''The American Way'' is the second studio album by American

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band

Sacred Reich Sacred Reich is an American thrash metal band based in Phoenix, Arizona, that was formed in 1985. The band split in 2000, but reunited in 2006. Sacred Reich has been credited, along with Testament, Destruction, Death Angel and Dark Angel, for ...

, released on May 15, 1990 via

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...

. The video for "The American Way" was used in the 1992 film ''

Encino Man ''Encino Man'' (known as ''California Man'' in France, Finland, Sweden, Great Britain, Asia, South Africa, and New Zealand) is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Les Mayfield in his directorial debut. The film stars Sean Astin, with a suppo ...

''. The album debuted at No. 153 on September 1, 1990 on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

charts, lasting for nine weeks. An enhanced remastered version released in 2009 contains pre-production demo recordings and a free patch. A second remastered version released that year contains the same songs plus "The American Way" promo video

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...

. ''The American Way'' is also Sacred Reich's final full-length studio album with drummer Greg Hall, who left the band in 1991.

Overview

Although the band had maintained a record of at least one release per year since their debut, ''

Ignorance Ignorance is a lack of knowledge and understanding. The word "ignorant" is an adjective that describes a person in the state of being unaware, or even cognitive dissonance and other cognitive relation, and can describe individuals who are unaware o ...

'', this was their first full-length album for three years and also the first to show a musical progression from the all-out

which dominated their earlier material. Phil Rind, in the liner notes, explains the band's change in musical direction thus:

"Musically, we've tried to expand our horizons without forgetting our roots. Some people will appreciate the changes. Others, let's just say, they'd be satisfied with 'Ignorance II'"

The last track "31 Flavors" is a

funk rock Funk rock is a fusion genre that mixes elements of funk and rock. James Brown and others declared that Little Richard and his mid-1950s road band, The Upsetters, were the first to put the funk in the rock and roll beat, with a biographer sta ...

song.

Track listing

Credits

* Phil Rind – bass, vocals * Wiley Arnett – lead guitar * Jason Rainey – rhythm guitar * Greg Hall – drums * The Unity Horns – horns on "31 Flavors" **Tony Brewster – trumpet **Will Donato – saxophone **Tim Moynahan – trombone * Recorded and mixed in 1989-1990 in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, U.S. at Cornerstone Recorders with additional recording at Track Records * Produced by Bill Metoyer and Sacred Reich * Engineered by Bill Metoyer * Assistant engineered by Scott Campbell * Cover illustration by Paul Stottler

Charts

References

External links

Sacred Reich Official Website
1990 albums Sacred Reich albums Metal Blade Records albums {{1990s-thrash-metal-album-stub