Good Friendly Violent Fun

There’s a permanent debate amongst Exodus fans over which of their vocalists best led the band on their mission of blunt-force brutality: poseur-slaying madman Paul Baloff or the cynical, vicious Steve “Zetro” Souza (Rob Dukes, I believe, has never been in contention). Personally, I’ve always preferred the Zetro albums, being greater in number and packed with more than enough brilliance to compensate for their lesser moments. However, live presentation is an entirely different story and it’s here that Baloff’s Exodus runs the show, which is quite easy to see when we compare the live albums produced by both eras of the band. Zetro’s entry came first with 91’s Good Friendly Violent Fun, recorded at some point of the Fabulous Disaster tour.

And to some degree, Good Friendly Violent Fun is a good live album; it’s a solid representation of how this Exodus lineup handled itself in a live situation. The musical performance is spot on, Gary Holt and Rick Hunolt shredding up to par. Particularly impressive is John Tempesta’s drum performance, his Exodus debut. As his participation is less enthusiastic on the later LP Impact is Imminent, I was hoping at best he’d manage to be a bit more spirited in a live setting, wholly unexpecting him to completely fill Tom Hunting’s shoes, which he most certainly does here. Rob McKillop can’t really be heard, but that’s no surprise, and is not necessary for enjoyment of Exodus’ lethal thrash barrage. Everything else is perfectly implemented: the Fabulous Disaster tracks sound rawer and more energetic and the Pleasures of the Flesh tracks sound more aggressive and just generally better than their studio counterparts.

Which brings us to the principal flaw: the pretty damn weak tracklist. Opener “Fabulous Disaster” is an excellent choice and the “Toxic Waltz,” though an obvious inclusion, is quite welcome due to its frenetic live pacing. But there’s no “Last Act of Defiance,” no “Like Father, Like Son,” no “Pleasures of the Flesh” (in fact, none of the choice songs from that album are here), and no Baloff-era material at all. The fuck? You’re telling me the Souza-led lineup didn’t touch any of that shit? I say good day to you, sir! Instead we’re treated with “Brain Dead,” “Cajun Hell,” and another AC/DC cover in the form of their ‘you had to have been there to appreciate it’ rendition of “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” (which they’d end up outdoing in the studio a decade later anyway) Yeah, there’s a chance I might cheer wildly if I was at an Exodus show and they busted this one out, but I’d be guaranteed to lose my shit if they did “Impaler” or “Strike of the Beast” instead. And besides, AC/DC is still touring, and I don’t think those blokes will be performing “Metal Command” anytime soon. So anyway, while I wouldn’t necessarily be disappointed by this setlist live, I’m certainly disappointed by it on a live album. Additionally, Zetro’s vocal effort is a let down, as his delivery sounds weary throughout much of this. It’s also a bummer to discover that his speaking voice is not as comically vicious as his ‘singing’ voice and his stage banter doesn’t live up to his recorded lyrical mastery.

At the very least, this album would be excellent fan fodder for me and my fellow Zetro loyalists, except that the recent CD re-releases of Pleasures of the Flesh and Fabulous Disaster each contain one half of Good Friendly Violent Fun as bonus tracks, making this particular out-of-print collectible as decidedly obsolete. Do you just have to have the real deal anyway? You tell me.

This is the only slab of official live recordings youll get with the almighty Steve Souza(probably the best) singer of Exodus. You get a decent amount of music here recorded pretty well from the 1989 "Fabulous DIsaster" Tour. Therefore, four of these eight songs featured here are on that subsequent album, making it sort of unbalanced discography wise. Personally, the cover of AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds" is a throwaway track, I would have rather heard an original song here. Also, this gets a lower review rating than it should due to the track listing and the fact that they should just have made it a fucking full length. You got about 36 minutes of music here with the bullhsit banter thrown out, so I dont know why this didnt make the cut as an LP. Steve does a good job of getting the crowd going, though at times the audience doesnt sound like it was matched up to this concert, but IT IS A LIVE RECORDING. A bonus for drummer-philes is the first time call up of John Tempesta to the drumkit, filling in for a sick Tim Hunting. As expected, the thrash bveteran lives up to his reputation and does a solid job subbing for Tim. Set wise, you have the main portion of this coming from Disaster era, so ofd course Toxic Waltz is on it. The best surprise might be Cajun Hell, as they pull off the blues harmonies from the studio version pretty well on here. Chemi-Kill and Braindead are also strong renditions. So bascially, this is a cool ep only for Exodus fans, but a good way for a newcomer to check out tracks that were on the overlooked but solid ""Pleasures of the Flesh " album. If I had to pick between this and "Another Lesson in Violence", I'd take the latter as the more solid purchase, but this is recommended for the Souza freaks out there.