100-454: Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (often abbreviated and referred to as D.R.I. ) is an American crossover thrash band that formed in Houston, Texas in 1982 and would later relocate to San Francisco, California . The band is currently composed of two of its founding members, lead vocalist Kurt Brecht and guitarist Spike Cassidy, as well as bassist Greg Orr and drummer Rob Rampy. D.R.I. never gained
200-690: A flexi disc with a live recording of "Sheep Farming in the Falklands", and copies were randomly inserted into the sleeves of other records by sympathetic workers at the Rough Trade Records distribution warehouse. From their early days of spraying stencilled anti-war , anarchist, feminist and anti-consumerist graffiti messages in the London Underground and on billboards, Crass was involved in politically motivated direct action and musical activities. On 18 December 1982,
300-648: A pacifist message, a reference to their Dadaist , performance-art backgrounds and situationist ideas. The band eschewed elaborate stage lighting during live sets, preferring to play under 40-watt household light bulbs; the technical difficulties of filming under such lighting conditions partly explains why there is little live footage of Crass. They pioneered multimedia presentation, using video technology (back-projected films and video collages by Mick Duffield and Gee Vaucher ) to enhance their performances, and also distributed leaflets and handouts explaining anarchist ideas to their audiences. Crass' first release
400-429: A commentary about the events at Conway Hall attacking the mindless violence and tribalistic aspects of contemporary youth culture. This was followed by the double single "Nagasaki Nightmare/Big A Little A". The strongly anti-nuclear lyrics of "Nagasaki Nightmare" were reinforced by the fold-out sleeve artwork. It featured an article by Mike Holderness of Peace News magazine connecting the atomic power industry and
500-550: A complete set of Crass' self-published zine , Inter-National Anthem . Artwork by Gee Vaucher and Penny Rimbaud, including a recording of the original 'Thatchergate Tape', featured as part of the 'Peculiar People' show at the Focal Point Gallery in Southend on Sea during the spring of 2016, part of a series of events celebrating the history of 'Radical Essex'. Vaucher's painting 'Oh America', featuring an image of
600-584: A confusing time for us, and I think a lot of our records show that, inadvertently". This led to introspection within the band, with some members becoming embittered and losing sight of their essentially positive stance. Reflecting this debate, the next release under the Crass name was Acts of Love : classical-music settings of 50 poems by Penny Rimbaud, described as "songs to my other self" and intended to celebrate "the profound sense of unity, peace and love that exists within that other self". Another Crass hoax
700-402: A departure from the hardcore punk image that The Feeding of the 5000 and Stations of the Crass had given the group. It featured more complex musical arrangements and female vocals by Eve Libertine and Joy De Vivre (singer Steve Ignorant was credited as "not on this recording"). The album addressed feminist issues, attacking marriage and sexual repression . The last track on Penis Envy ,
800-529: A few months D.R.I. embarked on their first tour, appearing on the "Rock Against Reagan " tour with MDC and the Dead Kennedys . After the tour, Josh Pappe was brought in to replace Sebastian Amok who would eventually join The Dicks , another Texas band. Their next release was the four-song 7-inch EP Violent Pacification in 1984. After touring in the summer of 1984, Eric Brecht got married and left
900-424: A group of anarchists facing conspiracy charges. During the performance, Socialist Workers Party supporters and other anti-fascists attacked British Movement neo-Nazis , triggering violence. Crass later argued that the leftists were largely to blame for the fighting, and organizations such as Rock Against Racism were causing audiences to become polarised into left- and right-wing factions. Others (including
1000-471: A group whose primary purpose was political commentary , they felt overtaken and made redundant by world events: The speed with which the Falklands War was played out and the devastation that Thatcher was creating both at home and abroad forced us to respond far faster than we had ever needed to before. Christ – The Album had taken so long to produce that some of the songs in it, songs that warned of
1100-459: A mainstream audience, but the integration of their hardcore punk roots with thrash metal influences was a stylistic catalyst for their contemporaries – most notably Suicidal Tendencies , Corrosion of Conformity , Stormtroopers of Death , the Cro-Mags , Nuclear Assault , Adrenalin O.D. , and Cryptic Slaughter – alongside whom they are considered to be one of
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#17327916349061200-421: A militaristic image, which led to accusations of fascism. Crass countered that their uniform appearance was intended to be a statement against the " cult of personality " so that no member would be identified as the "leader". Conceived and intended as cover artwork for a self-published pamphlet version of Rimbaud's Christ's Reality Asylum , the Crass logo was an amalgam of several "icons of authority" including
1300-428: A parody of an MOR love song entitled "Our Wedding", was made available as a white flexi disc to readers of Loving , a teenage romance magazine. Crass tricked the magazine into offering the disc, posing as "Creative Recording and Sound Services". Loving accepted the offer, telling their readers that the free Crass flexi would make "your wedding day just that bit extra special". A tabloid controversy resulted when
