Top 5 Hardcore Albums by Jason Mazzola of Cloak/Dagger

Posted November 4 by Jeanne F.

By Jason Mazzola, singer of Cloak/Dagger

I love hardcore. It made me who I am today. Without it in my life I would have never been to Europe or Canada or seen the west coast or the midwest the way I have. I would have more money but I’d be less happy. I would have less t-shirts and records taking up room in my apartment but I love that about it too. I wouldn’t trade that time spent going to shows and looking for records for anything. Hardcore is such a broad term and covers so many different genres that to pick five was a hard thing to do. I tried to stick to just LPs since compiling different releases and putting them on a record isn’t really an LP so that is why there is no Chain of Strength on here. I think LPs take a lot more time, a lot more work goes into them, and they even have some sleeper songs that you grow to love. I didn’t put the obvious on this list—Bad Brains, Black Flag, Minor Threat, 7 Seconds—since anything recorded by those bands is in a league and category of its own you can’t really confine them to hardcore. These are the records I think of when I think of growing up on the core and these are the records I can put on now and still listen to. Enjoy.

5. Turning Point It’s Always Darkest Before The Dawn (1990)

I played this for someone recently and they hated it and I was so confused. I just assumed everyone loved this record. So many bands have tried to recreate this style and have failed miserably but there is something I love about this record. Is it the slap bass? Is it that they went from straight edge heroes to post hardcore legends? This record got me through I think every break up I had in my late high school and early college years. Skip’s voice is so honest and filled with so much pain, it is hard not to feel his unanswered questions about life. I walked around for hours listening to these songs trying to figure it all out with walkmans, then iPods, and at home on my record player. Lyrics about losing friends that are vague and to the point but they used to definitely hit home. There are plenty of octave guitars going on here that add to that desperate tone. This record got me through a lot of hard times. Thanks Skip.

4. In My Eyes The Difference Between (1998)

Summer of 1998 was the summer where we lived for hardcore. That is all we did: trade records, trade shirts, go to shows, talk about records, and talk about shows. Hang out all day, all night. This is the record that will always be the soundtrack for that summer. This was the first real hardcore release on Revelation Records in so long we couldn’t wait to get a hold of it. Someone got an advanced copy of it and I listened to this non-stop, and I mean non-stop that year. Pushead did the cover art adding to how cool the record was to us. The cover is so strong—straying away from his normal skull and bones style. It is just a portrait. I loved it. The bass chiming into the first song, the drum breaks, the back-ups, everything about this record I loved. It’s just a straight-up good core record and core in the most classic sense. They didn’t reinvent the wheel with this, they just took it for a spin. We drove up to Boston from Richmond for the last In My Eyes show in 2000 and I think that was the last time that I drove so far just to see one show, but it was worth it to see the end of an era. This was our time.

3. Youth Of Today We’re Not In This Alone (1988)

We’re back! This record starts out so fast, so angry, so honest. You can tell Ray means every word on this after taking it on the chin, breaking up YOT, and getting back together to record this. “Flame Still Burns” just rips start to finish. “Choose To Be” has the best YOT break down in my opinion. I am playing this right now and it is still awesome. Again, a style so many have tried to re-create but it just can’t be done. Something about this record is timeless. Posi lyrics that don’t sound lame are a hard thing to pull off and this is the blueprint. Lyrics like “A Time We’ll Remember,” “Potential Friends” and “Wake Up and Live”—it’s just got such urgency and it’s just got that je ne sais quoi. Note to every band that ever tried to recreate this cover or plans to: please don’t. This is the only time that cover will look cool. I promise.

2. Gorilla Biscuits Start Today

I have not listened to this record for over a year now but that doesn’t change the fact that I know every word, every break down, every song back and forth up and down with my eyes closed. I know this record the same way I know my social security number or my home address. I don’t even have to think about it, I just know it. I have listened to this record so many times I could never count them. There is so much about this record I love, the multi-color layout, the horns, the harmonica, the tasteful back-ups at just the right time, Civ’s voice, the honesty of the lyrics, the guitars, the overall feeling of this record rules. It is upbeat enough to put on when hanging out with your friends and hard enough that you can still rock it when you are in the mood to be mad. You can picture the stage dives when you hear this record. I saw them play on their reunion tour at a sold-out show here in Richmond and when the horns came on I looked around and everyone—and I mean everyone—in the room was smiling ear to ear. Even the tough guys. Well done Walter.

1. Cro Mags Age Of Quarrel
This is THE hardcore LP to listen to. I think everyone reading this knows how awesome that intro is, unstoppable. I have heard that intro so many times in my life and I still get excited when I hear those stick clicks and the drums come in. No matter where I’m at or what I’m doing I have to stop and take it all in. Chances are there is going to be someone next to me or even a stranger in the room that will be playing air drums with me. It’s almost hard not to get into. I’ve heard it at breakfast, at work, everywhere—this record rules. The lyrics are tough but memorable and just classic NYHC. “Survival of the Streets,” “World peace can’t be done,” “Show You No Mercy,” “Don’t Tread On Me,” “Wake up every morning gun to my head / that’s the life the life I led.” The way this record sounds defines the term “hardcore.” Then there is the drama, oh the drama. The beef, the fall out, the near-mainstream success, the reunions, the fights, the stories, the rumors, the legend of Harley and John. At the gym, on long drives, at parties, at bars, at restaurants, there will always be someone playing this record and for good reason. Start to finish a classic. You gotta know.

Buy the new album Lost Art by Cloak/Dagger here. 

Download: Cloak/Dagger “Don’t Need A” off of Lost Art.

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