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By the mid ’80s it appeared as if several of the defining American hardcore punk bands were growing tired of mindlessly playing fast and were coming up with new ways to reinvent their sound. Bands like DRI and Corrosion Of Conformity were some of the first to successfully integrate metal with thrash and coin the term “crossover” after DRI’s second album. New Jersey thrashers Adrenalin O.D. were one of the few bands that decided to go in an entirely different direction from their previous two albums of hyper speed hardcore. On Cruising with Elvis in Bigfoot’s UFO AOD enlisted the production help of Daniel Rey who had just worked with the Ramones on their album Too Tough to Die. The resulting sound was in fact a lot more crisp and clear as opposed to their wall of noise guitar and reckless drumming on their previous two albums while still retaining the speed (“slowing down to fast from insanely fast”) and the humor (a cover of “Baby Elephant Walk” by Henry Mancini) that made their first two records classics. The album was so well produced in fact that the band remarks in the liner notes that they were extremely happy with the way everything turned out, particularly drummer Dave who says, “I was for once happy with my drum sound.” There’s a bonus live performance in 1987 at none other than the Mecca of the west at the time, Gilman St. tagged on at the end of the album. Sound quality notwithstanding, it’s a fun little six-song set of their patented frantic speed and tightness and showcases some of the humor they became known for: did you ever wonder what Darby Crash would sound like if he joined the Doobie Brothers? AOD can answer that for you. –Juan Espinosa

https://razorcake.org/adrenalin-o-d-cruising-with-elvis-in-bigfoots-ufo-millennium-edition-lp/