1400-595: A political ideology, a lifestyle and a resistance movement . Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture , advocating direct action , animal rights , feminism , anti-fascism and environmentalism . The band employed and advocated a DIY ethic in its albums, sound collages , leaflets and films. Crass spray-painted stencilled graffiti messages in the London Underground system and on advertising billboards, coordinated squats and organised political action. The band expressed its ideals by dressing in black, military-surplus-style clothing and using
1500-518: A result, D.R.I. toured relentlessly throughout 1985 and 1986 in support of Dealing with It! , and it was on this tour that the band gained a wide audience by performing with thrash metal bands such as Slayer , Anthrax , Exodus , Overkill and Hirax , while continuing to perform with their hardcore punk peers, including Discharge , Corrosion of Conformity , Bad Brains , T.S.O.L. , JFA , Descendents , Verbal Abuse , Gang Green and Cryptic Slaughter . Also on this tour, they recorded their show at
1600-429: A similar direction with their last three albums of the 1980s, Crossover (1987), 4 of a Kind (1988), and Thrash Zone (1989). Crossover played a major role in the development of metalcore in the early 1990s. The sound remained prominent in that genre through pioneering groups including Ringworm , Rorschach , Merauder , All Out War and Integrity . Municipal Waste were the forefront crossover act in
1700-584: A squatters' street festival in Huntley Street, North London . They planned to play five songs, but a neighbour "pulled the plug" after three. Guitarist Steve Herman left the band soon afterward and was replaced by Phil Clancey, a.k.a. Phil Free . Joy De Vivre and Eve Libertine also joined around this time. Other early Crass performances included a four-date tour of New York City, a festival gig in Covent Garden and regular appearances with
1800-627: A stage backdrop amalgamating icons of perceived authority such as the Christian cross , the swastika , the Union Jack and the ouroboros . The band was critical of the punk subculture and youth culture in general; nevertheless, the anarchist ideas that they promoted have maintained a presence in punk. Because of their free experimentation and use of tape collages, graphics, spoken word releases, poetry and improvisation, Crass have been associated with avant-punk and art punk . The band
1900-476: A strong metal sound to them. As the band began to cross over to thrash, their songs became longer, slower, and more complex. The press has called D.R.I. the major band of the " crossover " movement, a style that combined hardcore punk and thrash metal . This music invited a mixed audience of punks , skinheads , and metal fans to their shows. Thanks to this movement, Crossover helped expand D.R.I.'s popularity worldwide, including touring Europe and Australia for
2000-645: A target for nuclear weapons in a conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union . Copies were leaked to the press via a Dutch news agency during the 1983 general election campaign. The U.S. State Department and British government believed the tape to be propaganda produced by the KGB (as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle and The Sunday Times ). Although the tape
2100-525: Is Washington, D.C. 's Dischord Records co-founder Ian MacKaye , who followed some of Crass' anti-consumerist and DIY principles in his own label and projects, particularly with the post-hardcore band Fugazi . However, few mimicked their later free-form style (heard on Yes Sir, I Will and their final recording, Ten Notes on a Summer's Day ). Their painted and collage black-and-white record sleeves (by Gee Vaucher ) may have influenced later artists such as Banksy (with whom Vaucher collaborated) and
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#17327916349062200-580: Is a fusion genre of thrash metal and hardcore punk . The genre emerged in the mid–1980s, when hardcore punk bands, such as Suicidal Tendencies , Cryptic Slaughter , Corrosion of Conformity and Dirty Rotten Imbeciles , began to incorporate the influence of thrash metal. At this time, the genre was particularly prominent in the New York hardcore scene, where groups including Agnostic Front , Leeway , Cro-Mags and Stormtroopers of Death were widely influential. The genre largely declined in popularity by
2300-502: Is often cited as particularly influential. Their 1982 split LP with fellow Washington band the Faith showed both bands exhibiting quick, fiery, high-speed punk rock. It has been argued that those recordings laid the foundation for early thrash metal, at least in terms of selected tempos, By 1985, pioneering Boston hardcore bands including SS Decontrol , DYS and the F.U.'s had begun to play heavy metal. Author Steven Blush said of
2400-481: Is to have convinced a substantial number of radical youth to commit their energies to the most militant anti-militarist wings of the disarmament movement, which laid siege to nuclear installations across the country and which saw no conflict between its pacifist precepts and its willingness to commit acts of 'criminal damage' on the military property of the nuclear state. Crass' philosophical and aesthetic influences on 1980s punk bands were far-reaching. A notable example
2500-601: The Billboard albums chart. In 2018, Bandcamp Daily writer David Anthony credited Power Trip , Iron Reagan , Enforced, Mindforce, Iron Age, Red Death and Primal Rite as the leaders of a crossover thrash revival movement. In the 2020s, various publications credited the genre as being revived by groups including Drain and Pest Control . Crass Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977 who promoted anarchism as
