Up to their „operation phoenix“ LP in 1999 to me Good Riddance has always been one of the melodiecore bands on Fat Wreck however with this release they put out their best full-length. Their melodies were decomposed by strong hardcore influences, their songs speeded up and the whole sentimental level became more angry and pissed than on every other Good Riddance release before. Also unusual for Fat was the shocking photo on the back of the record showing two soldiers carrying a head skinned corpse. Which other punk band managed it to put such real(!) matters into department stores worldwide?! Needless to explain that „operation phoenix“ impressed me in a sustaining way. At that time Good Riddance was one of the first artists that got me into hardcore after listening to classic punk rock for a long time. Few weeks later my enthusiasm was increased again by watching Sick Of It All and Good Riddance together live in Hannover in August 1999. Later this evening Phillip and I had a conversation with Singer Russ, which was our first interview with an american band for the first issue of our upcoming fanzine. The following years Good Riddance turned back to their more melodic and less aggressive sound. I listened to every new release. Most of them were great however none of them was that outstanding again.

Now I got their farewell release which begins with an intro from the „operation phoenix“ record underlayed with a screaming audience. The track list reads like a best-of release, out of every full-length the band has chosen the best songs and surprisingly most of them are off my favourite record. This cd brings us 31 songs in high recording quality and variety through a celebrating audience. Due to the live appearance the whole sound is harsher than it used to be on their studio releases. To me this fits much better to Good Riddance because it needs quite some time to find photos of singer Russ not wearing shirts of classic hardcore artists or showing his hardcore tattoos…

Good-bye Good Riddance!  [benni]

www.myspace.com/goodriddance