Poison Idea We Must Burn 2xLP reissue
Capping off the initial 1980–1993 phase of POISON IDEA’s long and storied existence, We Must Burn was the fifth and final offering from what many consider to be the classic lineup. In partnership with American Leather, TKO has made the album available on vinyl for the first time since its original release in 1993, remastered from the tapes and repackaged in a deluxe gatefold jacket. If that weren’t enough, there’s an extra LP featuring studio outtakes from the Religion & Politics 10”, and live tracks from their performance at a gay rights benefit festival that was hosted at the Portland Meadows racetrack in 1992. For my money, the extra material alone makes this worth the price of admission, with some killer covers of DEVO, WIPERS, and G.I.S.M. We Must Burn is itself an incredibly interesting album. Opinions will of course be divided on later-era POISON IDEA, but quality and competence is undeniable. It’s stylistically scattershot, with savage cuts that harken back to their hardcore roots, tracks that would fit comfortably on Feel the Darkness, and some songs that stab out in unexpected territory with blues refrains, some actual singing from Jerry A, and even an attempt at grunge (it was 1993, afterall). That may sound terrible in theory, but in practice it somehow works. I know at least one person for whom this is their favorite POISON IDEA record. Wild. For the completist, this is a no-brainer, and for the curious it’s worth a listen at the very least, ‘cause let’s face it, even at their worst, POISON IDEA was nothing to scoff at…and you know you want to hear their take on alternative rock.