Non-Fiction

Three albums of very under appreciated grungy metal from the 1990's. Non-Fiction were resurrected from the ashes of Hades, vocalist Alan Tecchio and guitarist Dan Lorenzo, accompanied by bassist Damon Trotta and drummer Mike Cristi. Three very good discs, all of which I recommend very highly.

One of those bands that not a ton of information exists for, and as a bonus is fairly hard to Googl due to their name (try it), I got these from a friend who was a big time fan, I get most of my info from him if it is wrong, you know whom NOT to blame. OK, according to him they released a hard-to-find self titled EP with someone other than Tecchio on vocals, he claims he's never heard it, personally I can't even find any evidence of its existance, but anyway, we can confirm that 1991 saw the release of "Preface"......the best comparison I can offer is Soundgarden (Tecchio's vocals are VERY similar to those of Chris Cornell) maybe crossbred with Lorenzo's Tony Iommi-inspired guitar work, which I suppose SOUNDS quite good, and, actually, it is.....the version I have of "Preface" is not the original version, I don't think, as it includes a bonus demo track as well as a 2000 remix track, but the neucleus of the album, "Listen", "Mortify Me", "Farewell to Welfare" and others REALLY rocks the house. Recommendedfor fans of both latter-day metal as well as Nirvana/Soundgarden/Pearl Jam early 90's hard-grunge.

Better is 1992's "In the Know", an excellent and VERY underrated rock n roll album. Similar in sound to the debut, but musically advanced and lyrically more sophisticated, this could very nearly be labelled an "unknown classic" by some, maybe even me. Nearly every track is a good one, "In the Know", "Preface" (yes, I know they already entitled an ALBUM "Preface"), "Reason To Live", and "Reason to Die" are fine tracks, but to carpet bomb tracks on this one is selling the remainder short. You want this one, if you wish to sample only one.

Their final effort was 1996's "It's a Wonderful Lie", which is ALSO a damn good album although not on a level with "In the  Know".....again, a fine rocking disc filled with the Soundgarden/Sabbath hybrid, and the socio-political lyrics were growing sharper yet. I would probably label this the weakest of the three, and I'd still call it at least a 3.5 star album.

I guess they called it a day after this, I think they reformed a version of Hades, but not sure about when or where or the results. If you are not aware of these three fine discs, check them out n particular "In the Know") and thank me later. Play loud and question why some make it big and some barely make it out of the starting gate. It's a tough life.

PREFACE-01 My Way/02 Listen/03 Mortify Me/04 Could've/05 Aged/06 Put It Off/07 Not a part of Your Life/08 Down/09 I Hate To Tell You/10 Farwell to Welfare/11 Forgive and Regret (1993 demo)/12 Mortify Me (2000 Remix)

IN THE KNOW-01 Preface/02 In the Know/03 First and lasting Impressions/04Acceptance/05 A Million Tears Ago/06 Next to Nothing/07 Reason to Die/08 Reason to Live/09 All My Needs/10 Peaked/11 No Comment/12 Sound Decisions/13 The Naked Truth/14 One Last Time/15 First and Lasting Impressions/16 Dark Day (In the Know Outside)

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIE-01 Love, Liking, Nothing/02 Deception Vs Reality/03 Somehow/04 Social Lies/05 Sad and Done/06 Spent/07 Aversion/08 Picture Imperfect/09 Big Blue Flu/10 Blackened Blues/11 Into the Ground/12 Waxing Pathetic/13 Reasons/14 Forgive and Regret