Youth of Today - Break Down The Walls (1987)

Tracklist
01 Make A Change
02 Thinking Straight
03 Stabbed In The Back
04 Take A Stand
05 Honesty
06 One Family
07 Break Down The Walls
08 Shout It
09 Time To Forgive
10 Positive Outlook
11 Standing Hard
12 Free At Last
13 Youth of Today

Youth of Today's debut full-length, Break Down the Walls, sounds like standard New York hardcore, but the enormous influence that this disc had on the straight-edge movement is almost immeasurable. Each song is a fast-paced punk slugfest, geared toward the group's angry young male fan base. The performances are sloppy but fierce, and the message is a predictable anti-establishment rant. Positivity, clean living, and the benefits of a fully vented spleen are stressed to a raw extreme, thus establishing a hardcore blueprint for the many artists who followed Youth of Today's example. Highlights include live favorites like "Make a Change" and "Stabbed In the Back." Ray Cappo maintains his vocal intensity throughout all 13 tracks (coming in at around 20 minutes), and the band follows suit with passionate performances. A must-own for straight-edge enthusiasts and New York hardcore scholars, Break Down the Walls is generally considered one of its genres all-time greats.-Vincent Jeffries, AMG