Social Distortion Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell CD

HEAVEN AND HELL is Social Distortion's finest hour, the crystallization of all the elements that made it a great band. The country and rockabilly influences cultivated on previous albums are fully integrated here, so that Jimmy Work's country classic "Making Believe" sounds perfectly at home amid Mike Ness's own compositions. It's often hard to tell whether the band is punking up covers of old country and rockabilly tunes or incorporating those influences into its own songs, and that's the telling mark of assimilation. Ness's songwriting is at its sharpest and most memorable here. The powerful guitar assault achieves a newfound clarity here, which made it possible for the most melodic offerings on HEAVEN AND HELL ("Bad Luck") to achieve heavy radio play and raise the group to a new level of popularity.

Social Distortion finally achieves the perfect balance between their two major influences, the country anguish of Johnny Cash and the furious punk rock sound of early Clash, on their 1992 album Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell, making it the band's finest hour. The band tears through a fair share of rollicking, straight-ahead hard rock with songs like "Cold Feelings" and "When She Begins," but they also show a reflective, heartfelt, country-inspired side with songs like "This Time Darlin'" and the hard rock tribute to "Folsom Prison Blues," the cold blooded, murderous tale "99 to Life." At times the band slows down the pace a bit more than on earlier albums, but the band hasn't lost any of the edge or attitude they had as the brash young punks who recorded Mommy's Little Monster. Social Distortion classics "Bad Luck" and "Born to Lose" find a more mature Mike Ness still continuing to play the familiar role of the steadfast underdog with better results than in previous efforts. This album had all the earmarks of a major commercial success with some radio friendly tunes and strong production, but it never found the large audience Epic records expected. Regardless of the sales totals, Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell finds Orange County's most enduring punk band, Social Distortion, at their creative peak, and this album is the crown jewel of their entire catalog. [The import edition adds the bonus tracks "Alone and Forsaken" and "Mainliner 1992"] ~ Paul Tinelli

Japanese Reissue Including 2 Exclusive Bonus Tracks: Alone & Forsaken (Hank Williams Cover), & Main Liner 1992.

Japanese edition adds two songs.

CD contains 2 bonus tracks.

Recorded at El Dorado Studios, Hollywood, California.

Audio Mixers: Dave Jerden; Annette Cisneros.

Recording information: El Dorado Studios, Hellywood, CA.

Unknown Contributor Roles: John Maurer; Christopher Reece; Dennis Danell; Mike Ness.

Social Distortion: Mike Ness (vocals, lead guitar); Dennis Dannell (rhythm guitar); John Maurer, Christopher Reece.

Spin (4/92, p.92) - Highly Recommended - "...as pure and driven a rock combo as you're likely to find on either side of the punk/rock fence..."
Entertainment Weekly (2/21/92, p.54) - "...rock-steady tempos, grungy guitars mashing through meat-and-potatoes chord changes, the gravelly musings of lead singer Mike Ness....out to pry open old-time rock & roll's crypt to let some air in..." - Rating: B+
Q (11/92, p.121) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...a hail of rough-edged but well-constructed originals....their sound is rooted in LONDON CALLING-era Clash, TEENAGE HEAD-vintage Flaming Groovies crossed with any amount of first generation garage bands..."