Turning Point
"1988-1991" CD (Jade Tree)
If you appreciate why the X Swatch was important, you will probably enjoy this collection of almost 40 emotional hardcore songs. While a lot of reviews dubiously drop Dag Nasty as a possible influence or reference point, this album actually can lay claim to both; the youthful singing is reminiscent of Dave Smalley's vocals on "Can I Say"; the guitar playing follows in Baker's footsteps from that record. A large number of hardcore records from that era blindly set out unquestioned dogma as a stipulation for acceptance; Turning Point doesn't. While the band rocks the X, these songs aren't mandates; they position straight-edge as a personal choice, not necessarily something to be evangelized. In keeping with that approach, these songs address larger topics and ideas and express them in different ways than an average straight-edge song (i.e. "my friend drank a beer, he totally stabbed the scene in the back so I'm never going to speak to him again because he turned his back on me and I'm still standing here strong, yadda yadda yadda" over 30 seconds). Turning Point's songs describe a process of searching for wisdom and insight, not closing minds. Even though the songs sound slightly dated because of the guitar tones which distinctly place this record at an easily identifiable point in time, the ideas remain fresh; that's why this record is still worth hearing.