Controlled by Hatred

No Mercy
Widespread Bloodshed- Love Runs Red
1987

No Mercy was a pretty great crossover band from Venice Beach in the mid 80s that just happened to feature Suicidal Tendencies' Mike Muir on vocals. They were considerably thrashier than ST's early work, and when half the band quit before they could record their second album, Muir essentially absorbed No Mercy into Suicidal Tendencies by bringing guitarist Mike Clark on board, creating the more metallic version of ST that continued through the late 80s and early 90s. A coupl'a these tracks were even re-recorded by Suicidal Tendencies for the Controlled by Hatred- Feel Like Shit...DeJa Vu comp. If you like early Suicidal Tendencies, then you're bound to like this, as it features the same raw punk energy, but is faster, a little more serious, and generally more metal. For the sake of a timeline and comparison, ST's Join the Army and this No Mercy record both came out in 1987.

If wikipedia is to be trusted, the Mikes have regrouped as No Mercy Fool! and are working on new material. I don't want any part of that, thank you very much.

Widespread Bloodshed- Love Runs Red

Sing Low, Sweet Cheerio

Alice Cooper
Pretties for You
1969

If all you know of Alice Cooper is "School's Out", "I'm Eighteen", and "Hey Stoopid", then do yourself a favor and check out this record. This is the group's debut from 1969, originally released on Frank Zappa's Straight Records. It's a bizarre mix of psychedelic garage rock, warped Beatles-esque harmonies, and dark, theatrical schlock. "Reflected" was eventually rewritten as "Elected" on 1973's Billion Dollar Babies, but the rest of this is barely recognizable as the same band. Pretties for You and their sophomore release, Easy Action (which I'll post some other time), were out of print for years, and when they were finally re-released in the late 80s, I was excited to hear them. Boy, I was downright confused. Then again I was rocking "(He's Back) The Man Behind the Mask" around that time.

Pretties for You