2600-470: The Christian cross , the swastika , the Union Jack and a two-headed Ouroboros (symbolising the idea that power will eventually destroy itself). Using such deliberately mixed messages was part of Crass's strategy of presenting themselves as a "barrage of contradictions", challenging audiences to (in Rimbaud's words) "make your own fucking minds up". This included using loud, aggressive music to promote
2700-482: The Shepherd's Bush Empire with a band of "selected guests". Other members of Crass were not involved in these concerts. Initially Rimbaud refused Ignorant permission to perform Crass songs he had written, but later changed his mind: "I acknowledge and respect Steve's right to do this, but I do regard it as a betrayal of the Crass ethos". Ignorant had a different view: "I don't have to justify what I do...Plus, most of
2800-953: The Statue of Liberty hiding her face with her hands, was used as the front page of the UK Daily Mirror newspaper to mark the election of Donald Trump as US President on 9 November 2016. From November 2016 to February 2017 the Firstsite art gallery in Colchester , hosted a retrospective of Gee Vaucher's artwork. In June 2016, "The Art of Crass" was the subject of an exhibition at the LightBox Gallery in Leicester curated by artist and technologist Sean Clark. The exhibition featured prints and original artworks by Gee Vaucher, Penny Rimbaud, Eve Libertine, and Dave King. During
2900-595: The U.K. Subs at The White Lion, Putney and Action Space in central London. The latter performances were often poorly attended: "The audience consisted mostly of us when the Subs played and the Subs when we played". Crass played two gigs at the Roxy Club in Covent Garden, London. According to Rimbaud, the band arrived drunk at the second show and were ejected from the stage; this inspired their song "Banned from
3000-425: The subvertising movement. Anti-folk artist Jeffrey Lewis 's 2007 album, 12 Crass Songs , features acoustic covers of Crass material. Brett Anderson , in his early teens at the time, was a big fan of the band, would play their records at home and much later cited them in a radio interview, when asked about what band or artist had first made him want to get up on stage as a singer: "Crass! Their energy on stage
3100-586: The "more pertinent" Last Amendment. After a five-year hiatus, Last Amendment performed at the Vortex in June 2012. Rimbaud has also performed and recorded with Japanther and the Charlatans . A "new" Crass track (a remix of 1982's "Major General Despair" with new lyrics), "The Unelected President", is available. On 24 and 25 November 2007, Steve Ignorant performed Crass' The Feeding of the 5000 album live at
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3200-558: The 1984 Violent Pacification tour. In 2003, Beer City also reissued Dealing with It! ; the CD contained the original album plus never-before-heard bonus tracks as well as live video footage including a mid-80s interview from a San Francisco Public-access television cable TV show. After another tour in 2004, the band released Live At CBGB's CD and DVD, and the reissue of the Crossover album, all on Beer City. The reissue of Crossover
3300-427: The 1990s; however, its influence developed the prominent metalcore genre. Since the 2000s, crossover thrash has experienced a number of underground revivals, which have produced notable acts including Municipal Waste , Trash Talk , Power Trip and Drain . The term "thrash" originated as a way of referring to hardcore punk, seen on the 1982 hardcore compilation New York Thrash . Journalist Malcolm Dome coined
3400-555: The 2000s, being credited by publications including AllMusic and Spin as leading a revival of the genre. Other notable groups of this era included Short Sharp Shock , Send More Paramedics amd Gama Bomb . During the late 2000s and early 2010s, crossover band Trash Talk gained significant success in the hardcore scene, which led to them signing to Tyler, the Creator 's record label Odd Future Records . The band's fourth studio album 119 (2012) which peaked at number 119 on
3500-537: The 5000 (subtitled "The Second Sitting"), restoring the original version of "Asylum". In 1979 the band released their second album, Stations of the Crass , financed with a loan from Poison Girls , a band with whom they regularly appeared. This was a double album, with three sides of new material and a fourth side recorded live at the Pied Bull in Islington . The next Crass single, 1980's "Bloody Revolutions",
3600-469: The Crass followed in October, with new editions of Penis Envy , Christ – The Album , Yes Sir, I Will and Ten Notes on a Summer's Day released in 2011 and 2012. Critics praised the improved sound quality and new packaging of the remastered albums. In 2011 Steve Ignorant embarked on an international tour, entitled "The Last Supper". He performed Crass material, culminating with a final performance at
3700-615: The Crass Collective changed their name to Crass Agenda , with Rimbaud, Libertine and Vaucher working with Matt Black of Coldcut and jazz musicians such as Julian Siegel and Kate Shortt . In 2004 Crass Agenda spearheaded a campaign to save the Vortex Jazz Club in Stoke Newington , north London (where they regularly played). In June 2005 Crass Agenda was declared to be "no more", changing its name to
3800-450: The EP version were pressed, making it now a collector's item. Demand caused this EP to be pressed into a 12-inch LP version, also released in 1983, aptly titled Dirty Rotten LP . In 1983, D.R.I. relocated to San Francisco, where they lived in their van and ate at soup kitchens between gigs. Dennis Johnson quit the band and returned home to Texas. He was replaced with Sebastion Amok, and within
3900-591: The Hippies: An Hysterical Romance . Russell had been placed in a psychiatric hospital after helping to set up the first Stonehenge free festival in 1974, and died shortly afterwards. Rimbaud believed that Russell was murdered by the State for political reasons. Co-founder Ignorant has cited The Clash and David Bowie as major personal influences. Band members have also cited influences ranging from existentialism and Zen to situationism ,
