I Against I

This article is about the Bad Brains album. For the band, see I Against I (band). For the Massive Attack song, see Special Cases. For the Jedi Mind Tricks song, see Violent by Design.

I Against I
Studio album by
Bad Brains
ReleasedNovember 21, 1986[1]
Genre
Length31:53
LabelSST (065)
ProducerRon Saint Germain
Bad Brains chronology
Rock for Light
(1983) 		I Against I
(1986) 		Live
(1988)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Pitchfork9.3/10[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[5]
Spin Alternative Record Guide9/10[6]
The Village VoiceB−[7]

I Against I is the third studio album by the American rock band Bad Brains. It was released on November 21, 1986[1] through SST Records with the catalog number SST 065. The best-selling album in the band's catalog, I Against I finds the band branching out from their early hardcore punk style to touch on funk, soul, reggae and heavy metal. It is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The title track was a Paul Rachman-directed video (Rachman would go on to direct the documentary film American Hardcore).

The title I Against I presumably refers to the common Rastafarian phrase I and I, which is used in place of the first-person plural (i.e. we) to signify the union of the speaker, audience, and Jah (God) in love and peace.

At the producer's suggestion, the vocals to "Sacred Love" were recorded over the phone from the prison where H.R. was serving time on a marijuana distribution charge.

  1. ^ a b "Bad Brains on Instagram: "i Against i, the third studio album from Bad Brains was released in November of 1986. 33 years later in November 2019, here we are listening to this album recalling the whole process of creating and recording it so many years ago. We updated i Against i with new visuals on our youtube channel. Many people, musicians and non-musicians alike, have pointed to this album as a major influence of theirs over the years and continue to do so.. Have listen, and if this album was a significant influence on you, please let us know how! #iagainsti #pma #badbrains #punkrock"".
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference cr was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Anderson, Rick. "I Against I – Bad Brains". AllMusic. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  4. ^ Ayers, Nabil (July 26, 2020). "Bad Brains: I Against I". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  5. ^ Frere-Jones, Sasha (2004). "Bad Brains". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 34–35. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  6. ^ Stovall, Natasha (1995). "Bad Brains". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 22–24. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert (May 5, 1987). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2013.