| Quickness | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 14, 1989 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 33:52 | |||
| Label | Caroline | |||
| Producer | Ron St. Germain | |||
| Bad Brains chronology | ||||
| ||||
Quickness (also known as With the Quickness) is the fourth full-length studio album by American rock band Bad Brains. At the time of its release, it was the best selling Bad Brains album and also featured an MTV video for the lead-off track "Soul Craft" directed by Paul Rachman who later went on to produce and direct the feature documentary American Hardcore. Drummer Earl Hudson, though pictured on the cover, does not play on the record, as drum parts were instead performed by Mackie Jayson of the Cro-Mags. In an interview with MTV, guitarist Dr. Know said that the album's title comes from urgency and swiftness.
Quickness was a crossover release that contained elements of several genres, including funk, hip hop, heavy metal, punk, and reggae, which made a notable return after being absent from its predecessor I Against I (1986). It has also been described as one of the first groove metal albums, being released a year before Prong's Beg to Differ and Pantera's Cowboys from Hell.[1][2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | C+[4] |
Dave E. Henderson of Music Week considered that with this album the band "should finally achieve greater notoriety". But on the other hand it is losing its identity while presenting "frenetic punk-metal with all the growling cliches from years gone by" instead of previous mix of reggae and punk.[5]
Quickness generated controversy over the album's lyrics, some of which claim were homophobic. One of the songs, "Don't Blow Bubbles", had lyrics that were criticized as being homophobic and suggesting that AIDS was God's punishment for homosexuality. When asked about the song, guitarist Dr. Know said that "We wrote that song as kind of an angry warning to homosexuals. We didn't really mean to insult them, but a lot of people we knew seemed to be living with their eyes closed."[6] In a 2007 interview where bassist Darryl Jenifer called their previous views "ignorant", he was asked about the song and the furor over the lyrics and replied "They don't understand that we've grown. Just like anyone, I'm not ashamed to say, 'Maybe I could have been…' Damn right, I was a homophobe! I shouldn't have to explain that to the world because everyone will do that. That's wisdom. You have to grow to be wise."[7] On the 2022 reissue of the album, an instrumental version of "Don't Blow Bubbles" was included in place of the original version, with the song's title changed to "Instrumental".[8]
The Bad Brains would split up shortly after releasing Rock for Light, a 1983 LP produced by new wave maestro Ric Ocasek, but they reformed in 1987 as a pioneering groove-metal outfit.