4000-562: The Hollywood Palladium on November 27, 1992, and it was released in 1994 as their first live album, appropriately entitled Live . It was, more or less, "released as a stepping stone between Definition and Full Speed Ahead ". Soon after recording the show, John Menor left D.R.I. and was replaced by the band's long time friend and roadie, Chumly Porter. The group took part in headlining the Lolitabazooka Tour in
4100-598: The Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles on April 26, 1986, and released it on video, which was entitled Live at the Olympic . When Felix joined D.R.I. in 1984, he brought a new audience to the shows. The next three years the band toured and started developing a new genre, (along with other pioneers) crossover . Their third album, Crossover , released in 1987, was aptly named, as the songs on this album had
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4200-450: The Roxy" and Rimbaud's essay for Crass's self-published magazine International Anthem , "Crass at the Roxy". After the incident, the band took themselves more seriously, avoiding alcohol and cannabis before shows and wearing black, military-surplus-style clothing on and off the stage. They introduced their stage backdrop, a logo designed by Rimbaud's friend Dave King . This gave the band
4300-511: The Shepherd's Bush Empire on 19 November. Ignorant said that this was the last time he would sing the songs of Crass, with Rimbaud's support; the latter joined him onstage for a drum-and-vocal rendition of "Do They Owe Us A Living", bringing the band's career full circle after 34 years: "And then Penny came on...and we did it, 'Do They Owe Us A Living' as we'd first done it all those years ago. As it started, so it finished". Ignorant's lineup for
4400-492: The United Kingdom, Europe, and South America. The COVID-19 pandemic canceled or postponed dates in 2020 but the band returned to the road in 2021 and planned for a 40th-anniversary tour in 2022 across the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Central America. D.R.I. entered a Southern California studio in October 2014 to begin recording an EP containing new material. It was produced by Bill Metoyer, who produced
4500-517: The United States, Japan, Europe and South America into 2003. In 2003, Beer City reissued "Dirty Rotten CD," which featured the original full length Dirty Rotten LP and the Violent Pacification 7-inch EP as well as a number of never-before-released bonus tracks and interviews. Included within the bonus tracks were live recordings of D.R.I.'s first show ever and footage from the band's only performance at New York's famous CBGB 's from
4600-622: The United States, including Agnostic Front , N.Y.C. Mayhem and Stormtroopers of Death (New York); Cryptic Slaughter and Suicidal Tendencies (Greater Los Angeles); Corrosion Of Conformity ( Raleigh, North Carolina ); Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (Houston); and Negative Approach (Detroit). New York thrash metal, in particular, already bore a greater emphasis on hardcore's influence, with metal band Anthrax often playing alongside New York hardcore bands. Around 1984 this relationship lead to hardcore bands Leeway and Agnostic Front beginning to write music influenced by thrash metal, followed by
4700-406: The album. During the recording of the album, Josh Pappe took a leave from the band. Mikey Offender (Mikey Donaldson – bass player of The Offenders) was asked to play for the album, although Spike played bass on the songs that Donaldson did not have time to learn. The songs on Dealing with It! leaned slightly towards a metal direction, but still kept the band's thrashcore sound. As
4800-628: The anarchist movement in the UK, the US and beyond. The growth of anarcho-punk spurred interest in anarchist ideas. The band have also claimed credit for revitalising the peace movement and the UK Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Others contend that they overestimated their influence, their radicalising effect on militants notwithstanding. Researcher Richard Cross stated: In their own writing, Crass somewhat overstate
4900-464: The anarchist organisation Class War ) were critical of Crass's position, stating that "like Kropotkin , their politics are up shit creek". Many of the band's punk followers felt that they failed to understand the violence to which they were subjected from the right. "Rival Tribal Rebel Revel", a flexi disc single distributed with the Toxic Grafity [ sic ] fanzine , was also
5000-457: The band began to merge the nascent sounds of hardcore punk and street punk with elements of heavy metal. The band's influence was immediate and widespread, helping influence the beginnings of grindcore , crust punk , black metal and D-beat , and notably pioneering thrash metal groups Metallica , Slayer , Anthrax and Sepultura . In his book Choosing Death author Albert Mudrian called Discharge "the ultimate crossover act, marrying
5100-589: The band for years, doing everything from photography and merchandise to bass tech. The band resumed the tour missing only two shows. The turn of the millennium saw the Dirty Rotten Imbeciles headline the "Millennium 2000 Tour". The constant cycle of touring continued into 2001 with D.R.I. extensively touring the United States on the "Old School Tour" culminating in a headlining appearance at the Milwaukee Metal Fest, and other tours of
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#17327916349065200-530: The band helped coordinate a 24-hour squat in the empty West London Zig Zag club to prove "that the underground punk scene could handle itself responsibly when it had to and that music really could be enjoyed free of the restraints imposed upon it by corporate industry". In 1983 and 1984, Crass were part of the Stop the City actions coordinated by London Greenpeace that foreshadowed the anti-globalisation rallies of
