''Quickness'' (also known as ''With the Quickness'') is the fourth full-length studio album by 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 Wale ...

band

Bad Brains Bad Brains are an American punk rock band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1976. They are widely regarded as pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members have objected to the use of this term to describe their music. They are also an ade ...

. At the time of its release, it was the best selling Bad Brains album and also featured an

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

video for the lead-off track "Soul Craft" directed by Paul Rachman who later went on to produce and direct the feature documentary '' American Hardcore''. Drummer Earl Hudson, though pictured on the cover, does not play on the record, as drum parts were instead performed by Mackie Jayson of the

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

. In an interview with MTV, guitarist Dr. Know said that the album's title comes from urgency and swiftness.

Musical style

''Quickness'' was a crossover release that contained elements of several genres, including

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 ...

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, heavy metal,

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

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

, which made a notable return after being absent from its predecessor '' I Against I'' (1986). It has also been described as one of the first

groove metal Groove metal, sometimes also called neo-thrash or post-thrash, is a subgenre of heavy metal music that began in the early 1990s. The genre is primarily derived from thrash metal, but played in slower tempos, and making use of rhythmic guitar pa ...

albums, being released a year before Prong's '' Beg to Differ'' and

Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...

's ''

Cowboys from Hell ''Cowboys from Hell'' is the fifth studio album and major label debut by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on July 24, 1990, by Atco Records. It marked the first of many collaborations with producer Terry Date. This was also the alb ...

''.

Critical reception

Dave E. Henderson of ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' considered that with this album the band "should finally achieve greater notoriety". But on the other hand it is losing its identity while presenting "frenetic punk-metal with all the growling cliches from years gone by" instead of previous mix of reggae and punk.

Controversy

''Quickness'' generated controversy over the album's lyrics, some of which claim were

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

. One of the songs, "Don't Blow Bubbles", had lyrics that were criticized as being homophobic and suggesting that AIDS was God's punishment for homosexuality. When asked about the song, guitarist Dr. Know said that "We wrote that song as kind of an angry warning to homosexuals. We didn't really mean to insult them, but a lot of people we knew seemed to be living with their eyes closed." In a 2007 interview where bassist

Darryl Jenifer Darryl Jenifer (born October 22, 1960) is an American musician, widely known as the bassist for the hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that origin ...

called their previous views "ignorant", he was asked about the song and the furor over the lyrics and replied "They don't understand that we've grown. Just like anyone, I'm not ashamed to say, 'Maybe I could have been…' Damn right, I was a homophobe! I shouldn't have to explain that to the world because everyone will do that. That's wisdom. You have to grow to be wise." On the 2022 reissue of the album, an instrumental version of "Don't Blow Bubbles" was included in place of the original version, with the song's title changed to "Instrumental".

Track listing

#"Soul Craft" (

Miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...

Jenifer Jennifer or Jenifer may refer to: People *Jennifer (given name) *Jenifer (singer), French pop singer *Jennifer Warnes, American singer who formerly used the stage name Jennifer * Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer * Daniel Jenifer Film and televisio ...

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson Rodrigues dos Santos, Brazilian f ...

) #"Voyage Into Infinity" (Miller, Jenifer, Hudson) #"The Messengers" (Miller, Hudson, Hahn) #"With the Quickness" (Miller, Jenifer, Hudson) #"Gene Machine/Don't Bother Me" (Miller, Jenifer, Hudson) #"Don't Blow Bubbles" (Miller, Jenifer, Hudson) #"Sheba" (Miller, Hudson) #"Yout' Juice" (Miller, Jenifer, Hudson) #"No Conditions" (Miller, Jenifer, Hudson) #"Silent Tears" (Jenifer, Hudson) #"The Prophet's Eye" (Miller, Jenifer, Hudson) #"Endtro" (Miller, Jenifer)

Personnel

;Bad Brains * H.R. –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

* Dr. Know –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Earl Hudson –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

(credited, but does not appear on album) ;Additional musicians *Mackie Jayson – session drummer

References

{{Authority control Bad Brains albums 1989 albums Caroline Records albums Albums produced by Ron Saint Germain