A few musings on Tyranny and Mutation...
Hot Rails to Hell and 7 Screaming Dizbusters were my instant favorites from this, and both have held up well. Side 2 didn't grab me right away, but grew on me to where I love it almost as much as Side 1 now.
Teen Archer is one that I always liked, but never loved, until I saw them play it in 2000. Then I was like, holy crap this song is money!! More killer bass work, and yet another killer lead riff. I love how so many of their solos are almost like little snapshots, like they come to us in bite sizes rather than feeling the need to overdo them. The breakdown at the end of the instrumental section is one of the best moments on the album, with the rhythm section allowed to shine with brief little solos. And the way they come out of that last chorus and go back into the main riff and slow it down is so well done, and then, almost like they faked us out, they speed it up to end the song, before transitioning into Mistress of the Salmon Salt...Quicklime Girl!!!!
Incidentally, that 2000 show was unreal. It was at Pops over on the east side (near all of the strip bars across the river in Sauget, IL) and they made up a lot of the set list as they went along. You could hear them talking in between songs deciding what to play next, and there were a few times when fan requests that were yelled out were played. They played Unknown Tongue, The Vigil and Golden Age of Leather all at that show, three songs I never thought I'd see them play. And the performance of Dominance and Submission, with the band singing "dominance" and then getting us all to sing "submission" was awesome. And I remember a guy near us, some big dude who looked like one of those guys who rides around on a Harley every day, spent the whole show rocking out and drinking beer straight from the pitcher with his huge mitt wrapped around it.