Life Of Dreams

Listeners familiar with the East Coast thrash/hardcore crossover scene of the '80s generally agree that Crumbsuckers played an important role in defining their subgenre's reckless, metallic sound. The guitar histrionics and similar thrash ticks prevented astute fans from taking the band's hardcore affiliation very seriously. The group's 16-track Combat Records debut, Life of Dreams, is the more aggressive of Crumbsuckers' two albums. Despite the Metallica-like "Trapped" and hyper-polka-beat novelty of songs like "Super Tuesday" that would fit on any S.O.D. recording, there are some defining moments on Life of Dreams that extend beyond Crumbsuckers' thrash predilections. The freewheeling title cut is a career highlight, with its shifting time signatures that relay a feeling of manic angst -- not just technical metal ambition. These high points were not enough to generate universal praise for Life of Dreams. So even though Crumbsuckers permanently won over many a metal/punk crossover listener with this 1986 offering, there just isn't enough strong material to rate it a classic. ~ Vincent Jeffries