''Revenge'' is the fourth studio album by the American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

T.S.O.L. T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty) is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California. Although most commonly associated with hardcore punk, T.S.O.L.'s music has varied on each release, including such styles as deathrock, a ...

(True Sounds of Liberty), released in 1986 through

Enigma Records Enigma Records (also known as Enigma Entertainment Corporation) was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. History Enigma Records launched as a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/dis ...

. With increased exposure brought on by continuous touring, and influenced by the growing

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

scene in their native

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

, the band moved away from the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

- and

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

-influenced sound of their past in favor of simpler rock numbers. To promote the album, two songs were used in film soundtracks: "Nothin' for You" in ''

The Return of the Living Dead ''The Return of the Living Dead'' is a 1985 American comedy horror film written and directed by Dan O'Bannon in his directorial debut, and starring Clu Gulager, James Karen, Thom Matthews and Don Calfa. The film tells the story of how a warehou ...

'' (1985) and "Revenge" in ''

Dangerously Close ''Dangerously Close'' is a 1986 action thriller film directed by Albert Pyun. The film was noted at its time of release for being part of a wave of teen vigilante films in the 1980s exploring the right-wing jingoism that was gaining popularity in ...

'' (1986). "Revenge" and "Colors (Take Me Away)" were also made into the band's first

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

Background and recording

T.S.O.L. toured for almost two years in support of their 1984 album ''

Change Today? ''Change Today?'' is the third studio album by the American rock band T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty), released in 1984 through Enigma Records. It was the band's first album with singer/guitarist Joe Wood and drummer Mitch Dean, replacing found ...

'', becoming quite popular in their home region of

. With this increased exposure, their music, which had been rooted in punk rock and

, began to take on elements of the area's growing

scene. However, singer/guitarist Joe Wood insisted that "no matter how much the music changes, our roots are still punk because we never played any instruments before punk." The band recorded ''Revenge'' at Music Grinder Studios in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

with

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Howard Benson Howard Benson is an American music producer and multi-instrumentalist. He was nominated for the Producer of the Year Grammy Award in 2007 and 2008. Early life and education Benson was born and raised in a middle-class family in greater Philadel ...

and

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

Ron Goudie. Several additional engineers assisted in the recording, and the tracks were mixed by Benson. ''Revenge'' was released by June 20, 1986, by

(catalog number 73211), under a new nationwide distribution deal between Enigma and

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. Prior to the album's release, the song "Nothin' for You" was used in the soundtrack for the 1985 horror film ''

''. The album's title track was included in the film ''

'', and a

was filmed that included scenes from the movie. A second music video was filmed for the song "Colors (Take Me Away)".

Reception

Prior to the album's release, Randy Lewis of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' predicted that it could give T.S.O.L. their shot at radio airplay: "Even more than its predecessor—1984's ''Change Today?'' LP—''Revenge'' is a driving, often provocative work that shows the group's musical base extending beyond mere punk thrash. Although a couple of up-tempo tunes prove that the band can still muster blasts of raw punk power, onEmory's blazing guitar work and the raging,

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredicta ...

-like intensity of Wood's vocals on 'No Time' and 'Memories' would fit comfortably alongside hard rock and heavy metal on album rock stations." Bradley Torreano of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

remarked that with ''Revenge'', "a general poppiness began to creep into .S.O.L.'ssound that was more along the lines of the hard rock scene that was growing around them. Still, excellent tracks such as 'Nothin' for You' still displayed an edgy obsession with dark sounds and moods." Allmusic's Robert Gabriel gave the album two stars out of five in a retrospective review, criticizing the hard rock direction the band took: "T.S.O.L. was barely hanging on to the last strands of its punk rock past.

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...

sound began to resemble the morbid

cock rock Cock rock is a genre of rock music that emphasizes an aggressive form of male sexuality. The style developed in the later 1960s, came to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s, and continues into the present day. Characteristics Cock rock is a mu ...

of groups such as

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

and Danzig much more than the sarcastic resistance rock of California counterparts such as the

Circle Jerks Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetson. To date, Circle ...

and the

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk rock, punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, sa ...

." He remarked that, despite the presence of a few fast-paced songs, the more hard rock-oriented tracks on the album "continued the trend toward rock simplicity. ''Revenge'' is really not much more than a record aimed to appease the juvenile mind."

Track listing

Personnel

;Band *Joe Wood –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Ron Emory Ron Emory (born May 20, 1962, Lynwood, California, United States) is an American rock musician and guitarist for the punk rock band T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty). An original member of the band, founded in Southern California in 1979, Emo ...

– guitar *Mike Roche –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

*Mitch Dean –

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s ;Production *

–

mix engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

*Ron Goudie –

*Randy Burns – recording engineer *Chris Grayson – recording engineer ("Nothin' for You" and "Everybody's a Cop") *Robert Feist – recording engineer ("Nothin' for You" and "Everybody's a Cop") *Jeff Woodruff – additional engineering, mix engineer *Mike Kloster – additional second engineering *Scarpati – photography

References

{{Authority control T.S.O.L. albums 1986 albums Enigma Records albums