7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
When You're In Brooklyn...., June 5, 2002
I moved to New York City in the summer of 1992 after spending nearly all of my youth in southeastern Virginia. Flipping the radio dial to find out what sort of stations I could pick up from my new apartment on 121st Street, I stopped on a station at which I heard roughnecks with Brooklyn accents being interviewed about a new album they had coming out. When they started playing songs off the album, I couldn't believe my ears. What sort of radio station would play the sort of hardcore/metal I heard blaring out of my speakers? And who was this great band?
A few minutes later, I had the answers to my questions: 89.5 WSOU Seton Hall's Pirate Radio and Biohazard. You had better believe we didn't have anything like WSOU down in Virginia so I listened to it like crazy over the next 7+ years. Biohazard was the first of many bands I got into because of WSOU. Their tales of life on the streets of Brooklyn laid down over hardcore and metal grooves captured my imagination. When I first got to NYC, I was a bit afraid of moving about my neighborhood at night, yet the guys from Biohazard were getting into all sorts of crazy situations in Brooklyn and were damn proud of it. I'd like to think Biohazard got me over that tentative stage real quick and over the years I came to understand why they were so proud of being from Brooklyn. Now that I've lived in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn, and worked in Queens over the years, I can say that Brooklyn is the coolest of the boroughs (does Staten Island even count?). Brooklyn's got all the grittiness of the Bronx as well as some of Manhattan's cultural sophistication, but without all the pretentiousness.
And if there's one thing Biohazard are not, it's pretentious. Like a Brooklyn-style ass-kicking, Urban Discipline just pummels you from start to finish. The only relief you'll get is when it's over, but knowing the sadomasochist that you are, you'll probably just hit play again and absorb yet another whuppin'. The album's great from start to finish, but I'll list a few standout cuts just to whet your appetite: the impossibly heavy `Shades of Gray', `Urban Discipline', `Wrong Side of the Tracks', and the Bad Religion cover `We're Only Gonna Die' should do the trick.
Earlier this year, WSOU converted to a more varied format after 15 years of playing "New Jersey's Hardest Rock". Metal-heads aren't exactly the most lacrimose of people, but you can bet that more than a few tears were shed over the demise of WSOU. At least Urban Discipline still exists and you can play the CD yourself, even if WSOU won't be playing it anymore. And if you happen to find yourself in Brooklyn, just remember Evan Seinfeld's advice: `When you're in Brooklyn, you'd best watch your baaaaackkkkk!'
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"here is justice, here is punishment", May 27, 2005
i remember catching biohazards "punishment" video on headbangers ball in the early 90's .a gang of about a thousand very scarey looking fellows strolling through the streets of NY.coming to beat the worlds ass!very powerful images for a very powerful song. i could hardly wait to hear it again,so i picked up the cassette.i'm barely now, nor have i ever been a big rap fan,i like funny stuff like old luke skywalker,too short,digital underground,slick rick etc.(bigger fan than i thought)but anyway i love every song on "urban discipline" the music is tight,very powerful, w/ more of a groovy/funk element than one of hiphop. the angst ridden roars of rap fit the music perfectly & you get a good sence that these guys really know what they're talking about . i've been an extreme metal fannatic pushing 20 years now & biohazard are no lightweights. BUY IT IT JAMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Get it !, July 20, 2004
'Urban discipline'? One of Biohazard's best ever ! Get it by all means if necessary, you'll never regret it... It's a perfect crossover album which combines inspired hip hop lyrics with the nicest metal/hardcore songs ever issued. These guys were not faking and each song is as lethal as a bullet... This was the Biohazard I was used to revere in the nineties! There is nothing to throw in the garbage in it and, a hardcore fan would be foolish ignoring this true masterpiece...
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