Let me first say that this is a review for the OpIv release containing their "Energy" LP, their "Hectic" EP, and two songs from a compilation. Not just the "Energy" LP.
The day I got this album, I was ready to move to California. I was obsessed with Green Day(the first two records) at the time, and I noticed they covered a song by a band called Operation Ivy.Well, I went out and bought the tape, and Operation Ivy blew them away. I had never heard ska and punk together, and I dare say most of the world hadn't either. Their rough, balls-out reggae core was permantly lodged into my brain, and I would eventually wear the tape out, and be forced to buy the CD.
Jesse Michaels, the front man and main lyricist, knows his shit. Politically stirring most of the time, but topics like unity in a hard scene, love, and police bastards are all covered through the lengthy, poetic lyrics. I have never heard one man say so much in a single song. And I'm not just talking about the messages. He really does say a lot, literally.
The upbeat ska-punk that Operation Ivy laid claims to would eventually make it to the mainstream, but would never even come close to what OpIv did in their short stint as a band. It even goes as far as bands like Assorted Jelly Beans, who, while a good band, blantanly copied Operation Ivy in every sense of the word. It's been done a thousand times over, but no one has equalled Operation Ivy's tenasity, infectousness,and lyricall genius.
For the first time listener, I would have to recommend downloading songs like "Freeze Up" or "Sound System". They will assuredly get your body moving. No one, and I mean NO ONE, has done ska-punk justice since this band, and NO ONE ever will. (well, slapstick and LTJ are pretty good too I guess.) If you like ska, if you like punk, if you like rap, if you like hardcore, if you like reggae, if you like....oh fuck, just buy the damn album.
P.S. The songs all came from 87 and 89, but I'm pretty sure this wasn't released until '91. If i'm wrong let me know. feel free to be as rude as possible.