by Rinjo Njori.

Bad Brains broke my heart on May 23, 1995. This was the release date of their third reunion album God of Love. At the time I wanted to blame Madonna, who released the album on her label Maverick. Apparently the brain trust who successfully marketed Alanis Morissette didn't have one person who understood Bad Brains or their hardcore legacy. I wanted to blame Jah because if he was all knowing he should have known God of Love was horrible. Afer all,omniscience is a pretty powerful thing. He should have heard the devotion pouring out of every note and encouraged silent prayer. Truth is I should have blamed Daryl, Earl and Dr. Know for this obvious money grab. Propping up HR for the umpteenth time was a mistake. After all, it wasn't long into this reunion that HR lost it and wrecked the reunion tour with the Beastie Boys.

Luckily, Bad Brains fans for the most part have a positive mental attitude and couldn't believe that the Brains would go out like that. For the past decade our P.M.A. has been tested again and again. We have been subjected to HR's insanity, constant rumors of a real reunion, and the dreadful dub heavy Soul Brains tours, which featured HR doing his best impression of Haile Selassie. Over the last two years our P.M.A. has begun to pay dividends. Daryl quietly got the band back together. Long time fan Adam Yauch, from the Beastie Boys, agreed to produce the new album. A series of reunion gigs to close out CBGB's (not featuring John Joseph on lead vocals) showcased a band not satisfied with letting God of Love or the Soul Brains determine their legacy.

Spanning two years of piecemeal recording sessions and the excellent production by Yauch, Build A Nation could effectively lay to rest all that has gone wrong since H.R. mailed it in on the Soul Brains tours. The good news is that the band's hardcore songs fall nicely between the polished sheen of the Rock for Light tracks and the metal heavy I Against I. The reggae songs have actually improved over their recently poor showing. The bad news is that the song names read like a set list for your local gospel choir, not a legendary hardcore band.

HR's vocals lack the energy or intensity of any previous outing. But, for once you can sense, even believe, he is giving it his all for a man of fifty plus years. Sure, religious lyrics fill the album. At least this time they are a lot more coherent and modest then the lunatic-tinged ramblings on God of Love.

The title track forgoes the need for complex lyrical structure. The band chants "Build a Nation!" in unison in between HR's minimalist "Build a Nation". This song shouldn't work based on this premise, but is effective because Doc, Daryl, and Earl are playing like it's 1983 again. "Expand Your Soul" leans heavily on the I Against I Bad Brains style. Bass heavy guitar crunch with other worldly vocals. The lyrics are kept simple but HR seems like he is singing with the song instead of during the song for the first time since Quickness. Luckily HR is just getting warmed up.

On "Universal Peace" the band and HR are in perfect harmony mixing hardcore with reggae breakdowns that haven't seen the light of day since 1988. "Send You No More Flowers" is the only track that leaves religion at the door. HR, for roughly 60 seconds, channels Paul Hudson circa 1979. This isn't "Pay To Cum" but this is absolutely the Bad Brains. The lead off track "Give Thanks and Praises", might not kick ass like Rock for Light's "Coptic Times" or the perfect instrumental "Intro" that opened I Against I, but the song is light years away from "Cool Mountaineers" which pretty much doomed God of Love.

The reggae on this record isn't half bad either. "Until Kingdom Come" uses layered keyboards and horns to accentuate the typically by the numbers reggae the Brains have put out over the last three decades. Lyrically, HR doesn't play favorites and keeps lyrics as modest on the hardcore songs as he does on the reggae songs. No one is ever going to mistake the Brains for The Maytals or the Wailers. This time out they might make a good island house band.

There are those who might see Build a Nation as a re-birth of the Bad Brains. To be honest, most people should view the album and supporting tour as a fitting career encore. They now have chance to go out on a high note. For one last time the Bad Brains can give people what they have been asking for since 1989 - a Bad Brains reunion that matters.