5300-574: The band's later studio albums. The EP, titled But Wait... There's More! , was released on June 10, 2016. Vocalist Kurt Brecht has described the EP as "more punk rock than metal". Although no longer working with D.R.I., one of the band's old record labels, Rotten Records, in 2015, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts in a suit against a Comcast user who allegedly downloaded and shared
5400-427: The band's sixth album. According to the lawsuit, Rotten Records hired Rightscorp to monitor BitTorrent networks for infringement. The company claims it connected to the defendants' BitTorrent clients and downloaded a full copy of the album, later verifying that they were identical to the original copyright works. On September 17, 2014, it was announced that Rob Rampy had departed from the band, citing serious injury as
5500-465: The band. He was replaced with a 17-year-old Felix Griffin. Also in 1984, one of their songs, "Snap" appeared on the anti-war benefit compilation P.E.A.C.E. along with other famous hardcore and punk bands such as Crass , D.O.A. , Dead Kennedys and MDC . D.R.I.'s second full-length album, Dealing with It! , was released in March 1985 on Metal Blade Records . The group toured extensively in support of
5600-439: The contribution that anarcho-punk made to resuscitating the moribund Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in the early 1980s. The initiation of a new arms race, confirmed by plans to deploy first-strike Cruise and Pershing nuclear missiles across Europe, revived anti-nuclear movements across the continent, and would have arisen with or without the intercession of anarcho-punk. What Crass and anarcho-punk can quite legitimately claim
5700-442: The crossover album Cause for Alarm in 1986, which led many in the scene to deride them as sell outs . Writer Freddie Alva stated in a 2014 article that "[Cause for Alarm's] combination of heavy metal precision and hardcore energy created a landmark for the crossover sound". In the following years many crossover bands began to form within the scene, notably Crumbsuckers , Nuclear Assault and Ludichrist . The Cro-Mags released
5800-692: The crossover album, Best Wishes in 1989, which also heavily impacted the scene, which was cited as a major influence by much of the 1990s New York hardcore scene. Los Angeles band Suicidal Tendencies, have been described by publications including Metal Hammer as "the godfathers of crossover", following their transition from hardcore into the genre on Join the Army (1987). The band would reach commercial success with their first two major-label albums, How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today (1988) and Controlled by Hatred/Feel Like Shit... Déjà Vu (1989). Dirty Rotten Imbeciles 's music took
5900-400: The early 21st century. Support for these activities was provided in the lyrics and sleeve notes of the band's last single, "You're Already Dead", expressing doubts about their commitment to nonviolence . It was also a reflection of disagreements within the group, as explained by Rimbaud: "Half the band supported the pacifist line and half supported direct and if necessary violent action. It was
6000-524: The ensuing court case, although the decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal (except the lyrics to "Bata Motel", which were upheld as "sexually provocative and obscene"). The band's fourth LP, 1982's double set Christ - The Album , took almost a year to record, produce and mix (during which the Falklands War began and ended). This caused Crass to question their approach to making records. As
6100-464: The exhibition, Penny Rimbaud, Eve Libertine, and Louise Elliot performed "The Cobblestones of Love", a lyrical reworking of the Crass album "Yes Sir, I Will". On the final day of the exhibition there was a performance by Steve Ignorant's Slice of Life. The exhibition is documented on The Art of Crass website. For Rimbaud the initial inspiration for founding Crass was the death of his friend Phil 'Wally Hope' Russell , as detailed in his book The Last of
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#17327916349066200-540: The fall of 1994. However, the band was less active during this period and focused on extracurricular activities. In November 1995, D.R.I. released Full Speed Ahead . They also made another music video, this time for a song called "Syringes In The Sandbox". In January 1996, they started touring North America with Acid Bath opening for them. But in April, two band members ran into trouble trying to enter Canada, because they had both been previously charged with driving under
6300-472: The first time, and opening for a variety of bands such as The Exploited and Anthrax . The Live At The Ritz video was recorded next, on June 27, 1987, at The Ritz in New York, during the band's worldwide Crossover tour. In February 1988, the Dirty Rotten Imbeciles returned to the studio to record 4 of a Kind . The songs on this album continued in the band's metal style. They released a music video for
6400-493: The formation of Stormtroopers of Death in 1985, by members of thrash metal Anthrax and Billy Milano of hardcore band the Psychos . With the national rise in popularity of thrash metal many original NYHC bands became increasingly heavier and harder in sound as the metal influences grew stronger, consequently some NYHC bands who were previously skinheads started growing their hair and adopting metal looks. Agnostic Front released
