ALL

ALL: Allroy's Revenge.Allroy's Revenge. (1989)
Cruz

Reviewer Rating: 4.5

User Rating:

Contributed by: fallingupwards84fallingupwards84
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on November 24th 2006Simply put, ALL may be the most underrated band in punk history. This becomes evident browsing through this very site -- ALL's first three albums (all pop-punk gems) are not even reviewed. The most practical explanation for this, of course, is that the Descendents' legacy prevented ALL from achievin.

Simply put, ALL may be the most underrated band in punk history. This becomes evident browsing through this very site -- ALL's first three albums (all pop-punk gems) are not even reviewed. The most practical explanation for this, of course, is that the Descendents' legacy prevented ALL from achieving the same success. For those of you who are in the dark about both of these bands, ALL was essentially the same band as the Descendents -- just a different vocalist.

Released in 1989, Allroy's Revenge. is considered by many ALL fans to be their very best. It was the first record with Scott Reynolds on vocals and is practically a greatest hits album with instant classics such as "Fool," "Scary Sad," "She's My Ex," "Carnage," "Box," etc.

My first ALL album was their debut Allroy Sez, which featured Dave Smalley (formerly with Dag Nasty) on vocals. I was a little concerned that I would not enjoy the change, but I quickly discovered that Reynolds was more suited for ALL; his vocals, while melodic, provided a certain energy that was missing with Smalley. Later on of course, Reynolds would be replaced by Chad Price, whose growly vocals never quite did it for me.

While ALL is a separate entity from the Descendents, it is impossible to not compare the two. If you enjoyed songs such as "Silly Girl," "Cheer," and "Clean Sheets," and you have never given ALL a chance, then you need to drop everything and pick up this record now. On the other hand, you do have the occassional fast punk track; on this particular record, it is the third song titled "Check One," a 43-second long track with spoken vocals and chaotic guitars.

The album opens up with a classic Steven Egerton instrumental, and dives straight into "Fool," a pop-punk song that anyone who is lovesick can relate to. Lyrically, everything is very top-notch, especially in "Scary Sad," a song written by Bill Stevenson about a self-abusive girl. "She's My Ex," while very simple and straight-forward, is a song that nearly every guy can relate to and is probably the catchiest number on the album.

In my opinion, ALL never completely topped this album, although the next two -- Allroy Saves and Percolater -- came close. It appears as though the band may be done -- they've promised an instrumental album and another full-length album for the last four years, but nothing has come of it. But we cannot completely rule out the possibility, and hopefully we'll see at least one or two more releases.

It's a shame that this band never gets the credit they deserve, and I can understand why the members of this band have expressed frustration about this. This album, along with several others they released, are just as good (if not better) than the Descendents' best material. If you have never listened to ALL, this would be a great record to start with. If you do have this album, I strongly recommend the live record they released the same year, Trailblazer, as it features many of these songs.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Anonymous (November 29, 2006)

i like this album, and although i'll never understand why, i just have never had an all record strike me the same way as a descendents record. i've heard the first all records and they're good but, to me, they just sound like songs that weren't good enough to make it on descendents records.

pinkerton (November 29, 2006)

it sounds a bit dated. maybe im just bias because i only saw them with chad.

adamvms (November 29, 2006)

Everything scott did ruled... Goodbye Harry, All, and the Pavers... All of which are severely underappreciated

Great bands

Anonymous (November 27, 2006)

if you liked greatest hits and want to get an earlier album, this is the one. the album is so goddamn amazing that you won't even notice the weak production after a few spins.

Cos (November 27, 2006)

I got the "greatest hits" album 5 years ago and instantly loved it, but I've been wary of checking out any of the early albums just because no one can mention them without saying how horrible they sound. Would it be that hard for Bill Stevenson to buy them off SST/Cruz and remaster them? I doubt they're making much money for Greg Ginn...

No one mentioned MXPX. Strange...

SlackMFr (November 26, 2006)

Scott Reynolds fucking blows!! Smalley and Price are much better. Allroy Sez... fucking slams!

Sven_Morburg (November 26, 2006)

My favorite album.

Anonymous (November 26, 2006)

gotta love the poppunk/rap fusion of 'Box'

Anonymous (November 26, 2006)

carnage isn't on the vinyl version? bummer, best song everrrrrrrrrr.

Anonymous (November 25, 2006)

There's a descendents song called silver that is on a few bootlegs that sounds a lot like she's my ex, so i'm guessing that riff had been lying around for a while. I remember looking for this forever, finding it on vinyl and then being so bummed that carnage isn't on the vinyl version. Still a classic though

leezdeez (November 25, 2006)

pretty cool

Anonymous (November 25, 2006)

"source? are you listening to these records properly? pressing 'play?' making sure the volume is turned up?"

i don't have a link, but it was an interview with bill stevenson talking about how they had a period of touring only as an opening act (for pennywise, lagwagon, ataris etc) in an attempt to build their fan base and how it filtered into the last 2 records (mass nerder and problematic) and that he felt those records were too generic and lacked the spark of the prior records.

Anonymous (November 25, 2006)

All!

