DAMAGED'S WADZY GIVES TEN RECORDS THAT INSPIRED HIS AND THE BAND'S SOUND:
Dead Kennedys - In God We Trust, Inc.
this was the first hardcore punk i ever heard, i was 14 and had borrowed a dubbed tape of primus 'frizzle fry' he had got off one of his skater mates, after the last primus song had finished i kept listening to see what else was on the tape when all of a sudden the opening chords of religious vomit blasted out of the speakers, holy shit i had not heard anything like it! it sounded like a 33rpm record on 45rpm, it was off the hook. ... i forgot about primus and just listened to the dks on that tape...from there on in it was all downhill i needed more of this crazy shit i was hearing.
Bad Brains - Rock For Light
A fucking killer album, i used to listen to this every day on my little walkman on the way to and from school, the production is a lil tinny, but it doesnt change the fact the songs are amazing...there is alot of urgency in the music that i felt. as a young buck hating school i used to crank my headphones and lose myself with this album...it was good times...people who overlook this band and their influence need a head check..
Black Flag - Damaged
Well aside from the obvious fact its where i stole the name of our band from, this is an all time fucking classic....i got this when i was 15 after reading about it in 'guitar world' magazine of all places...i rocked down to wonderland records and spent 30 of my hard earned paper run dollars on it. when i got home i threw it on, my first impression was that it souinded like it was recorded on a tape deck...after listening to the album a coupla times thru i was like yup this is the shit right here, rollins goes fucking bananas and greg ginn plays like he is trying to murder his guitar...a fucking intense album, best cover art ever too...a big influence for me.
Minor Threat - Complete Discography
Well its not technically an album but fuck it, there isnt much i can say about this which hasnt been said a million times. all i will say is that it is a testament to how much power and intensity can be created with just a bass, guitar, rangi drumkit and a dude yelling...one of the best bands EVER no contest!
Cro-Mags - Age of Quarrel
Fuckin hell where to begin, well this is probly my favourite album ever, it is one of the few albums i can listen to over and over and not get sick of. this album is more than music...when i listen to it i dont hear drums, bass, vocals and guitars i just hear a cohesive wall of sound...the perfect hardcore record!! all you clowns who think righteous jams and the first no warning album is the best thing out, get off the nutz newjacks and listen to that band they jacked all their shit from!
Madball - Set it Off
Fucken eh, i nearly shit myself when i got this, being a skinny wee 17 year old i read about this record in some silly mag like 'metal maniacs' or some shit one day at the mall...sounded like some good shit so i rocked on down to wonderland (anyone from wellington knows about this place it used to be the shit but now sucks penis) and picked it up. fuck i was blown away!! hard as fuck music with a gruff voice and gritty lyrics, i knew this was some next level shit...i think this record influenced a generation of bands...so fucking hard hitting, heavy without being tuned down and just overall fucking hardcore. awesome.
Agnostic Front - Victim in Pain
I had read alot about agnostic front in a few zines i had and figured i needed to get some of their shit as they were often reffered to as being nyhc legends...so i raided the piggybank and (again) cruised down to wonderland, they didnt have any AF cds so i checked out the tapes section...lo and behold there it was, their first release on original cassete for $5! so i grabbed it,, went and bought some food or some shit with the money i had left over and went home to listen to it...it started of with about 2 seconds of a rugged sounding guitar ringing out then boom it was away...there was such urgency in the vocals and music that i was fucken blown away, these dudes sounded like they were givin it everything,,, all the songs were about a minute, just the way i like it...good fucken lyrics too! something that was becomin increasinly important to me...a great fucken record that still inspires me to this day.
Hatebreed - Satisfaction is the Death of Desire
I got this as soon as i saw it in the shop, until i rocked this i hadnt heard much hardcore that combined brutal heaviness while still sounding undeniably hardcore, sure i had stuff like earth crisis and VOD but that was more or less metal, this shit sounded like regular HC, but tuned down and more violent. perfect!..i loved this band ever since i heard this record and to me this is their best...every song a killer, good lyrics and i just want to break shit when i hear it...
Slayer - Reign in Blood
A all i will say is that if you dont think this record is the shit you can fucken DIE!!!
Balance - One Existence
Well i had to include this because these guys inspired me to want to be in a hardcore band, they were one of the first bands i ever saw at thistle hall back when they were still playing stuff off the 'mineshaft burning' "7...i rember going to their 'straight away' demo release show in welly and not havin enough pingas to buy the tape so the guitarist rhys just rocks up and gives me it free and told me to dub it for my mates, i doubt he remebers that but it meant alot to me, being 16 i was very impressionable and looked up to older dudes like that, and to be shown respect like that meant alot....anyways when one existance came out i was fucken psyched...good old fashioned hardcore plenty of sing alongs etc...i remember goin up to see SOIA in aucks in 98 when balance opened for them i was buggin out, comin from welly where there was like 3 hc kids, to that show where there was like fucken 400-500 kids or so was an eye opener...anyways balance were awesome and cool dudes to boot. good band, good record...shit i might have to go dust it off for a listen now haha!!