6500-437: The former of the two would be released 18 years later on But Wait... There's More! . Steady touring, as well as the band's slow writing and recording pace and the search for a record label, resulted in putting the album on hold for over half a decade; eventually they were signed to Beer City Records. By the spring of 2004, D.R.I. had demoed at least four new songs for a potential eighth studio album, including "Against Me", which
6600-490: The fusion: "It was natural. The most intense music, after Black Flag and Dead Kennedys , was Slayer and Metallica. Therefore, that's where everybody was going. That turned into a culture war, basically." By the mid–1980s, hardcore bands including the Bad Brains and Cro-Mags had begun to embrace the heavy riffing style of metal. In the following years, the earliest crossover albums were being released by groups across
6700-601: The group and was replaced by Rob Rampy. Around the same time, D.R.I. had severed ties with Metal Blade Records and it took over two years and a search for a new label, until the band's own imprint Rotten Records released the band's sixth album Definition in October 1992. A music video was released for the song, "Acid Rain". The video would later be featured in an episode of MTV's Beavis and Butt-Head . D.R.I. toured throughout 1992 and 1993 in support of Definition , including opening for Testament , as well as headlining their own shows. During this tour, they recorded their gig at
6800-416: The group. This confirmed Crass's previous intention to quit in 1984, and the band was dissolved. The group's final release as Crass was the "Ten Notes on a Summer's Day" 12" single in 1986. Crass Records was closed in 1992; its final release was Christ's Reality Asylum , a 90-minute cassette of Penny Rimbaud reading the essay that he had written in early 1977. On 11 July 2024, the full 7 July 1984 concert
6900-694: The hoax was exposed, with the News of the World stating that the title of the flexi's originating album was "too obscene to print". Despite Loving ' s annoyance, Crass had broken no laws. The album was banned by the retailer HMV, and copies of the album were seized from the Eastern Bloc record shop by Greater Manchester Police under the direction of chief constable James Anderton . The shop owners were charged with displaying "obscene articles for publication for gain" . The judge ruled against Crass in
7000-586: The imminence of riots and war, had become almost redundant. Toxteth, Bristol, Brixton and the Falklands were ablaze by the time that we released. We felt embarrassed by our slowness, humbled by our inadequacy. Subsequent releases (including the singles "How Does It Feel? (To Be the Mother of a Thousand Dead)" and "Sheep Farming in the Falklands" and the album Yes Sir, I Will ) saw the band's sound return to basics and were issued as "tactical responses" to political situations. Crass anonymously produced 20,000 copies of
7100-481: The influence in the U.S. This resulted in the cancellation of all their Canadian tour dates. During 1997 and 1998, D.R.I. continued to tour the world extensively, including European and South American dates. Also in 1998, D.R.I. announced that they were writing songs for the follow-up to Full Speed Ahead , including "Against Me", "As Seen on TV", "Bad News", "Brick Wall View", "Destructive Power", "Insanity Plea", "Saddam Insane", "Sweaty Deli Tray" and "Wrong as Usual";
7200-935: The key bands that helped create the crossover thrash genre, along with S.O.D. , Suicidal Tendencies and Corrosion of Conformity . Allmusic.com has claimed that, "Starting off as a speedy, straight-ahead punk band, they gradually mixed more elements of heavy metal into their sound; as they did so, their songs got longer and featured more sections and more variety in tempo. D.R.I. managed the then-rare feat of crossing over to metal audiences while retaining their skate-punk and hardcore fan bases – they had something for all those audiences to love (or hate)." Many bands and artists have cited D.R.I. as an influence or inspiration, including Anthrax , Cryptic Slaughter , Dark Angel , Death Angel , Kreator , Municipal Waste , Nuclear Assault , Slayer and Vio-Lence . Current Former Timeline Crossover thrash Crossover thrash (often abbreviated to crossover )
7300-500: The lyrics are still relevant today. And remember that three-letter word, 'fun'?" In 2010 it was announced that Crass would release The Crassical Collection , remastered reissues of their back catalogue. Three former members objected, threatening legal action. Despite their concerns the project went ahead, and the remasters were eventually released. First in the series was The Feeding of the 5000 , released in August 2010. Stations of
7400-494: The major pioneers of what would later be called " crossover thrash ". These bands had a heavy influence on modern thrash metal. To date, D.R.I. has released seven full-length studio albums. Other than three new songs on the 2016 EP But Wait... There's More! , they have not released a full-length studio album since Full Speed Ahead in 1995. Despite this, the band has continued to tour almost every year, and gone on hiatus intermittently, notably between 2004 and 2009, when Cassidy
7500-418: The manufacture of nuclear weapons along with a large poster-style map of nuclear installations in the UK. The other side of the record, "Big A Little A", was a statement of the band's anti-statist and individualist anarchist philosophy: "Be exactly who you want to be, do what you want to do / I am he and she is she but you're the only you." Crass released their third album, Penis Envy , in 1981. This marked
7600-405: The members of Crass question their purpose: We found ourselves in a strange and frightening arena. We had wanted to make our views public, had wanted to share them with like minded people, but now those views were being analysed by those dark shadows who inhabited the corridors of power (…) We had gained a form of political power, found a voice, were being treated with a slightly awed respect, but
