Strung Out

Another Day in Paradise (1994)

fathead

The Strung Out experience should ultimately begin with this, their debut, album. While still an astounding 13 songs of melodical fury, it often shows the youth of the band.

The listener is floored from the get-go by 'Population Control, and the rest of the album refuses to let you up on your feet. Aggressive, speed-driven and catchy the whole way through, but Strung Out's metal influence pokes through often with heavy palm-muting and shredding solos. The drumming is spectacular as always, however, it is interesting to listen the the chronological growth in Jordan Burns' talent. He was good then, but he is leaps and bounds ahead of this album now. This is one of the first records that defined the new, talented melodo-speed punk sound, and Strung Out would continue leading the genre in the years to come.

Those of you who were lucky enough to see Strung Out play these songs back in the day can kiss my ass. I've seen them twice and only heard one song from this album. 'Another Day in Paradise', in my opinion, is one of the best debuts by any punk band ever (I'm not counting 'The Skinny Years' because it wasn't widely available until years after Strung Out had rooted their place in punk). It rips with the best of them, but its not quite perfection. With that said, their other 2 full lengths are as close to perfect as any band has come!

1994 will forever be known as 'the year punk broke…again!' But hidden in the shadows of 'Dookie' and 'Smash' was a young 5 piece with a little promise of their own.