Highly influencial punk-rasta pioneers Bad Brains release their first new studio album in over a decade. The album is called Build a Nation has been three years in making and is produced by fanboy and Beastie Boy Adam Yauch.

The band's first three albums are absolute punk classics and Rise, even without HR on vocals kicked quite a bit of ass contrary to the popular verdict. I didn't care much for the next one called God of Love though. Build a Nation sees the classic lineup in place and the return to a lot of thrashy old school moments along with the cool reggae songs in between. Yauch handles the production like a complete well-studied punk rock fan. It's raw, heavy, dirty and kicks ass for the most part.

Give Thanks & Praises opens the album with the mid-paced heavy rasta feel. Not bad, but the rest of the heavy songs is where it's all at. Jah People Make the World Go Round, Pure Love, Build a Nation, Expand Your Soul, Let There Be Angels, Universal Peace, In the Beginning and Send You No Flowers all thrash the fuck out with a lot of old school vibe and a sense of aggression that Dr. Know still displays on guitars like he did back in the 80s. These are all good. And like I said earlier, even the full-on reggae tracks are quite cool and HR pulls it off well on these. But not on the heavy songs. The classic albums saw him switch between various vocal styles like a maniac and was at his aggressive finest when it was required. When the band out here is playing with such attitude and pace, HR's vocals in fact wimp them all out with his effects-laden moaning.

Barring that big letdown, this album is probably up there with 1989's Quickness. Get this if you're a fan, give it a go if you're into punk rock and if you're completely uninitiated, begin with Rock for Light instead.

Year of Release: 2007
Label: Megaforce