| Rock for Light | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 15, 1983 | |||
| Recorded | 1983 | |||
| Studio | Syncro Sound (Boston) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 38:18 (vinyl) 42:04 (CD) | |||
| Label | Passport Records (original), Caroline (re-issue), ORG Music (2021 ORG Remaster) | |||
| Producer | Ric Ocasek | |||
| Bad Brains chronology | ||||
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Rock for Light is the second full-length studio album by American rock band Bad Brains, released in 1983. It was produced by Ric Ocasek of The Cars. The 1991 re-issue was remixed by Ocasek and bass player Darryl Jenifer. The re-issued version has some extra tracks, an altered track order, significantly different mixes and, on most tracks, a speed increase of the master which results in a raising of the pitch by one-half step.[1]
The album contains a number of re-recorded songs from the band's first album, Bad Brains, as well as a number of new hardcore punk and reggae tracks. The only tracks from Bad Brains that did not get re-recorded for Rock for Light are "Don't Need It", "The Regulator", "Jah Calling", "Leaving Babylon", "Pay to Cum" and "I Luv I Jah". It was the last Bad Brains album to feature only these two styles of music, as the band eventually experimented with funk, soul and heavy metal.
As Bad Brains broke up after the release of Rock for Light, it was the band's last album for three years. This was the first of several such break-ups during their career.
The original mix was only available on the out-of-print PVC Records version and 1987 CD-versions[2] until 2021.[3] Some of the original mixes appeared on the Banned in D.C. compilation.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| Q | [1] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [5] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 8/10[6] |
| The Village Voice | B+[7] |
Reviewing for The Village Voice in December 1983, Robert Christgau said, "More than ex-fusioneer Dr. Know on 'gits,' it's the distinctive if not exactly authoritative blackboard-screechy 'throat' of H.R. that provides the quality here, and I like it, kind of. Though this repeats five tunes from their ROIR cassette, it's definitive by virtue of its Ric Ocasek production and vinyl audio."[7] Ian Cranna, appraising the album's 1991 re-issue for Q, noted that the original "never quite captured the band's full, fierce excitement", but praised the re-issue.[1]
