There are bands on this list that I like such as the Dropkick Murphys, bands I mildly regard as “do-able” like Rise Against, and bands I cannot tolerate at all…My Chemical Romance. But to be fair, I listened to the album, in its entirety, patiently…waiting…cringing…but we’ll get to that later. When I was listening to “Sonic Reducer” I thought to myself about how weak the vocals sounded; and furthermore the entire lack of passion in the music. It dawned on me however that I was just like the kids buying these albums at one point in time (but, my path didn’t start with Saves the Day, point me). The first time I heard “Sonic Reducer” was on a Pearl Jam bootleg (Joey Johnny Ramone was featured on guitar for the track). How cool is that? It was the opposite of the Saves the Day version, it burned with passion and was completely overwhelming (cheesy, but true). (oh, and this is me completely understanding that many people would squint, gag and otherwise show their lack of approval for saying that Pearl Jam is better than Saves the Day, but I so stand by it)I’ve been thinking about ways to take this post. I could search the internet for hours scrounging up links to better covers of these same songs. I could even find the originals (same time killing process involved). I don’t honestly think that in doing so I will help anyone to actually check Bad Brains out, who hasn’t already done so. But, sometimes you’ve got to get crunk and throw caution to the wind…tug on Superman’s cape…etc. So, here’s to wasting my time so you don’t have to.

For those looking to see what American Wasteland doesn’t sound like, consult the following: