Suicidal Tendencies is the debutstudio album by American hardcore punk band Suicidal Tendencies. The album was released on July 5, 1983, through Frontier Records with the catalog number FLP 011. It became one of the best-selling punk rock albums at the time and launched the band into its future success. Suicidal Tendencies has received positive reviews from music critics, and by 1993, the album had sold at least 400,000 copies. "Institutionalized" was released as a single to promote the album.
Album information
The cover of Suicidal Tendencies features an image of the band members hanging upside down, taken by Glen E. Friedman, who produced the album. The background on both the front and back cover depict various homemade Suicidal Tendencies T-shirts. "I Shot the Devil" was originally entitled "I Shot Reagan". The band is rumored to have been approached by the FBI to change the name of the song. The group eventually used the original title of the song on the lyrics sheet. In 1989, due to various royalty and publishing issues with Frontier Records, Muir and the later incarnation of the band re-recorded the entire album and released it in 1993 as Still Cyco After All These Years, with faithful recreations of the originals, plus two songs from Join the Army and one previously-unreleased song "Don't Give Me Your Nothin'".
Reception
Suicidal Tendencies received very positive reviews and ratings. Steve Huey of Allmusic gave the album 9/10 and called the album "fast, furious, and funny" and claimed that it "owed much more to hardcore punk than to the later hardcore/heavy metal hybrid they would become known for, but it's still quite possibly their best album." Huey added that "Mike Muir proves himself articulate lyricist and commentator, delving into subjects like alienation, depression, and nonconformist politics with intelligence and humor." Pushead of Maximumrocknroll described Suicidal Tendencies as "blistering rough-arsed metal thrash" and called the band "a screaming cyclone of sheer power and determination". Pushead also claimed that "this LP shows why they have such a strong following." Critic Ira Robbins writes that "Half-sung, half-recited and built on repeated sudden tempo changes, 'Institutionalized' is a unique, devastating centerpiece. One of the era's quintessential expressions of teen dislocation, it converts generation gap misunderstandings into a complete communications breakdown, encapsulating all the punk sociology of such films as Repo Man and Suburbia in four minutes."
Influence and legacy
Suicidal Tendencies has been regarded by critics as one of the most influential rock albums of all time, and has inspired a number of musicians. Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian listed it in his "Top 10 Thrash Albums" list, stating "I just think it's a perfect album. Every song on it is great. It's a perfect crossover between hardcore punk and metal, and I guess that's what makes thrash metal -- all those genre combined, and Suicidal were the first ones to do it because that record came out in '83." Suicidal Tendencies has also been cited as an influence or favorite album by the "big four" of thrash metal as well as California punk bands such as The Offspring and NOFX. "Institutionalized" has been referenced in many songs, mostly its quote "all I wanted was a Pepsi". It is referenced in the Sage Francis song "Slow Down Gandhi" in the line "It's death penalty vs. suicidal tendencies / All I wanted was a fucking Pepsi / Institution / Making you think you're crazy is a billion dollar industry." Limp Bizkit also referenced it in the song "Stuck" with the lines "All I wanted was a Pepsi, just one Pepsi. So far from suicidal but still I get them tendencies bringing back the memories that I really miss." "All I wanted was a Pepsi" is also quoted near the ending of the Cypress Hill song "How I Could Just Kill a Man". American heavy metal band Body Count recorded a cover version of "Institutionalized", with new lyrics written by singer Ice-T, called "Institutionalized 2014", for their album Manslaughter. "Memories of Tomorrow" was covered by Slayer for its album Undisputed Attitude and was featured on the Japanese edition of the record. "Institutionalized" was also covered by Senses Fail for the soundtrack to the video game Tony Hawk'sAmerican Wasteland. "Two Sided Politics" was covered by Bones Brigade on its album Older Than Shit, Heavier Than Time. "I Shot the Devil" was also covered by the California hardcore punk band Chotto Ghetto on its extended playShootin' Devils. "I Saw Your Mommy" is featured on the soundtrack to the game for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC. "Institutionalized" is featured in the game Guitar Hero II for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 as a playable song; a member of the most difficult tier, "Face Melters". It was also featured in the film Iron Man and "Subliminal" was part of the Channel X playlist on Grand Theft Auto V.
