Hard to believe this record is more than 20 years old. By the time this one came out, AN was pretty much the hottest thing in town, partially because of their great live performance, and partially because I think they were able to break the generic hardcore mold a bit - lyrically, more introspection, less “unity” / “stab in the back” or political lyrical content; and musically, maybe a bit more accessible? It’s not surprising that American Nightmare had a broad audience from different independent music “cliques” since there was appeal cross genre. It’s still hardcore though - this is a band that covered the Cro-Mags around this time, after all.
AN was blowing up on the scene right around when I moved to Boston to go to school, so I got to see them a lot back in the day. They always put on a great show, and lots of my friends and peers used their shows as opportunities to perfect their stage diving and head walking skills because there was always a ton of kids at the front.
Like most hardcore records, it loses a bit of panache in studio vs seeing live.
My copy is on clear (500).