''I Against I'' is the third studio album by the American rock band

Bad Brains Bad Brains are an American rock band formed in Washington, D.C. in 1976. Originally a jazz fusion band under the name Mind Power, they are widely regarded as pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members have objected to the use of this ...

. It was released on November 21, 1986 through

SST Records SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was formed in 1966 by Ginn at age 12 as Solid State Tuners, a small business through which he sold electronics equipm ...

with the catalog number SST 065. The best-selling album in the band's catalog, ''I Against I'' finds the band branching out from their early

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

style to touch on

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

and heavy metal. It is also included in the book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

''. The title track was a

Paul Rachman Paul Rachman (born September 13, 1962) is an American film director who directed the highly praised 2006 documentary on punk music '' American Hardcore'', which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released by Sony Pictures Classics. H ...

-directed video (Rachman would go on to direct the documentary film American Hardcore). The title ''I Against I'' presumably refers to the common

Rastafarian Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control ...

phrase '' I and I'', which is used in place of the first-person plural (i.e. ''we'') to signify the union of the speaker, audience, and Jah (God) in love and peace. At the producer's suggestion, the vocals to "Sacred Love" were recorded over the phone from the prison where H.R. was serving time on a marijuana distribution charge.

Track listing

All songs written by

Paul Hudson Paul David Hudson (born 27 February 1971) is an English weather presenter for BBC Yorkshire and BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. Hudson was born and raised in Keighley, West Yorkshire. He was made an Honorary Fellow of Bradford College in 2014 ...

Darryl Jenifer Darryl Jenifer (born October 22, 1960) is an American musician, widely known as the bassist for the hardcore punk band Bad Brains and for the rap-rock group The White Mandingos. He appeared in ''TV's Illest Minority Moments presented by ego tri ...

, and

Gary Miller Gary Miller may refer to: *Gary Miller (politician) (born 1948), American politician * Michael Dunn (actor) (Gary Neil Miller, 1934–1973), American actor * Gary L. Miller (1947–1969), American soldier and Medal of Honor recipient * Gary Miller ...

except where noted. #"Intro" (Jenifer, Miller) – 1:02 #"I Against I" – 2:50 #"House of Suffering" (P. Hudson, Miller) – 2:29 #"Re-Ignition" – 4:16 #"Secret 77" – 4:04 #"Let Me Help" – 2:17 #"She's Calling You" (P. Hudson, Jenifer) – 3:42 #"Sacred Love" – 3:40 #"Hired Gun" – 3:45 #"Return to Heaven" – 3:19

Legacy

''I Against I'' has influenced diverse rock artists.

Ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. (sometimes spelled skacore) is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hardc ...

band Sublime and its follow-up project,

Sublime with Rome Sublime with Rome is a musical collaboration between Eric Wilson (bassist), Eric Wilson, formerly of the American ska punk band Sublime (band), Sublime, and singer and guitarist Rome Ramirez. The group's name is not only a reference to the singe ...

, frequently cover "House of Suffering" and bassist Eric Wilson said that ''I Against I'' inspired them to blend different genres.

The Dillinger Escape Plan The Dillinger Escape Plan was an American metalcore band. The band was formed in 1997 in Morris Plains, New Jersey by guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Adam Doll, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, and drummer Chris Pennie. The band's use of odd time sign ...

singer

Greg Puciato Gregory John Puciato (born March 27, 1980) is an American musician best known as the former lead vocalist and lyricist of the metalcore band the Dillinger Escape Plan. He is also the lead singer of the Black Queen and Killer Be Killed, in which ...

named it one of the four albums that changed his life, as well as "a critical step" in shaping his vocal style.

Max Cavalera Massimiliano Antonio "Max" Cavalera (; born August 4, 1969) is a Brazilian musician. He co-founded the heavy metal band Sepultura in 1984 with his brother Igor Cavalera, and was the band's lead singer and rhythm guitarist until his departure i ...

Sepultura Sepultura (, "grave")Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 17. is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte. Formed in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera,Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 16. the band was a major force in the groove metal, thra ...

states that the beginning of 1996 song "Straighthate" was probably inspired by "I Against I" since his band admired the Bad Brains. According to

Harley Flanagan Harley Francis Flanagan (born March 8, 1967) is an American musician. He is the founder of New York hardcore band Cro-Mags. At age 12, Flanagan was the drummer for New York punk band the Stimulators. When he was nine years old, Flanagan publish ...

of the

Cro-Mags Cro-Mags are an American hardcore punk band from New York City. The band, which has a strong cult following, has released six studio albums, with the first two considered the most influential. With a Hare Krishna background, they were among th ...

, the verse riff in 1986's "

The Age of Quarrel ''The Age of Quarrel'' is the first album by the New York hardcore band Cro-Mags. It was released on then-independent Profile Records in September 1986. It was subsequently re-released by Another Planet in 1994, along with the band's second alb ...

" was based on the last part of "I Against I".

Tim Commerford Tim Commerford (born February 26, 1968) is an American musician, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist for rock band Rage Against the Machine, and supergroups Audioslave and Prophets of Rage. Since 2013 and 2015, he has also been the l ...

