Speak English Or Die

As a kid when this came out, 'Speak' was one of the first albums i bought along with a few notable other bands work (Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Iron Maiden etc). Anyhow, I was in my local second hand shop, packed to the rafters with EPs, LPs, singles, cool a*s picture discs, posters all over the walls and so on (you get the picture); after 10 minutes or so the music in the shop changed. This blistering barrage of noise pumped out of the wall-mounted speakers. I really thought they were gona come loose and fall. I went over to the counter and asked, or should i say shouted "whos this"?. The guy (with long hair and a denim jacket loaded with band patches) pointed at his sleeve. "SOD" was the patch he pointed to. I found the "S" section and picked up "Speak". Arriving home i put SOD on first. It blew me away! As a kid around 12 at the time, SOD were punching my chest with a slue of distorted guitars, cool drums, pumping bass lines and damn fine lyrical abuse. Theres plenty of fun hidden amongst some of the coolest mosh tracks from yester-year. I am in my mid 40s now and "Speak" speaks volumes. If you were a kid in the 80s, a rocker and you missed listening to this fine album, you missed out big time. Simple as that. To listen to it now brings all those raw, emotional feelings back as if it were yesterday. First time listeners may wonder what the hell is this!? Well, its part of the fabric of bands that shaped and formed the metal horizon without a shed load of computer jazz and was made how metal sounds best. The guys, the instruments and a record button; a bit of sound engineering and bingo, an album. The 80s rang a bell, we, the rockers, listened and all these years later, "Speak" encompasses all the true hard work, sweat and imagination needed the create an album. Its a total shame albums aren't made the same these days. Its a shame i miss my record deck. Its a shame i miss the click and pop of a dirty player needle, but i dont miss finding re-released content, albeit, its now a cleaned up cleaner sound. The CD has removed some of the original power and moshi-ness from the LP but crank it up, get a mosh pit going and annoy your loved ones. This album comes in a slim fold out cardboard case. There is the original artwork of Anthrax/Scott/Charlie folded up in the sleeve (see pic). A nice set for mosh fans! \m/

I did not even know this was a double LP, let alone it comes in clear splatter vinyl and is a nice package. There's a little write up too from that bloke Corey Taylor from Iowa! The first record contains the original Speak English or Die and the second record is live extra's. I was a big fan of Anthrax in the 80's, and up to the present day so I always wanted this album but never got round to it. Listening to it, it's classic Scott Ian riffage and Charlie Benante's drumming is sensational as usual. I knew a couple of songs that I think were re-recorded on the Anthrax compilation Attack of the Killer Bee's, but the recordings on this album are just glorious, under produced 80's thrash with throwaway humour befitting the time...well worth the £12 I paid. I suspect there is a Kerry King guitar solo on their too, but someone will have to confirm that!

The kings of controversial crossover S.O.D. bullseye most of their targets with spite but also flippancy on this still ferocious sounding mid-80s classic. From the 'It's everyone's favourite riff' crunch of 'March of The S.O.D' onward it's a hybrid of - ahem - 'mosh' riffs combined with some still pretty speedy thrash sections. If you can take the lyrics in the spirit that - I hope - they were intended, which is tongue firmly in cheek, then you will find plenty to enjoy. If you want a quick highlight/taster then cue up the the title track, light the touchpaper and stand well back as the startling, hyperkinetic percussive barrage flattens all in it's path.

Legendary thrash album, with new CD face, which is not for my taste. All songs are there + 3 bonus studio songs + live concert in Japan. All good but this edition includes some bad quality bonus demo tracks in the end discribed as bonus material. It would be better without bonus material.

At this price you really can't go wrong. Nicely packaged 2x vinyl with the original album sounding as it should, no stupid remaster or remix spoiling the pure perfection of the 1985 release. Bought out of nostalgia and very pleased with the whole package.

I don’t know why the vinyl cover is made in the Czech Republic, I don’t know what color the vinyl is, but the barcode refers to the American edition, which also indicates what was done in the Czech Republic and on the idea of green mixed color. The sticker in the corner brightly silver indicates the 30th anniversary of the album. Everything looks great and high quality, I'm sorry I do not collect the open editions)

When I opened this up I was ecstatic to discover it was the rare splatter disc version, and it sounds truly amazing. Great pressing and unbelievable price. Gatefold vinyl.

Fantastic edition of a classic album.