(hardcore, straight edge, nyhc, hardcore punk, youth crew) Judge - What It Meant: The Complete Discography - 2005, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

What It Meant: The Complete Discography is a compact disc compilation featuring all of the known studio recordings by influential American hardcore punk band Judge. Released in 2005 by Revelation Records, the CD puts the band's two EPs, New York Crew and The Storm, and their lone studio album Bringin' It Down together with bonus tracks which include the "original", aborted version of Bringin' It Down (known to collectors as Chung King Can Suck It), and a previously unreleased demo recording.
All songs written and composed by John Porcelly and Michael Ferraro, except for "Warriors" (Blitz) and "When the Levee Breaks" (Led Zeppelin & Memphis Minnie).
[edit] Track origins
* Tracks 1-5 From the 7" EP New York Crew, Produced by Porcell and Don Fury
* Tracks 6-14 From the LP Bringin' It Down, Produced by Tom Soares and Porcell, Engineered by Tom Soares
* Tracks 15-17 From the EP The Storm, Produced by Porcell and Don Fury
* Tracks 18-27 First released in a limited edition of 110 copies as Chung King Can Suck It, and in Germany on the CD No Apologies. Also bootlegged on a white vinyl 10".
* Track 28 Previously unreleased demo recording. Three additional demo tracks are found on the 2xLP vinyl version of this release.
Review from aversiononline.com
Fuck yes! I'm a huge Judge fan so I was psyched as hell to see this thing get put together. For those that may be unaware, for whatever bizarre reason, Judge was formed as somewhat of a project band in the late-80's when Mike Judge and Porcell were in Youth of Today (who had taken on somewhat of a breakup/hiatus at the time), and went on to become one of the heaviest and most legendarily in your face straightedge bands of the time period. This disc collects the band's entire recorded output and presents it in chronological order, sans the infamously rare "Chung King Can Suck It" LP, which is tacked on at the end of the disc along with one unreleased demo track from 1988.
First up is the "New York Crew" 7", originally released on Porcell's Schism label in 1988, and recorded entirely by Mike (vocals/drums) and Porcell (guitars/bass). This EP introduced Judge as a total powerhouse with vicious standards like "Fed Up" and "New York Crew", while closing with a great cover of "Warriors", by Blitz. Then it's onto the classic "Bringin' it Down" full-length (1989, Revelation Records), which is one of my all time favorite straightedge records. At this time the band had brought in Sammy Siegler on drums and Matt Pincus on bass, and the recording is clearer and heavier on this outing than any of the band's other output, so even though it sounds dated it absolutely stands the test of time and marks the band's most crucial era. All nine songs are fucking awesome, from the crushing midpaced intro in "Take Me Away" to the pulsing bass and darker metallic edge of closer "Where it Went". And who could forget the faster and more traditionally structured hardcore fury of the title track or "Hear Me"? This LP definitely achieved an excellent balance between hardcore and metal. The attitude is all hardcore and most of the music is follows suit, but the heaviness, not to mention the more aggressive feel and lightly metallic riffing to tracks like "Give it Up" and "The Storm", among others, is definitely about as tactfully powerful as you can get when drawing from metal based influences. And of course, you know me, the ballad-y clean intro and sweet melodic lead that kicks off "Like You" is pure fucking gold, making it by far the most melodic Judge track ever, and of course, that's right, my personal favorite!
After that it's the "There Will Be Quiet..." EP, released in 1990 by Revelation. On this 7" the band added a second guitar player (Lars Weiss) and took a slightly chunkier and more dissonant direction in the awesome "Forget This Time", which had a surprising solo break and everything. "The Storm II" is an extended re-recording of the LP track that's similar, but a little more menacing vocally. The last track is another cover, the unexpected "When the Levee Breaks". I fucking hate Led Zeppelin, so this track is certainly not Judge's best - it's a bit of a long and rocked out clunker to be honest - but I can still listen to it. Possibly the most notoriously rare and sought after collectible by hardcore record collectors, this is the first time I've ever heard the "Chung King Can Suck It" LP from 1988. This was originally what was going to become the "Bringin' it Down" LP, and let me just say this: Thank christ they re-recorded that shit, because had they not I'm not sure the band would've been as revered as they were. The drums are thin and flimsy, the guitars are thin, the bass (laid down by their first bassist Jimmy Yu) sounds alright but usually gets lost in the shuffle, and the same goes for the vocals, which are also a little thin. The drums are so loud in the mix, too! Shit, it's so damn annoying, and nowhere near as forceful as the final version of the record. The best thing about it, however, is that it contains two tracks that were never re-recorded: "Holding On", which blends fast and energetic hardcore with some quick little rock leads, and "No Apologies", which is a little heavier in approach and has a killer breakdown. I have no clue why they didn't re-record these songs as well!?
