JennJoy's Full Review: Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell by Social Distor...
Social Distortion is one of those bands I discovered later than most people, so my experience with them starts in the 90’s, even though they released their first full-length album, "Mommy’s Little Monster", in 1983. Having been a fan of all types of rock music (especially with leanings toward punk, blues, rockabilly, and country) for as long as I care to remember, Social Distortion’s crossbreed of all the styles of music I love most was right up my alley.
The band's 1992 album, "Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell" was my first Social Distortion purchase, largely because it is often lauded as their eponymous release. The album's first single, "Bad Luck" cracked the airwaves and even landed in MTV’s Buzz Bin for around 12 weeks. This was just one of the times Social Distortion seemed poised to make it big in the mainstream, but for a variety of reasons--front man Mike Ness's drug habit and jail time included--the group remained a fairly underground favorite.
While Social Distortion's start came during the late 70’s-early 80’s punk surge out of Orange County, CA, this album showed the ever-increasing influence of country on Social Distortion’s music, mainly due to Ness’s love of old rock n’ roll and country masters like Johnny Cash. As a result, the songs on "Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell" are hard to pin into any one genre. It’s not quite rockabilly. It's too rock to be country. It clearly evolved from punk. There are obvious blues influences. All of these things describe the music, and once you add in Mike Ness's gritty vocals and down-on-my-luck lyrics you've got the essence of Social Distortion.
I have to disagree with most critics and fans, though, as I don't believe "Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell" is Social Distortion’s best album. That's not to say there isn’t great music here, it just seems to be bunched up at the beginning of the album and tends to get a little lost in the second half. The aforementioned single, "Bad Luck" is a shining example of one of the highlights. Its crunchy guitar and intermingled cow bell perfectly offset the song’s lyrics, like "some people like to gamble, but you, you always lose. Some people like to rock n' roll, you’re always singin' the blues." The fusing of so many styles makes tracks like this one radio friendly by offering some aspect of appeal to fans of all types of music. I can see why there was such a buzz about it.
Other standout tracks include "Born to Lose" (can you see a theme developing?), which is an easy anthem for all of the downtrodden of the world, and "Bye Bye Baby," which injects a little extra aggression and a more true rockabilly style into the music. However, my absolute favorite track on "Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell" is the all too autobiographical "99 to Life." This song could have been written by the man in black himself (that’s Johnny Cash too you), as it parallels Cash’s "Folsom Prison Blues" in many ways. The lyrics, like "Killed my baby, I killed her with my knife. Lonely weekends, baby, lonely nights. The judge he gave me ninety nine to life" drip from Ness’s mouth with every ounce of regret he can muster.
Most of the tracks at the end of this album, including "King of Fools," "Sometimes I Do," and "Ghost Town Blues" are enjoyable listens every now and then, but they just don’t have the staying power that the best tracks here maintain. Still, a lesson in Social Distortion is, I believe, I must for anyone who enjoys any type of rock music and its roots. I'd recommend picking up one of the band’s earlier releases first and moving on to "Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell" later if you find you like what you hear.
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