Dealing With It

When I think of 1986, I think:Metallica- Master of PuppetsCorrosion of Conformity- AnimositySlayer- Reign In BloodDRI- Dealing With ItDealing With It is a bona fide thrash classic. Crossover came in two flavors: punks who succumbed to the joys of metal, and metalheads who discovered the joy of hardcore. In 1985 I was a teenage punk who had somehow fallen in with a little cadre of heshers at my high school, and these cats made it their mission in life to get me aboard the speed metal band wagon. They played me a bunch of stuff from their side of the fence, early Metallica, Slayer, Exodus, Celtic Frost. I turned up my nose at all of it, told them to "Get this hippy s#$% away from me." Then at some point I went off and discovered DRI on my own. I had seen their name on lots of gig flyers billed with bands I already liked, and when I looked at their Dealing With It LP in a record store one day, I read the little sticker on the front that said "DRI is the fastest band ever, period" or something like that. That was all it took for me to bite. I took it home and gave it a listen and was a very satisfied customer to say the least. It immediately became one of my favorite records and has been ever since. To me it was a hardcore album with a couple of metal songs thrown in. It was basically my speed metal gateway drug; once I had it in my system, suddenly the stuff my hessian friends made me listen to didn't seem that bad. When Master of Puppets came out and my friends forced it on me, I had to admit I didn't hate it.As far as I'm concerned, Dealing With It belongs in every record collection. This reissue goes the extra mile with some bonus tracks- early demos, some with a pre-Josh/Felix line up. These are kinda fun to hear; primitive, more basic performances where Spike's signature little squeaky harmonic embellishments are noticeably absent. A couple of the tracks sound like they experimented with the idea of recording the vocals at a lower speed, probably to give Kurt a chance to belt all of the lyrics out in time. But the effect is that it sounds like Kurt's about 11 years old, or half chipmunk. It also contains a video of an interview, though unfortunately it isn't very interesting.The only thing keeping this from a five star rating is that some errors were made in the remastering process. It's barely noticable, but at least one track gets cut off early. Oh well. Nothing's perfec.EDIT 10/8/08: I just finished the 33 1/3 book on Slayer's Reign In Blood. It mentioned that in 1985, Jeff Hanneman finally succeeded in turning Kerry King on to hardcore thrash and the specific record that did the trick was Dealing With It. Note that Dealing With It and Slayer's second album Hell Awaits were both released in March 1985. They'd finished writing Reign by November 1985. I've always thought Reign In Blood was far and away Slayer's best album and wondered what it was that made it so. I think I finally have my answer. Apparently both Hanneman and King were way into Dealing With It when they wrote Reign In Blood. Makes a lot of sense, I think.

An important point that people forget is that DRI's "Dealing With It" transcended the genre of thrash/speed metal. 1983's "Dirty Rotten LP" cemented the band's support in the hardcore punk community, but the release of "Dealing With It" didn't just blur the line between hardcore and metal, it obliterated it. Listen to mid-late 80's hardcore like Agnostic Front, Hate Crew, Uniform Choice, etc. and you'll notice the DRI stamp is all over it. Fast forward a decade or so and listen to just about ANY hardcore release on Slap A Ham Records (Crossed Out, Man Is The [...], etc.) and you'll hear more than just a causal nod to the masters of thrash. DRI's later release more appropriately named "Crossover," (a universal term that directly refers to the hybrid brand of hardcore/thrash/metal that DRI pioneered) solidified the band as a force to be reckoned with in any genre in front of any crowd in any venue in the 1980's. From DC to Dallas legions of skinheads and punks found themselves side by side with gangs of metal heads; the ensuing tension led to nights of legendary violence and some of the most raucous, chaotic, powerful life shows in underground music during any era.Alas, many of the misguided youth of today have simply forgotten just how influential DRI was and how seriously hard "Dealing With It" raged. DRI's brand of precision timed stop-start rhythms and mile-a-minute vocals has been absorbed into the collective unconscious of underground music. Often imitated, but never duplicated, Dealing With It stands today, even after all these years, as a testament to the power that ensues when speed and distortion collide.

Great old school album

This is a MUST OWN for any true fan of thrash/punk/hardcore music...released in 1985 at their peak!!! Along the lines of their first album the "Dirty Rotten LP"...you'll find that they are one of the finest bands who have ever graced us with their talent and intelligent message...their style of song-writing and aggressive playing is definitely IN YOUR FACE!! But they are SMART! They mix political savvy with punkish humor and party ethic wisdom...This album is my personal favorite pick from their catalog...although i would gladly put ANY of their albums on to listen to at any given moment.BUY IT!!!!! You will not be disappointed.

I hadn't listened to this in almost thirty years. I remembered it to be my favorite dri, but after re-listening to it, I think I find the "dirty rotten lp" the best. But "bail out" is still one of their best. Last time I saw dri was on this tour, with COC "animosity" as co-headliners.

just as good as i remember...yep...i'm old. that being said...the good stuff doesn't get old.

I grew up South of Houston, so this band was a true piece of my teen years. I was happy to get that back.

great album have a lot of art and the vinyl is transparent , i love this !!!

some good old hardcore punk,short songs performed at breakneck speed,d.r.i. turned into a metal band later on in their carrer,this is more punk,not ramones punk,cro-mags,agnostic front punk.released in the mid 80`s,this along with a few others started a new wave in the metal world,for those of us who wanted a little more speed and power than metallica,megadeath this band gave us a choice in a fast changing metal world.other good hrdcre punk bands began springing up all over the place,some a little more punky,some more metalish.other good bands to check out are,crumbsuckers,s.o.d

Llegó doblado de los extremos, el disco en buenas condiciones, no pandeado.Llegó en tiempo estimado, pero no es la primera vez que llega un disco con la portada en esas condiciones

das waren noch zeiten!

Ein Zeitloser Klassiker den ich endlich zu meiner Sammlung hinzufügen konnte die Band zählt zu den Besten ihres Genre überhaupt

Ne saute pas