Vicious Circle (AUS) - Rhyme With Reason (1987)^{Release ID: 55759}

It's been interesting to revisit the (alleged) third album from Melbourne hardcore punks Vicious Circle after so many years this week because it immediately raised some with me about its legitimacy as a genuine album. I don't recall having these thoughts when I first encountered the album as a teenager but it very soon became obvious that 1987's "Rhyme with Reason" record was more of a compilation of previously available material than it was the brand-new record that the vast majority of internet resources seem to have blindly taken it for. Those critics have clearly never heard Vicious Circle's 1986 "Reflections" album though as ten of the thirteen tracks included on "Rhyme with Reason" were taken from that record. Another (i.e. experimental post-punk song "Nightmare So Quick") has been borrowed from 1986's "Hidden-Supervision?" single too so fans of Vicious Circle's previous work should be aware of that before running off to purchase the vinyl at great expense. I could only really identify one short line that read "Note that 'Rhyme With Reason' was in part a compilation of material that had previously been issued in the Australian market" on the Discogs page for the release which confirmed my suspicions that these tracks are in fact the same versions that can be found on the disappointing "Reflections". That doesn't make "Rhyme with Reason" a redundant release though. On the contrary, it makes "Reflections" one as "Rhyme with Reason" manages to rectify some of the flaws in Vicious Circle's sophomore album by omitting a couple of the weaker songs that I felt tarnished it. It also adds a couple of fairly raw new tracks that we hadn't heard from the band before, admittedly with mixed results though to be fair.

As with Vicious Circle's earlier releases, I really struggle with the idea of "Rhyme with Reason" having much to do with the crossover thrash tag it so often seems to attract. There's really only a single track included that fits that mold in the new song "Turn to Stone" which is also one of the two weaker numbers that form an unfortunate mid-album quality dip with the other being the heavy metal/hard rock number "Hope & Wait" which I didn't enjoy much on "Reflections" either. The vast majority of the album still falls into hardcore punk territory although I'd suggest that there is enough conventional punk rock in brand-new opening track "Rule 17" & closer "Inside Operation" for it to be claimed as an influence, along with post-punk which shows its head on "Nightmare So Quick" & a good chunk of "Inside Operation" too. There's a touch less of the experimentation that was attempted on "Reflections" with "Rhyme with Reason" feeling a little more traditional in terms of hardcore punk, mainly because of the omission of the title track from "Reflections" which was overly long & also pretty awful to be fair.

"Rhyme with Reason" doesn't possess too much in the way of highlights but the vast majority of the material is enjoyable enough. As with "Reflections", the excellent hardcore punk tune "Mass Confusion" once again represents the clear high point of the record for me & it's a shame that none of the other material could match it because there was a fair bit of potential in some of these tracks. As it stands though, "Rhyme with Reason" ends up being another pretty enjoyable hardcore record from Vicious Circle but, as with their earlier releases, it still hasn't managed to become one that I can see myself returning to in the future. Even though I quite like it, I do tend to find myself favouring Vicious Circle's earlier material over "Rhyme with Reason" with their earliest demo recordings still offering me the most in terms of appeal. "The Price of Progress" is my preference of their first three full-length albums (if we're gonna include "Rhyme with Reason" as one of those like the rest of the internet seems to). Still, I can't deny the relevance of this record in terms of the band's overall discography as I'd highly recommend that you skip "Reflections" altogether & go direct to the stronger "Rhyme with Reason" if you're hellbent on exploring the Melbourne punks back catalogue.

For fans of early Permanent Damage, Condemned? & Depression.