This came out in 2001 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
If punk vets Pennywise know how to do anything, it’s triumph over adversity.
When their original bassist Jason Thirsk committed suicide in 1996, the band responded with one of their finest albums, Full Circle. Since then, to be frank, they’ve kinda been coasting. But incendiary, inventive guitarist Fletcher Dragge and co. are back in high gear on this propulsive, rip-snorting eighth album. From the opening charge of Time Marches On to the final crunch of Anyone Listening, Land Of The Free? is a relentless 40-minute assault of chunky, chugging power chords, four-alarm solos, tight-as-a-drum arrangements, hyperspeed mayhem and issue-oriented protest lyrics that place these guys back at the forefront of the punk ranks. Right where they belong.
