Sacred Reich – The American Way – 1990

As I have stated in a couple of previous reviews of Sacred Reich’s albums, The American Way is their masterpiece according to me. There is really no comparison to the previous album. The sound quality is exactly as I like it. There is not too much bass and just the right amount of heaviness. The lyrics themselves reflect society’s concessions, which is no surprise. And the music has just the right amount of hit quality, tempo, and time signature changes at the same time as it seems a little playful at times. Especially in the last song on the album – 31 Flavors, where the band strays a bit from their core metal vibes. 31 Flavors is all over the place musically speaking.

But it also makes a point which I’ve made myself as long as I remember. You shouldn’t just stick to one kind of music, feel open and explore different genres. There is more to discover than you think. Ok, there are some genres I have a hard time liking, BUT I have yet to encounter a genre where I haven’t found something that I really enjoyed. In my mind, there’s always something good in every genre. You just got to look for it, be persistent, and finally – find it!

The Curse

The American Way may very well be my favorite album from the 90s! Thar’s big words of course, but it’s up there on my list. Of course, it’s very hard to claim an absolute best album of an entire decade. Especially when there’s so much to choose from. And it depends on mood also of course. And this is a subjective claim of course, not an objective one. But I would say that if you haven’t yet heard Sacred Reich, this is the album to begin with. The obvious risk of doing so though, is that you never get get over it and enjoy the other albums equally much. It’s a curse for a band to release such a timeless masterpiece as The American Way. But I couldn’t live without it if I was stranded on a remote island somewhere.