Forced Reality - 13 Years Of Forced Reality

Year: 2000
Genre: Oi!

Highlight Tracks: "Backbreaker", "15 Pints (And I'm Still Standing)", "Blood Is Thicker Than Water"
Weak Tracks: "The Flag Is Mine"

Forced Reality were an enigmatic Oi! group from Connecticut in the 1980's who reunited for a few years beginning in 1999. During their reunion they recorded this live 'best of' album that also includes the two new songs "Backbreaker" and "Felon Love". I bought this Oi! gem when I saw them play at the DC Superbowl of Hardcore in 2001.

13 Years of... is a great album from start to finish. The band rip through an extremely tight set recorded live at Boston radio station 88.1 WMBR. Forced Reality sound like the spiritual precursors to the Dropkick Murphys. Like the Dropkicks, Forced Reality's version of Oi! is a tighter, more traditional, rock-n-roll sound than sloppier British Oi! bands like Peter & The Test-Tube Babies or Cockney Rejects. Forced Reality's lyrics are a lot more in spirit with the Dropkicks as well. This is American Oi! for American skinheads and the songs are much more about brotherhood and a hard day's work than about politics or senseless beer-fueled destruction. Therefore the album is less an aggro piece than it is a an excellent sing-along album for a late-night at the bar with your crew. Particularly the album's highlight track "15 Pints (And I'm Still Standing)" which is without question Forced Reality's finest moment.