I could not think of a better album to start this series with. City is an album that if you ask most serious metal fans about, they'll know exactly what you're talking about, and most will immediately say that they love the album. However, unless you're asking a serious metal fan, chances are very high that they have never heard of the album. It's an album that should be right up there with the absolute classics, and to most serious metal fans, it is, but there are way too many music fans in general who still have not heard this gem.
Metal is a genre that doesn't get a whole lot of mainstream exposure. However, there is no shortage of metal bands that mainstream music fans have heard of. Metallica, Slipknot, Megadeth, Slayer, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Black Sabbath are just a few. In the 80's into the early 90's heavy metal was actually quite popular, even though a lot of it was barely metal. Metal had a comeback with another genre that was only part metal in nu-metal in the late 90's and early 00's as well.
Strapping Young Lad is one of those bands that never was able to get any of the mainstream attention that they really deserved when metal was making its comeback in the later part of the 90's, and that's a shame, as City was released in 1997, and where it was reviewed, it was highly praised. Of course, Devin Townsend did take a bad time to put Strapping Young Lad on hiatus from 1999 into 2002. That was during the heart of the popularity of nu-metal which, despite being a mostly terrible genre (in my opinion) did bring back awareness and affection for metal on a national level after the genre was all but dead throughout most of the decade.
City was the follow-up to Strapping Young Lad's "Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing". HaaRHT (what I will call it from here on out) was a pretty solid album. While it wasn't one of those albums with great flow all the way through and while it had it's moments of mediocrity, it also did have some very good tracks. The band's namesake track, "Strapping Young Lad" is one of them and was a staple of their live shows up until the band called it quits. "In the Rainy Season" was another song that they regularly played live throughout the existence of the band. "Happy Camper" is another solid track and is among the most intense songs the band ever recorded. "Satan's Ice Cream Truck" is a funny track that's worth listening to as well. The rest of the album I could give or take.
City seemed to find the best elements of that album and expand on them, but at the same time it brought in a lot of other things. The production on the album is one of those things that really give the album it's character. It feels like you are surrounded by a giant wall of sound with no way of getting around it. Also, the way the album blends genres. It has major elements of thrash metal and industrial, but also has moments of death metal and classic heavy metal. The first actual song, "All Hail the New Flesh" does a great job of showcasing all of that in just one song.
The album also has an amazing flow to it. For the most part it is just a relentless assault of intense track after intense track, but at the same time it has its moments of slight relief. Those moments don't last long. Even the slowest part of the album, a cover of Cop Shoot Cop's "Room 429" is an absolutely sadistic moment, as they take an already dark song and made it into one of the most evil sounding things I have ever heard.
The songs in the album are really what makes it. The aforementioned "All Hail the New Flesh" not only contains one of the most intense moments of the album at its beginning, but also features some great melodies as well that any music fan would be able to pick out. Every song on the album is a song that any music fan who hears it within a couple of listens will at least be able to call it something like that "Hey, you mo'" song or the "OH...MY....FU....KING....GOD" song. There just isn't a single song on the album that isn't a great song. Every last one of them is a song that I could be excited to hear at any point in time. Even as I sit here right now listening through the album I'm just blown away by even within the songs how everything is kept so fresh so well. There is so much variation within each song, but they continue to stay true to the main theme of the song, and I really mean each song.
This was the first album that was done as an actual band as well. Metal legend, Gene Hoglan had become the band's drummer while Jed Simon was the guitarist and Byron Stroud was on bass to go along with Devin on guitar and vocals. The lineup clearly showed here that they had a ton of chemistry. The intensity of the rest of the band along with Devin's ability to be melodic as well as heavy really mixed in well.
The result was nothing short of a masterpiece. This is, without a doubt, a top 5 metal album of all-time for me, and I know plenty of people who would agree with me there. There are just too many amazing moments throughout the album that cannot be denied. What's even more amazing is that one of the few albums to come out since that has even come close to it is their 4th studio album, Alien. Also, their live album, "No Sleep Til Bedtime" is one of the best live albums ever released. While Strapping Young Lad got a lot out of what they had, even if it was only over 5 albums. This is the band's peak right here, and quite a high peak it was.
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