Album Review

Madball- Set It Off

Madball is a Hardcore band from New York City. This album was released by Roadrunner Records in 1994. Madball is a New York Hardcore band that started in 1988 as a side project of Agnostic Front. I have many albums by Madball but the first time that I heard them was in 1996 when I went to college in Long Island, New York. I have seen them many times in concert and they always put on a great show and they are always having a lot of fun when they play live. By the time Set It Off came out in 1994 the band members were very different then when they started in 1988. This a super legendary New York Hardcore band and they play a very heavy style of streetwise Hardcore. Madball has many lyrics about growing up on the streets of New York City. They have huge riffs that create massive mosh pits at their concerts and send fans into a frenzy. Singer Freddy Madball is an excellent screamer and he is as passionate as they come in the Hardcore scene. I remember the first release I bought by Madball was the Ball Of Destruction CD Compilation and when I first purchased that I couldn't stop listening to that album. I bought Set It Off recently and I can't stop listening to this album already. Freddy Madball has an almost hip hop vocal delivery once in a while and sometimes the music can sound metallic. The last track on this album is an Agnostic Front cover called Friend Or Foe. This record is like listening to a gripping tale of New York City pre-gentrification and all the violence that was happening at that time. Madball came from the wrong side of the tracks and they would always express this musically and lyrically. It was tough music for tougher times. At these concerts they could release their demons but these shows were such a great time. The most amazing fact is when Madball started in 1988 singer Freddy was only 12 years old and I think that is incredible to be a hardcore vocalist at such a young age. Set It Off is such an amazing record and you must check this album out. This is a classic New York Hardcore release and it deserves to be up there with any Agnostic Front album.
Thanks so much for reading this.
​Kevin

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