CLICK HERE for some Reviews of Albums by THE EXPLOITED!
THE EXPLOITED were the quintessential UK street punk band in the early eighties, and they rode the crossover thrash wave from the late eighties into the 2000s. While their contemporaries such as GBH and DISCHARGE were also very influential, THE EXPLOITED best defined the second wave of UK Punk.
They were the leading band of the UK version of hardcore punk, now often known as “UK 82” after one of their song titles. The albums vary, but ‘Punk’s Not Dead’, ‘Troops of Tomorrow’, ‘Let’s Start a War’, ‘Beat The Bastards’, and ‘Fuck The System’ are among the best. ‘Death Before Dishonor’ is their thrash metal turning point, and ‘The Massacre’ is their first thrash metal album displaying a polished “heavy” sound. However, there isn’t a bad studio album among any THE EXPLOITED have released.
FROM REVIEWS:
TROOPS OF TOMORROW: Aside from two purposely trudging metal sludgers of foreboditure, this record is filled top to bottom with kickass angry catchy uptempo punk rock. Big John’s got a mean new guitar tone, and demonstrates a strong Motorhead influence in his fast choppy ‘chugga-chugga-chugga’ playing. The mix is a bit trebly and reverbed, but in another interesting first, several of the songs incorporate overdubs of differently-toned, -effected or -accented rhythm guitar. For example, “They Won’t Stop” is driven by a chugging rhythm guitar, but also features a reverbed metallic guitar doubling up just part of the riff, resulting in a strange ‘SCROWL SCROWL’ sound in the final mix.
LET’S START A WAR is The Exploited’s most political record, with side one focused entirely on Margaret Thatcher’s Falklands Experience and the horror of war in general. As an ex-soldier (seriously!), Wattie feels strongly that human lives (except Mods) are not tools to be used and thrown away by arrogant upper-class leaders. And like so many other hardcore punk bands of the period (CRASS, Roger Waters And The Pink Floyd), The Exploited were not about to withhold lyrical comment (and sampled media soundbite!) when the bombs and bullets began to fly.
THE MASSACRE: This is where The Exploited turned into a heavy band. Death Before Dishonour was thrash metal, true – but it wasn’t heavy. THIS (and the albums that followed it) is (are) heavy (not very good). The guitar tone is thick, loud, bassy and heavily distorted, the drumbeats are nearly all thrash and hardcore speed, and the mix is crystal-clear high quality modern metal. As a result, it sounds like about five million other CDs.