Anonymous (November 25, 2006)

When I was in my 20's I saw ALL several times (mainly at City Garden's). I must say, those were some of the best shows I have been to. The energy at an ALL show is somethng you need to experience to understand. Thank you for reviewing this record, and introducing it to another generation of punk music listeners

sweetsuperior (November 25, 2006)

"i think mass nerder is by far their weakest album. even the band has admited this."

source? are you listening to these records properly? pressing 'play?' making sure the volume is turned up?

ALL!

at_the_drive_in_21 (November 25, 2006)

DickAround (November 24, 2006)

Me and that greenerton boy seem to have the exact same opinion. EERIE.

I just bought Eerie, Ind. on DVD. EERIE x 2!

nicodemus (November 24, 2006)

Colorado !!!

halfcutskeleton (November 24, 2006)

This album is awesome. I bought it on cassette, then vinyl, and now I have it on CD. This is a classic. The dude that said it came out in 1999 is wrong. This definitely came out in '89. I rember buying it in High School and I graduated in '91.

Anonymous (November 24, 2006)

i think mass nerder is by far their weakest album. even the band has admited this. the song-writing lacks the hooks and the great lyrics and variety and experimentation of prior albums. chad's vocals are great though...

i rank them:
1. allroy's revenge
2. pummel
3. percolator
4. allroy saves
5. allroy for prez
6. breaking things
7. problematic
8. allroy sez...
9. mass nerder

Anonymous (November 24, 2006)

The CSNY song is called "Ohio". Very famous song.
"Twin soldiers and nixon's coming"

Anonymous (November 24, 2006)

Scott Reynolds was the best ALL singer

sweetsuperior (November 24, 2006)

i'm with sickboi and el matt, MASS NERDER is my fave. i think chad's records are the most coherent and the best sounding. the older records w/ dave and scott are amazing, but sound like ass.

Anonymous (November 24, 2006)

umm, typo: it's 1999 when this album was released, not 1989. ALL came after the Descendents

rob_rob (November 24, 2006)

i love ALL, and i love my ALL tattoo

el_matt (November 24, 2006)

I'm with sickboi, Mass Nerder is their best album.

feeeding5000 (November 24, 2006)

Dag Nasty is better than any other band that Dave Smalley has been in...He's just a mediocre singer, who reminds me of Kermit the Frog. Meh.

sickboi (November 24, 2006)

I just might be the only person that thinks Mass Nerder is their best work...

greenerton (November 24, 2006)

1. The remastered greatest hits S-T is fucking amazing. Bill's a freakin' genius at making shit sound really fucking good. Also, Crazy is an awesome song
2. Dot is hand down one of the best songs ever written.
3. She's My Ex, too.
4. This is probably ALL's best album, though Saves really give it a run for its money. Educated Idiot, Just Like Them, Prison, Simple Things...it's a much darker disc, but it's really good.
5. Chad has a pretty bad rep with ALL fans, but I don't really see why. Sure, they got a bit more formulaic when he joined, but he's a great singer and they still keep churning out great pop-punk tunes. Hell, some of my favorite ALL songs are from Chad era...Better Than That, Self-Righteous, Original Me, World's On Heroin, Breakin' Up, Long Distance, and lots more. Also, I wouldn't consider him 'growly'...perhaps more gruff than Scott or Dave, but there's nothing wrong with having some kick to your voice

In a nutshell, ALL just owns everyone. Wayyyy underrated, and it sucks. As far as favorite bands, I consider ALL and the Descendents as one...fuckin' geniuses, these guys, I swear.

PS: Do yourselves a favor and find a copy of the Dot single for one of the best ALL songs ever, "Can't Say". There's a versionn with Chad singing on Live Plus One which is really good too, but hey, Scott owns and collectibles are more punx. scene pointz!!!!

Anonymous (November 24, 2006)

because ALL didn't sing Hope, and the Descendent's did.

MikeStupid (November 24, 2006)

One hell of an album. Definitely ALL's best.

Anonymous (November 24, 2006)

i was in some CD store like three days ago and got percolater used for like 8 bucks.

First all CD i got was live plus one, i really dug it. Got mass nerder next, but it just seemed to bland

I saw this baby at some store for like 7 dollars, got it and i love it. GET TRAILBLAZER. if you think these songs are good recorded, listen to them live, holy shit, the vocals become so much better!

and please jesus just do what ever you can to get the song dot...SOO GOOD

kingofsuck (November 24, 2006)

Score's for the album and for classic album reviews.

Anonymous (November 24, 2006)

bravo to you for reviewing this. it is a five fucking star album. and by far my favorite pop-punk album of all time.

DickAround (November 24, 2006)

The first song is a Tony Lombardo (bass-er on Milo Goes To...) written tune. This is ALL's best album. It should be re-mastered. Have you heard the remastered tracks from the greatest hits album? Holy throbbing fuck.

kenjamin (November 24, 2006)

"She's My Ex" is the perfect song.

Anonymous (November 24, 2006)

I thought ALL was created after the Descendents????????

Anonymous (November 24, 2006)

i happen to enjoy chad as a vocalist for ALL.

GlassPipeMurder (November 24, 2006)

Love this band!