State of Shock in Bloomington, MN

Much as southern California peers
Bad Religion
re-formed after an extended break and produced an excellent comeback LP,
State of Shock
was
D.I.
's first album of new material in five years when it was originally issued in 1994, and it confounds the stereotypes of such re-formations by sounding authentic and energetic while featuring some of the best material the band has released. In particular,
"Paranoid's Demise"
and
"Dream"
are excellent mix-tape fodder, standing out because of melodic invention and
Casey Royer
's strong lyrics. The 2002
Cleopatra
reissue includes four bonus tracks whose sound quality is noticeably diminished, but not horribly so. ~ Brian O'Neill