D.R.I. - Live at CBGB's 1984 (2005)
I've always loved DRI. Their early **** is pure light speed violence, and while they would become progressively more tepid, their evolution to a thrash band also included some of the best riffs in all of metal. But this is perhaps their best recording. It was just before
Dealing With It (though it contains songs from that album), their first true foray into crossover, and just after their debut and
Violent Pacification EP, so this is more hardcore than thrash, but it's still close enough to qualify.
The production is surprisingly good for a live album from a cult band, so their intensity is undiluted, and Jesus ****ing Christ how mother****ing intense they are. This album is probably the best representation of just how fast and insane DRI were before they started slowing down to play crossover thrash, not only because of good production, but because apparently DRI play even faster live. How the **** that is possible is beyond me, but this is the first time I've been convinced that DRI must have been an influence on grindcore, if not on the genre as a whole, then definitely on select bands with taste.
Unfortunately the last ten minutes have a marked loss in audio quality. I don't know if the recording equipment ****ed up or they added the end of a different show, but it is what it is. And they're still awesome.
I'd post a couple choice cuts, but since most of the songs are interchangeable and last a minute at most, I'll just post the album. Especially since the video is an actual video. Epic.