This split cd has taken residence in my cd player and won't come out, which is quite a feat given its only 8 tunes long. I admit before reviewing this cd I had no clue who Against All Authority were. I just wanted the common rider tunes and expected to just skip through the first songs to get to them. Giving AAA the 2 listen treatment just for review purposes then never to hear them again. I'd heard the name around but never gave them much thought. I expected a bargain basement Dead Kennedy's ala Anti Flag. oh how wrong I was, AAA pass the paint stripping at 30 feet test with flying colors. Hell I'd give 'em a 50 foot paint stripping ability. These guys are good! Apparently I've been missing out on something good. 3 of the 4 AAA tracks on here, to me at least, have a sort of Major Accident influence to them. Which can only be a good thing. Read this to mean it's fast and full of gruff vocals. The 4th breaks up the pace being a ska tinged ditty, which sounds well with the vocalist's bucket full of gravel voice. Pick this up if you are fans of the aforementioned Major Accident(the comparison could just be me, don't come angry to me if you don't feel the same way),crass or left over crack. Needless to say these guys have won me over as a convert. Thumbs up guys!

Ah, common rider. A band that died way too soon .to this day i kick myself for not telling my boss to "piss off I'm not working overtime, I quit. So take this job and shove it" the day they played down here on the Plea For Peace tour. I consoled myself with a "oh they will play here again". Needless to say it never happened and I've yet to see the one musician that I admire as much as Joe Strummer (who I also never got to see) play. If it wasn't for Jesse you wouldn't be reading anything from me, I was set on the road to punk rock by Operation Ivy when I was a lad of 17. But I'm sure you know my story of that. If not, read my favorites article on Op Ivy. 

Enough reminiscing. These 4 tunes are outtakes of the sessions for "This Is Unity Music" (great album). But new to me tracks are still new tracks so its worth being excited about. It's a pity we won't be getting any more tunes like this for a long while until Jesse decides to come back. If you are familiar with Common Rider you will know what to expect of these tunes, being outtakes they would be right at home tacked on to this is unity music. But if you are new to common rider you can expect very well written yet very simple songs with a heavy ska punk influence(the good kind) and an almost hip-hop groove to the vocal rhythm. Especially on "Where The Waves Are Highest". The vocals kinda bounce along in an infectious rhythm that will have the stiffest necks bobbing with it. If a relative recently has been put in a neck brace do not play this album around them, unless its a relative you don’t like, then be my guest. Paralyze them to your hearts content. In short, this is dandy but like Lavar Burton says in reading rainbow..."don't take my word for it."
 

• Listen to samples and Purchase this CD online (presale sale price at post time is just $6.99!)
• Check out Greenmuse's tribute to Jesse Michaels in his March 05 column

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