Illegal Foreign Object

I first learned of the doom metal band Trouble in 1994, thirteen years after its formation. Some of my favorite things about that era were all the random listening sessions I stumbled into. Mother Love Bone’s hippie glam god Andrew Wood once sang that music is “the only international language”, and there’s a lot of truth in that — I’ve had listening sessions with best friends, strangers, and even the odd enemy or two (you were a dickhead Checho but thanks for lending me the Dead Kennedys stuff). I’m sure this kind of fellowship took place everywhere back then, but in Costa Rica (where music was hard to come by), it was vital. One of the more memorable sessions, the Trouble session, occurred at my dad’s apartment during one of his trips back to the States. Well, it started at my dad’s place, at least.

Rob was maybe six or seven years older than me. His younger brother, Cesar, was a good-looking, classically trained guitarist who did everything the right way (and had a massive crush on the older sister of one of the guitarists in my band). Rob, well, wasn’t any of these things, but what he did have going for him was a super outgoing personality and an intense love for heavy music. I got on well with the dude (I get on with anyone with a passion for music). In the few years I knew him, he put me on to Machine Head’s astounding debut album Burn My Eyes, Savatage’s Edge Of Thorns, Dream Theater’s borderline perfect Awake, Entombed’s Wolverine Blues, and the mighty Trouble.

The day he stopped by, he did so with Testament’s Low on CD. We blasted that thing from start to finish, then replayed “Trail Of Tears”. What an underrated song in Testament’s catalog. While we listened, we thumbed through a stack of metal magazines. When I came across an ad for an album I thought had a cool album cover, I showed it to Rob. “Fuck, dude, that’s Trouble! I have that shit!” Rob could go from zero to holy fuck in half a second. The next thing I knew, we were headed to his parents’ place behind the San José Palacio.

In ’94, I was knee-deep in heavy music. Anthrax, Sepultura, Type O Negative, Biohazard, even Carcass — if Alfredo played it for us on Headbangers Ball, we checked it out. Rob, however, was clued into some of the lesser-known bands. I don’t know where he got his stuff, but I still remember digging through his CDs at his house that afternoon while he set up his practice drum kit (he was obsessed with showing me that he knew how to play Metallica’s “For Whom The Bell Tolls”). While he pummeled that kit into submission, I continued extracting CDs with interesting covers. Finally, I pulled Manic Frustration from the pile. When Rob finished his Lars Ulrich impersonation (truthfully, he played Metallica at least as well as Lars), we put Trouble on and cranked up his stereo. From the groovy “Come Touch The Sky” to the haunting Beatles-esque “Breathe…”, Manic Frustration delivers from start to finish.

At the time, I was completely unaware that the album was a massive left-turn for the band. Rumor has it, that the band changed musical direction after singer Eric Wagner experienced a life-changing walk through a forest while in a mushroom-altered state. Whether that’s fact or fiction, the sound certainly lends itself to the tale. After years of sludgy doom, this record sped things up and dived headlong into psychedelia. While many longtime fans didn’t immediately embrace the Rick Rubin-produced album, I loved his stripped-back, crystal-clear approach to the recording sessions. His minimalistic tinkering allowed Wagner’s vocals to shine on one of the band’s albums for the first time. It’s a frantic caterwaul of a voice and takes a little getting used to, but once you’re in the groove, the album gallops. Try listening to “Hello Strawberry Skies” without hearing Deep Purple’s “Highway Star”.

While we listened, Rob made me a copy. During that session, I fell in love with the band. After he pressed a freshly baked TDK D90 in my hand, I headed home. Once there, Manic Frustration immediately found its way into my tape deck. Though the listening method has changed over the last thirty years, the record repeatedly finds its way back into my proverbial tape deck.

Track List:

1. Come Touch The Sky 8/10
2. Scuse Me 8/10
3. The Sleeper 7/10
4. Fear 8/10
5. Rain 9/10
6. Tragedy Man 7/10
7. Memory’s Garden 9/10
8. Manic Frustration 7/10
9. Hello Strawberry Skies 9/10
10. Mr. White 9/10
11. Breathe… 9/10

Grade: 82