Anyway, the layout looks fuckin' great and includes plenty of old band photos, the original record covers, all of the lyrics, and some liner notes courtesy of Porcell. Of course it would've been incredible had they been able to get Mike Judge himself to come out of the woodwork to throw in his two cents, but Porcell does a pretty good job of reflecting on that time through Mike's eyes as well - much of which had to do with the manner in which the forthright straightedge lyrics were misconstrued to incite violence rather than focusing on the personal aspects that reflected on internal hardships. But from either perspective, whether it's, "Smoking that butt, it makes you mature, A slave to sex and you tell me you're pure, You slam that beer, it makes you a man, I'll try to keep my cool but you better understand," or, "It feels dark, alone here with these thoughts, Looking through the wrong end, And I feel that way again..." I can't fault the lyrics at all, and it makes perfect sense why so many people immediately latched onto the band back in the day. Overall this thing's been handled extremely well, and it's awesome to have all of this material on one compact collection. Great work. I love Judge... and you should, too. Any younger kids who are into the straightedge scene that don't own "Bringin' it Down" are fuckin' insane and should buy this discography immediately. (9/10)
1. Fed Up
2. In My Way
3. I've Lost
4. New York Crew
5. Warriors
6. Take Me Away
7. Bringin' It Down
8. Hold Me Back
9. Give It Up
10. Storm
11. Hear Me
12. Like You
13. I've Lost
14. Where It Went
15. Forget This Time
16. Storm II
17. When the Levee Breaks
18. Take Me Away
19. Bringin' It Down
20. Hold Me Back
21. Give It Up
22. Storm
23. Hear Me
24. Like You
25. I've Lost
26. Holding On
27. No Apologies
28. Just Like You [#]
New York Crew
Tracks 1 -- 4
Mike Judge - Vocals and drums, Porcell - Guitar and Bass. Recorded at Don Fury Studio in 1988. Barely produced by Porcell and Don Fury. Backups by Alex Brown, Lukey Like, Porcell, Sammy Singler, Dylan Schreifels and Walter Schreifels.
Bringin' It Down
Tracks 6 -- 14
Mike Judge - vocal, Porcell - guitar, Matt Pincus - bass, Sammy Siegler - drums. Recorded at Normandy Sound in 1989. Engineered by Tom Soares. Assistant engineering by Jamie Locke. Produced by Tom Soares and Porcell. Backup vocals by Bob Mayo, Barry Spillberg, Rich Spillberg, Kevin Brooks, Chuck Geanacopoulos, Rick Porter and Porcell.
There Will Be Quiet...
Tracks 15 -- 17
Mike Judge - vocals, Porcell - Guitar, Lars Weiss - guitar, Matt Pincus - bass, Sammy Siegler - drums. Recorded at Don Fury Studios in 1990. Produced by Porcell and Don Fury. Harmonica by Todd Schwartz. Motorcycle noise courtesy of Harley Davidson.
Chung King Can Suck It
Tracks 18 -- 27
Mike Judge - vocals, Porcell - guitar, Jimmy Yu - Bass, Sammy Siegler - drums. Recorded at Chung King in 1989. Engineered by some cokehead loser. Not produced. Backups by Mike Judge, Porcell, Sammy Siegler, Lukey Luke, Alex Brown, Tom Capone, Kevin Egan and Jay Anarchy.
Don Fury Demo
Track 28
Mike Judge - vocals, Porcell - guitar, Jimmy Yu - Bass, Lukey Luke - drums. Recorded at Don Fury Studio in 1988. Previously unreleased.