After listening to the First Step's album Open Hearts and Clear Minds, I took the first step to the used record store to see how much I could get for this, and then take another first step to the liquor store to try and forget this album. This album was nothing more than generic straight edge hardcore that sounds exactly like a cross between Minor Threat and SS Decontrol (both of whom I like) with songs about being straight edge and not liking violence. To me this is just boring, first there is no shred of creativity in the music, I could predict each chord change, drum beat and gang vocal the first time I listened to it. The songs had very predictable topics about being edge, not liking violence and not eating meat. About the only thing on this album I liked was after the 10 songs proper there was a short live set recorded at CBGBs which included a (surprise surprise) Minor Threat cover. It's sad when a live cover is the best thing on your cd. Another thing and this just isn't this band, but in the booklet what's with only giving the lyrics to 5 damn songs. What about the other songs, either include all of them or none of them, or don't make the choruses bold we know that you're going to shout them.

But listening to this disc is not all in vain. I have been inspired to bring a new sub-group to the punk rock scene. I think it will include all the kids who smoke, drink, fuck, do drugs, eat meat, and do what ever else straight edgers don't. At first I thought each group would get their own letter for their hand (i.e. D for drunks, S for smokers) but I quickly realized that could get out of hand for people that do more than one, so I decided to streamline it into two letters GT, which stands for Good Times, since all of the above usually lead to good times. Then when me and my GT crew go to shows, complete with GT drawn all over ourselves and shirts, watches, bags etc, and when see kids who aren't doing any of the above we will beat them up and force them to drink, smoke, fuck no matter how old they are. Then we get a bunch of bands to write painfully similar songs about being GT and we just rock out and refuse to listen to anything else. This will be the best thing ever, who's with me?