Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell
by Social Distortion

Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell is the worthy follow-up to Social Distortion's Epic debut. But while that album wore its influence on its sleeves, the band fully embraces classic rock'n'roll here, with some blues and folk, all delivered with punk speed and energy.

Once again, Mike Ness delivers Springsteen-inspired hard-times lyrics, with hybrid vocals split between a punk snarl and a nasal twang. It is remarkable how old school his songs sound. They blend so well that If one didn't check the liner notes, one surely couldn't pick out the originals from the two old-school country covers.

The hybrid sound is a wonderful execution of the sounds pioneered by 80s alternative bands like
X, The Blasters, Gun Club, Rank and File and early Meat Puppets. "Sometimes I Do" could have been a Neil Young song and "This Time Darlin'" could have been mistaken for Hank Williams, same for "Born to Lose" for Springsteen.

The roots sound may isolate listeners looking for another song like "Story of My Life," but this record is a real delight for anyone who enjoys classic rock'n'roll in the vein of Rolling Stones.

Essential.

Condensed to a 7" Single:
A-Side: Bad Luck
B-Side: Sometimes I Do

Really good album. Social D was a really good band through the 90's.

Favorites: Making Believe, Born To Lose, When She Begins.

Potentially their best album, a couple of big (bigger than Bad Luck) songs is missing. However the sound is awesome

From Mercury 12/25/2012 21:40 | #58909 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Really great rock and roll record! Excellent songwriting and guitar playing from Mike Ness. This is Social D's masterpeice as far as I'm concerned. Great record for just the average dude.

Bad Luck is still an adrenaline rush.

I grew up in the Midwest. All I knew was heavy metal and head banging, or pop 40 Casey Kassim. When I got to college I burned through classic rock, found alternative, which really took off big in 1993, and somewhere along I found this album and punk rock. I had no idea what it was. It was heavier than anything I heard before but it wasn't heavy metal. It had some 50's rock sound, some country, some rockabilly, and topics that I found foreign to me but I liked. In the end it spawned my adventure into my favorite genre, punk, and spent so much playtime it earned a spot in my top 10 favorite on my eclectic list. By the way, one test of a great album is if you can play it real low and sleep to it. This one passes that test and believe it or not makes you wake up happier, more at peace with the world. One regret, missing them in concert for this album tour - though I caught them a few times after.

From jojoexile 11/17/2011 22:59 | #30760 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

great rock n roll