Customer Reviews

Take Up Your Cross / Nailed

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

 

 

This is one of, if not the best, old-school thrashy christian punk albums of all time. these guys are so fast, they'll leave you speechless. Enjoy!

Tooth and Nail scored by re-releasing there demo's. I always wondered what they sounded like before they were signed. I can say that the Crucified has never sucked. This album shows that they can play fast and slow punk tunes. There are no lyric sheets, but you can pick up most of what marc is yelling about. marc's voice is young sounding, and not much like his voice now in stavesacre. The recording is really raw, just the way punk should be, and the production is not the best. I still have to say that this is one of the best punk albums to come out of cristian music ever.

I first heard these guys back in the late 80's when I was going to high school with a group of christian radicals I hung out with often. Twenty years later I am an athiest and have absolved my life of christianity as much as possible. That said, I still listen to these guys from time to time because they are just THAT good. They made some great punk/hardcore music at a time when it was still an underground form of music. Take Up Your Cross is thier debut. As other reviewers have stated, it is more punk than thrash- which is a valid observation. Listening to this beside the sonic fury of Pillars Of Humanity is a definite contrast in musical styles. It's remarkable how well this stands up, though, even today. I just gave it a long overdue listen and I am still impressed by the A) The songs B) The quality of the recording for a first release demo c) The insane drumming of Jim Chaffin, and D) Mark Soloman's lyrics, even at this infant stage of their career. This album really stands apart in every way. I saw The Crucified live at Cornerstone in 1988 or '89 and I remember how amazing they were live. They had the tent packed that night and delivered in a BIG WAY. People were stage diving and getting body passed throughout the whole show- I had never seen that at a christian rock concert before. It was a shame they disbanded, but fortunately we have these albums to always remind us of what an incredible band they were. And also, anyone who is a fan should always be on the lookout for the cassette only release "Live At The New Order". This is a well recorded concert from 1988 that was released between "Nailed" and their self- titled debut. It is a great document of them live.

This is some fast, agressive Hardcore in the vein of Minor Threat. This same demo material was also released by another label on a CD entitled 'Nailed'. Whilst this is certainly an enjoyable recording, I still think they didn't really come into their own until their self-titled debut full-length. (And yes, I like that 'stupid anti-papal song' (titled 'Man in a suit and The Pope') because, both musically and lyrically it is spot-on, although I would have been harder on the Pope.) 'The Pillars of Society' is worth a listen as well. It has better production than the previous releases but the songs are better on 'The Crucified'.

Once again, don't let any prejudices you might have against Christians/Christianity deafen you to some great music.

This is a great hard-core punk album, and I recommend this to fans of 90 Pound ... and Lugnut. This is a must buy! Just listen to one of the samples and you'll see.

This sounds like a Christian version of Minor Threat with the vocalist from Anti. A little goofy, but pretty powerful. Actually, their self-titled CD is aeons better, with an almost speed-metallic hardcore punk version, except their stupid anti-papal song.