Bad Brains Into The Future LP (Red, Yellow & Green Vinyl)

The Bad Brains classic lineup of H.R., Darryl Jenifer, Dr. Know and Earl Hudson reunited for their first album in five years, 2012's Into The Future. The album is ''the purest Bad Brains recording since the ROIR cassette,'' in reference to the early-'80s sound that helped define the band. Into The Future is filled with freedom and experimentation, which is in part thanks to the band's decision to self-produce. Included in the album is a remix of ''Peace Be Unto Thee'', featured in tribute to longtime fan, friend and producer Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys. Bad Brains is credited with helping to define American punk and hardcore music and is very much considered to be a genre-defining act along with The Ramones and Black Flag.

American artist Shepard Fairey, a lifelong fan of the Bad Brains, designed the packaging for Into The Future. One of the most influential street artists, the designer and illustrator emerged from the skateboarding scene in the '80s and became widely known during the 2008 presidential election for his Barack Obama 'Hope' poster. Fairey's work is featured at the Smithsonian, MOMA, the National Portrait Gallery and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

It's amazing enough that the energy of early-'80s Bad Brains recordings was even able to be captured on audio tape to begin with. Bands full of kids born years into the reign of the Brains still can't come close to the lightning storm in a bottle that was Rock for Light, so it's foolish to hold the bandmembers themselves up to their previous work from decades past. Into the Future fares better than the stale output of most reunited punk acts and also rises above a weak rehash for the sake of nostalgia. Always true to their original vision, Bad Brains continue sailing on.