7700-451: The passion and intensity of punk with the speed and extremity of heavy metal." The initial contact between punk rock and heavy metal involved a "fair amount of mutual loathing. Despite their shared devotion to speed, spite, shredded attire and stomping on distortion pedals, their relationship seemed, at first, unlikely." Void has been credited as one of the earliest examples of hardcore/heavy metal crossover, whose chaotic musical approach
7800-623: The poetry of Baudelaire , British working class ' kitchen sink ' literature and films such as Kes and the films of Anthony McCall (McCall's Four Projected Movements was shown as part of an early Crass performance). Crass have said that their musical influences were seldom drawn from rock, but more from classical music (particularly Benjamin Britten , on whose work, Rimbaud states, some of Crass' riffs are based), free jazz , European atonality , and avant-garde composers such as John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen . Crass influenced
7900-719: The reason. He was then replaced by Brandon Karns, who subsequently left the band shortly thereafter. Karns was then replaced by Walter "Monsta" Ryan. However, Rampy re-joined D.R.I in 2018. In 2017, the band parted ways with their longtime bassist Harald Oimoen, who was replaced by Greg Orr (ex-Attitude Adjustment). In January 2019, Metal Addicts reported that D.R.I. had been working on their first full-length studio album since 1995's Full Speed Ahead , though no new material has been released as of 2024. D.R.I.'s music has combined elements of punk rock , thrash metal , speed metal , and heavy metal , while their early material has been described as hardcore punk . They are often cited as one of
8000-492: The song "Madman," which featured a clip of Kurt and Eric's father interrupting a band practice to complain about the noise. They initially went under the name US D.R.I for a brief period before shortening it to D.R.I. Presumably, the "US" stood for the band, as mentioned in interviews off of the extended version of the Dirty Rotten CD. Photos of the band can be found with the original US D.R.I logo. The "Skanker Man" logo
8100-643: The song "Suit and Tie Guy", and the Dirty Rotten LP was remixed to include the songs from the Violent Pacification EP , and was re-released. The band toured worldwide again to support the 4 of a Kind album, first in North America with Kreator and Holy Terror, and Europe with The Exploited and Gang Green . Just before they started working on their next album, Josh Pappe left D.R.I. because of an offer to play for Gang Green. He
8200-424: The stage: "I am very happy D.R.I. will be playing again, it has been far too long. We are currently setting up weekends to test the water and rebuild the stamina that we were known for. We all look forward to restarting up exactly where we left off." On April 13, 2010, Beer City Records reissued "Crossover – Millennium Edition" on LP and CD. Finally after many years Crossover was once again available. This reissue
8300-482: The term "thrash metal" in 1984, in reference to Anthrax's song " Metal Thrashing Mad ". The name "crossover" was coined in reference to Dirty Rotten Imbeciles 's 1987 album Crossover . Hybrid forms of metal and punk had existed as early as the mid-1970s, with the most notable act being Motörhead . However, Discharge were the first band to turn the fusion into "something a little more long-term". With their 1980 EPs Reality of War , Fight Back and Decontrol ,
8400-650: The tour were Gizz Butt , Carol Hodge, Pete Wilson and Spike T. Smith, and he was joined by Eve Libertine for a number of songs. The set list included a cover of "West One (Shine on Me)" by The Ruts , when Ignorant was joined onstage by the Norfolk-based lifeboat crew with whom he volunteers. In February 2011, artist Toby Mott exhibited a portion of his Crass ephemera collection at the Roth Gallery in New York. The exhibit featured artwork, albums (including 12" LPs and EPs), 7" singles from Crass Records and
8500-632: Was The Feeding of the 5000 (an 18-track, 12" 45 rpm EP on the Small Wonder label) in 1978. Workers at an Irish record-pressing plant refused to process it because of the offensive and blasphemous content of the song "Asylum", and the record was released without it. In its place were two minutes of silence entitled "The Sound of Free Speech". This incident prompted Crass to create their own independent record label , Crass Records , to retain editorial control over their material. A rerecorded, extended version of "Asylum", renamed "Reality Asylum",
8600-535: Was a benefit release with Poison Girls that raised £20,000 to fund the Wapping Autonomy Centre . The words were a critique (from an anarchist-pacifist perspective) of the traditional Marxist view of revolutionary struggle and were partly a response to violence marring a September 1979 Crass gig at Conway Hall in London's Red Lion Square . The show was intended as a benefit for Persons Unknown,
8700-526: Was available downloading at the "record news" page from their official web site for several years. During 1999, D.R.I. appeared as one of the headlining bands on the "Social Chaos" in North America Tour. One of their songs, "I'm The Liar", is used for a Social Chaos Tour CD compilation. During August 1999, in the middle of the tour, Chumly left the band after tiring of touring. He was replaced by Harald Oimoen. Oimoen had been working on and off with
8800-543: Was based around an anarchist commune in a 16th-century cottage, Dial House , near Epping , Essex, and formed when commune founder Penny Rimbaud began jamming with Steve Ignorant (who was staying in the house at the time). Ignorant was inspired to form a band after seeing the Clash perform at Colston Hall in Bristol , whilst Rimbaud, a veteran of avant-garde performance art groups such as EXIT and Ceres Confusion,
