89. Exodus - Bonded by Blood (1985)
Murder in the front row
Crowd begins to bang
And there's blood upon the stage
Bang your head against the stage
And metal takes its price
Bonded by blood
The chorus to the title track pretty much says it all about this album and this band. According to legend, the "blood upon the stage" line came from an incident during an early Exodus show where there was literally a pool of blood on the stage, and their "singer", Paul Baloff, put his hand in the puddle and wiped it across his face. You will
never be as metal as this album or this band.
Even after over a decade of playing this album over and over and over again, when the sound of the dropping bomb explodes into the opening riff of the first song, it still gives me a jolt of adrenaline. Everything that is thrash is encapsulated in this album: the riffs, the trashy lyrics, the anti-melodic screaming, and most importantly, the energy.
Exodus may not have been first off the starting block with releasing an album, but they were one of the original San Francisco Bay Area thrash bands, and every one of their peers, from Metallica to Slayer, were influenced by these maniacs. Who the **** knows what would have become of the scene without them. And they still kick ass today. Gary Holt 4 lyfe!