Restless Records
2003
Dirtiest... Rottenest
About This Album
Dirtiest...Rottenest collects two of D.R.I.'s most definitive albums in one set. When Metal Blade originally dropped 4 of a Kind in 1988, the Texas combo's bathtub gin concoction of hardcore and metal was still an acquired taste for fans of both genres. There was thrash, too, but D.R.I. never seemed to care enough about technical efficiency or scaring people with gloomy visions to really fit in there, either. 4 of a Kind's "Shut Up" never lets up its impossibly fast groove; however, its lyricism is straight out of the hardcore canon. It and tracks like "Modern World" even include Descendents-style studio tomfoolery, which further separated the guys in D.R.I. from their too-serious peers. Meanwhile, the chugging riffage and New Wave of British Heavy Metal dynamics of "Think for Yourself" and "Man Unkind" turned off the hardcore kids. Just where were the Dirty Rotten Imbeciles supposed to fit in? Of course, the answer is the future. With the benefit of hindsight, it's clear that the fuss over D.R.I.'s sonic synthesis was pretty ridiculous. The band acknowledged this with the album cover of its 1989 release, Thrash Zone -- behind the band's street-sign skanker icon, cartoon approximations of a skin, skater, metalhead, and punker all twist and tumble in the same mosh pit.
Track List

Disc 1 (try tracks 4,5 and 8)

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Disc 2 (try tracks 3 and 6)

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