8900-462: Was basically the Suburbanites with Cassidy on guitar. Cassidy's roommate played guitar in the Suburbanites. The group started practicing at Kurt and Eric's parents' home. The noise made by the band allegedly drew regular complaints from Kurt and Eric's father. This led to the band gaining their name when they were described as a "bunch of dirty rotten imbeciles." This was also an inspiration for
9000-477: Was delayed due to Cassidy's illness. In March 2006, Cassidy was diagnosed with colon cancer, which put the band's performances and recording on hiatus until his recovery. In December 2006, Cassidy had completed all radiation and chemotherapy; a one-foot section of the large intestine (colon) was removed through an eight-inch incision in his stomach. An announcement on the band's website declared Cassidy cancer free as of August 2008. Cassidy commented on his return to
9100-595: Was designed by original drummer Eric Brecht as a high school art assignment to create a "corporate" logo. He received an "A" on it. Two months later, on July 2, 1982, the band played their first show at Joe Star's OMNI, in Houston. On November 6 and 7, 1982, D.R.I. recorded their first release, the Dirty Rotten EP , fitting 22 songs into 18 minutes on a 7-inch EP. Not long before its release, US D.R.I. had changed their name to just D.R.I., and only 1000 copies of
9200-480: Was diagnosed with colon cancer. Since the late 1990s, D.R.I. has been working on their eighth full-length studio album, which remains unreleased. Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (then-called US D.R.I.) was formed in Houston in May 1982 by former members of the hardcore punk band Suburbanites. The original line-up consisted of Spike Cassidy on guitar, Kurt Brecht on lead vocals, Eric Brecht on drums and Dennis Johnson on bass, which
9300-402: Was known as the " Thatchergate tapes", a recording of an apparently accidentally overheard telephone conversation (because of crossed lines). The tape was constructed by Crass from edited recordings of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan . On the "rather clumsily" forged tape, they appear to discuss the sinking of HMS Sheffield during the Falklands War and agree that Europe would be
9400-581: Was produced anonymously, The Observer linked the tape with the band. Previously classified government documents made public in January 2014 under the UK's ' thirty-year rule reveal that Thatcher was aware of the tape and had discussed it with her cabinet. Questions about the band in Parliament and an attempted prosecution by Conservative Party MP Timothy Eggar under the UK's Obscene Publications Act for their single "How Does It Feel..." made
9500-570: Was released as a free download to celebrate its 40th anniversary, albeit as a poor and upscaled tape transfer. In November 2002 several former members arranged Your Country Needs You, a concert of "voices in opposition to war", as the Crass Collective . At Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's South Bank , Your Country Needs You included Benjamin Britten's War Requiem and performances by Goldblade , Fun-Da-Mental , Ian MacKaye and Pete Wright's post-Crass project, Judas 2. In October 2003
9600-414: Was remastered by the original co-producer/engineer Bill Metoyer. The CD version contains eleven bonus tracks including five songs from their performance at NYC's The Ritz. That same year, the label reissued The Dirty Rotten EP , The Dirty Rotten LP , Violent Pacification 7-inch and Dealing with It! on vinyl. From 2011 through 2019, the band regularly trekked the United States, as well as tours of
9700-705: Was replaced by John Menor. In October 1989, D.R.I. released their fifth album Thrash Zone . Continuing in the same vein as 4 of a Kind , the album was another success for D.R.I. and two music videos were released to accompany it, "Beneath the Wheel" and "Abduction". The band toured for almost two years in support of Thrash Zone , mainly in Europe and North America, performing with numerous bands such as Nasty Savage , Sick of It All , Corrosion of Conformity , Mordred , Excel , Uncle Slam , Cryptic Slaughter , Dead Horse , Atrophy and Bitter End. In 1990, Felix Griffin left
9800-644: Was shortly afterward on Crass Records as a 7" single , and Crass were investigated by the police because of the song's lyrics. The band were interviewed at their Dial House home by Scotland Yard 's vice squad and threatened with prosecution, but the case was dropped. "Reality Asylum" retailed at 45 p (when most other singles cost about 90p), and was the first example of Crass' "pay no more than..." policy to issue records as inexpensively as possible. The band failed to factor value-added tax into their expenses, causing them to lose money on every copy sold. A year later, Crass Records released new pressings of The Feeding of
9900-509: Was that really what we wanted? Was that what we had set out to achieve all those years ago? The band had also incurred heavy legal expenses for the Penis Envy prosecution; this, combined with exhaustion and the pressures of living and operating together, finally took its toll. On 7 July 1984, the band played a benefit gig at Aberdare , Wales for striking miners , and on the return trip, guitarist N. A. Palmer announced his intent to leave
10000-509: Was working on his book Reality Asylum . They produced "So What?" and "Do They Owe Us a Living?" as a drum-and-vocal duo. They briefly called themselves Stormtrooper before choosing Crass in reference to a line in the David Bowie song " Ziggy Stardust " ("The kids were just crass"). Other friends and household members joined (including Gee Vaucher , Pete Wright , N. A. Palmer and Steve Herman), and Crass played their first live gig at
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