Customer Reviews

Screaming for Change

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I don't know how anyone who says they listen to Hardcore could not have owned this album. Completely front to back straight edge top quality hardcore unmatched to this day.

Sure Youth of Today had the following and Minor Threat had the hype but UC was just as strong lyrically and musically. Screaming for Change is a battle hymn on par with any of the greats (Screamin at a wall etc.).

Unforunately for the band they went on to make a sub par pop metal album called Staring at the Sun afterward (oooh bad mistake). I guess they tried to cash out and lost.

"Once I Cry" is still one of the best hardcore songs ever written.

Awesome positive hardcore from California. Sweet God, these guys sound a lot like Minor Threat musically and vocally, lets face it, but great songwriting and pretty good lyrics make them stand out on their own.
If these guys were from New York, I'm sure every hardcore kid would flip out as much over UC as they do for Chain of Strength, Gorilla Biscuits or YOT. But, they aren't, so I think UC doesn't get the respect and recognition they deserve.
I like that Uniform Choice can keep the speed up, but stay nice and melodic at the same time. I love when bands can do that, y'know, be catchy but not wimpy sounding. UC accomplishes this beautifully. I even like the spoken word piece at the end of the album.
Even if yoiu ain't edge, check UC out. Great band.

Blown the hell away. This band was by far one of the best bands to come out in the 80's. One of the catchiest also. Track after track of intense hardcore. You will be stage diving off your couch and running around your living room like an idiot when you hear this. Definnatly worth a try. Put down your Insted cds or whatever generic hardcore you listen to and try this. Just listen to STRAIGHT AND ALERT. If you cant appreciate that song then you should just stage dive out your window into a street and prey you get hit.

Blistering, articulate, catchy hardcore that manages to sound smart and angry at the same time (no easy feat). Musically much more polished than Minor Threat and lyrically way ahead of just about any straight edge band in 1985, Uniform Choice is probably the best mid 80's hardcore band you've never heard of. It's true that just about everything coming out of NYC at the time overshadowed West Coast releases, but Uniform Choice should have never been swept under the rug the way they were. This record EASILY stands up against any hardcore release from the same era. Old School mo-fo's from the 80's scene will tell you that Uniform Choice set the bar for future releases of positive, youth-crew-oriented, straight edge hardcore. Alas, bands far less talented, far less inspired and far less committed remain "legends" if only because of their geographic place of birth.

One the most underated Hardcore albums ever. Like some of the other reviewers mentioned, I believe that it is just because they were from Califoria instead of the east coast. At the time when this came out, the NY straight edge scene was huge! Now unfortunately, on the record that followed this, they started to sound more like Dokken than punk, but the hardcore sound returned when they reformed a few years later as Unity. Anyway, give it a listen.