His Hero Is Gone- Monument to Thieves (1997)

Alright, I was looking at previous post that I have made so far, and realized one amazing fact: I hadn't given any album a 5/5 rating yet.  So, here's a 5/5 for you! (honestly it would be a 6/5, but I'm not going to do that)

Now defunct His Hero Is Gone is one of my top 5 favorite bands of all times!  Honestly, I cannot remember who introduced them to me, and I know that I didn't find them on my own, so whoever did, I now thank them.  I remember I was in my late teens when I was first heard them, and at that time, all I wanted to hear was hard, aggressive, intricate punk with harsh/growling vocals that had socio-political lyrics; and guess what? If you're thinking that HHIG provided all that, you are absolutely correct.

14 tracks of the best punk/crust punk/ etc. style you can think of, seriously, the best EVER!  (I even had a drunken hour long argument with an old friend of mine one night where we ended up thinking that HHIG should be classified as progressive crust punk, if that even exists.)  This album has everything, pianos, distorted guitars, thick bass and drums that are so fuckin' awesome you can just sit and listen to it and see them, in your minds eye, playing in a dirty concert hall with a bunch of punk kids that know what they are hearing is great, and yet still know they have a hidden gem to rest of the world. HHIG was out of Tennessee, and the members have now gone on to perform in other bands, but none are anywhere near what HHIG was.  I never had the luxury of seeing HHIG live, but know people who have, and I am still envious to this day.  I have everything that they released and have found some decent internet videos of them live; but it's still not the same. 

All the tracks, lyrically, are centered around social and political issues, and when you mix in the enormously fantastic instrumentation, it is easy to see how HHIG is the cream of the crop.  If you like "heavier" music, no matter what type or from what era in music, this is a "Must Have" for everyone, no if's, and's or but's.  (Seriously go buy it, don't jack around downloading it, just go find a freakin' actual copy of the cd/lp or whatever and you won't be sorry) 

Official score- 5/5