a b c d Johnson, Richard (November 29, 1990). "Hardcore history with Sick Of It All: 1991". Curious Goods (published October 29, 2020). Retrieved March 26, 2025 – via Disposable Underground.
  20. ^ a b Koller, Koller & Abrams 2020, chapter 5.
  21. ^ Gitter 1989a.
  22. ^ Billboard 1989.
  23. ^ a b McKee, Michael (June 15, 2020). "How Going Underground Kept Punk From "Breaking" in 1991". PopMatters. Retrieved March 25, 2025.
  24. ^ Koller, Koller & Abrams 2020, chapter 9.
  25. ^ a b Aswad & Sharp 1989.
  26. ^ a b c d Koller, Koller & Abrams 2020, chapter 4.
  27. ^ Strong 1998.
  28. ^ Garza 1989.
  29. ^ Robbins 1997.
  30. ^ Billboard 1990, p. 50.
  31. ^ Cecolini 1997.
  32. ^ a b Stratmann 1998.
  33. ^ Ingham 2002.
  34. ^ Hiller, Joachim (April–May 2014). "Review - Sick of It All - Scratch the Surface". Ox-Fanzine (in German). Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  35. ^ Sciarretto 2007.
  36. ^ Staff, Revolver (May 24, 2018). "50 Greatest Punk Albums of All Time". Revolver. Retrieved March 25, 2025.
  37. ^ Biese 2018.
  38. ^ Sacher, Andrew (July 6, 2020). "Vinnie Caruana & Sammy Siegler discuss influences on new Constant Elevation EP ++ new song stream". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved March 25, 2025.
  39. ^ Dumarey, Tom (October 16, 2019). "Vinnie Caruana: 10 albums you should love as much as he does". Punk Rock Theory. Retrieved March 25, 2025.
  40. ^ "Interview: Tom Sheehan (Indecision, Most Precious Blood)". No Echo. December 8, 2014. Retrieved March 25, 2025.
  41. ^ Cundle, Tim (November 23, 2017). "Strife". Mass Movement. Archived from the original on December 17, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2025.
  42. ^ Sick of It All (2016). When the Smoke Clears (booklet). Century Media Records. 88985371511.
  43. ^ Our Impact Will Be Felt: A Tribute to Sick of It All (booklet). Abacus Recordings/Century Media Records. 2007. ABA0044.
  44. ^ a b Koller, Koller & Abrams 2020, chapter 17.
  45. ^ a b Hebblewhite, Mark (May 1, 2012). "25 Years And Counting". The Music. Retrieved March 25, 2025.
  46. ^ Heanley, Gregory (n.d.). "Nonstop - Sick of It All | Album". AllMusic. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
  47. ^ BrooklynVegan Staff (May 20, 2014). "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2014 lineup! (Judas Priest, Nas, Death Cab, Neutralk Milk Hotel, King Diamond, Failure & much more)". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  48. ^ Sick of It All (1989). Blood, Sweat and No Tears (booklet). In-Effect/Relativity Records. 88561-3005-1.

Bibliography

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