In 1990, a live album from Bad Brains was cranked out to capitalize on the success of the band's 1989 release, Quickness. Recorded in Amsterdam in 1987, The Youth are Getting Restless was a crash-course in the greatness of these D.C. legends, and a worth counterpart to their earlier live record, Live, recorded on the same tour. The Youth are Getting Restless has just now been remastered by Dave Gardner and reissued by ORG Music, and hearing this album again in this form is like hearing it for the first time.
When this album first came out, I was working at The Record Co-Op, the University of Maryland's own campus record store, in the Stamp Student Union. My coworker Rich Carlson was in D.C. ska band The Now (later to be produced by Earl Hudson from Bad Brains) and he was trying to educate me in some harDCore stuff I'd missed on my own. This Bad Brains live album was an easy way to do that. While the earlier Live was well-received, this one was louder and more powerful in spots. The Youth are Getting Restless, according to those who knew, captured the band's force, maybe better than it had been captured on vinyl/tape/disc prior to this album's release. I mean, "Coptic Times", from Rock for Light, and "Re-Ignition", from I Against I roar out of the speakers here with a heavy metal-ish crunch. The band's never sounded harder than they do here, with H.R.'s charismatic delivery anchoring this material, and Dr. Know's squalling guitar cutting through the noise. This edition of The Youth are Getting Restless has a cleaner sound than the earlier record, with the separation of instruments better realized here in this 2023 version. "Banned in D.C." is a tornado of noise, Earl Hudson's furious drumming keeping things tethered to earth, while "Revolution", a Dennis Brown cover, serves as a fine showcase for bassist Darryl Jenifer's skils.
Still, we come to the Bad Brains records to rock, even as we draw spiritual nourishment from the material, and Dave Gardner has polished this up in just the right way. Things crunch and roar without a listener getting lost in a wave of noise and fury. The precision of the players, often going at breakneck speed in a live setting, is now somehow more apparent.
In 1990 this live album served as a good primer for me on the greatness of Bad Brains. It still does. One could make the case that The Youth are Getting Restless is where to start with this band, as their best tunes are here, the playing is on fire, and the era covered is perhaps their last great period as a four-piece. This 2023 edition should set ears ablaze again.
The Youth are Getting Restless is out now via ORG Music.
[Photo: Steven Hanner]