Label - Capitol
Year Of Release - 1992
1. Thorn In My Side
2. Me Myself and I
3. Force Of Habit
4. Bitch
5. Fuel For The Fire
6. One Foot In The Grave
7. Count Your Blessings
8. Climb Before The Fall
9. Architect Of Pain
10. When It Rains It Pours
11. Good Day To Die
12. Pump It Up
13. Feeding Time At The Zoo
 
Force Of Habit is probably the most disappointing Exodus album to date. That said, it is disappointing only when you hold it up against the first three albums that this band released. Force Of Habit on its own merit without the baggage of comparison is a decent if unspectacular outing by a truly great band.
 
On Force Of Habit the band has gone in a more groove-based direction and the exhilarating speed of earlier albums has taken a back seat. This is not necessarily a bad thing and Thorn In My Side, Force Of Habit and One Foot In The Grave all benefit from it.
 
Unfortunately while there are some good songs on the album there is not a single really great song. The guitar duo of Rick Hunolt and Gary Holt has toned down on the aggressive and fast riffing and instead concentrate on mid paced riffs and melodic sounding leads.
 
Maybe Exodus was trying to cash in on the success that Metallica and Megadeth enjoyed around the same time. Maybe they just got tired of the blistering thrash attack they were so good at doing and decided to slow things down a little. Whatever it was, Force Of Habit is my least favourite Exodus album.
 
The fact that this album has 13 songs and a playing time of 68 minutes also makes it just a tad too long. Again I have to re-iterate that Force Of Habit is by no means a bad album. Architect Of Pain may well be one of the better songs that Exodus has ever written. However, in comparison (and I cannot help but compare this album to the first three), Force Of Habit does sound rather dull and lackluster.