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerfor ...

mentioned the album as one of his biggest influences.

Danko Jones Danko Jones is a Canadian hard rock trio from Toronto. The band consists of Danko Jones (vocals/guitar), John 'JC' Calabrese (bass), and Rich Knox (drums).Spermbirds affirmed, "''I Against I'' had a huge impact on us, they taught us that you can also be hard by playing slow." "I Against I" was covered by

Jeff Buckley Jeffrey Scott Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scott Moorhead, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by ...

in 1992,

BoySetsFire boysetsfire is an American post-hardcore band from Newark, Delaware. Formed in October 1994, boysetsfire is composed of guitarists Chad Istvan and Josh Latshaw, vocalist Nathan Gray, and bassists Chris Rakus and Robert Ehrenbrand. Lyrical theme ...

and Brother's Keeper in 1999, and

Lamb of God Lamb of God ( el, Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Amnòs toû Theoû; la, Agnus Dei, ) is a title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God wh ...

in 2018; "House of Suffering" has been covered by Sublime in 1995,

Machine Head A machine head (also referred to as a tuning machine, tuner, or gear head) is a geared apparatus for tuning stringed musical instruments by adjusting string tension. Machine heads are used on mandolins, guitars, double basses and others, and ar ...

in 1999 and

The Bled The Bled was an American post-hardcore band from Tucson, Arizona, formed in 2001. They released four albums (''Pass the Flask'', ''Found in the Flood'', ''Silent Treatment (The Bled album), Silent Treatment'' and ''Heat Fetish'') before disband ...

in 2005; "Let Me Help" was covered by Potshot in 2000; and "Sacred Love" was covered by

Storm Large Storm Large (born Susan Storm Large, June 25, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and author. She attracted national attention as a contestant on the CBS reality television show '' Rock Star: Supernova''. For many years solely a rock ...

in 2014. In 2019, Bad Brains rerecorded the title track with rapper

Denzel Curry Denzel Rae Don Curry (born February 16, 1995) is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Carol City, Florida, Curry started rapping while in the sixth grade and began working on his first mixtape in 2011. Influenced by underground Flor ...

as a guest vocalist for a

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

single. "Re-Ignition" has been sampled on "Daddy's Home" by

Chubb Rock Richard Simpson, also known as Chubb Rock (born May 28, 1968 in Brooklyn, New York) is a New York-based rapper who released several successful hip hop albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s. A National Merit Scholar, Chubb Rock dropped out o ...

, "Ice Man Cometh" by 2 Black 2 Strong MMG, "Ultrasonic Sound" by

Hive A hive may refer to a beehive, an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species live and raise their young. Hive or hives may also refer to: Arts * ''Hive'' (game), an abstract-strategy board game published in 2001 * "Hive" (song), a 201 ...

(which later appeared on ''The Matrix'' soundtrack), and on a remix of the 2004 song "

Roll Call ''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of c ...

" by

Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971) better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, producer and former frontman of the rap group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz. He was instrumental in the emergence of the hip hop subgenre cru ...

and

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...

. A live version of "Re-Ignition" was featured in '' Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock''. "Re-Ignition" appeared on a 2019 episode of ''

Black Lightning Black Lightning (Jefferson Pierce) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character, created by writer Tony Isabella and artist Trevor Von Eeden, first appeared in ''Black Lightning'' #1 (April 1977), during ...

''. The Canadian teen drama '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'', which names each episode after a 1980s song, named an episode after the song "I Against I".

Accolades

Personnel

;Bad Brains *

H.R. Paul D. Hudson (born February 11, 1956), known professionally as H.R. (Human Rights), is an American musician who leads the hardcore punk band Bad Brains, and is an instrumental figure in the development of the genre. His vocal delivery has b ...

– lead vocals * Dr. Know – guitar *

– bass *

Earl Hudson Earl Hudson (born December 17, 1957) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for Bad Brains. Born in Alabama in 1957, Hudson is the younger brother of the band's lead singer H.R. Although he has rarely recorded or performed outside o ...

– drums ;Production *

Ron Saint Germain Ron Saint Germain (alternate spellings Ron St. Germain, Ron Saint-Germaine and similar) is an American record producer, audio engineer, and mixer born in post-war Frankfurt, Germany, into a career Air Force family. Prior to his career in music ...

– producer * Phil Burnett –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

* Patch – mixing * Jesse Henderson; Bill Ryan – assistant engineers * Eddie Krupski; Dennis Mitchell – additional mixing *

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

– mastering * Marcia Resnick – photography, cover concept * Paul Bacon Studio –

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

and development

Release history

References

External links

''I Against I''
(

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia Computing platform, software platform used for production of Flash animation, animations, rich web applications, application software, desktop applications, mobile apps, mo ...

) at

Radio3Net Radio 3 net is the former ''Radio România Tineret'' (or Radio 3). More than 20,000 albums are stored on Radio 3 net. A few of the prominent features available on the website are "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" and "Search & Play". ...

(streamed copy where licensed) {{Authority control 1986 albums Bad Brains albums Albums produced by Ron Saint Germain Funk rock albums SST Records albums