Angst ridden, politically motivated, sociological punk gone metal is the best way to describe Dealing With It and D.R.I. This album represents everything that punk stood for in the 70's and 80's--short songs about rebelling against...well...everything under the sun. However, what divided D.R.I. from the rest of the bands of the early 80's, was that they combined the punk sound with metal aggression to create a foundation of proto-thrash for the coming decade. And yes, bands like Metallica and Overkill created the idea of thrash before D.R.I., but what cannot be argued is that the pure ideology of punk transfixed by metal riffs was vastly influenced by bands like D.R.I. and Bad Brains (among others). Aside from the historical significance of their contributions, this crossover powerhouse played with a whole lot of heart which can infinitely be heard in their records. Dealing With It represents the gritty underbelly of the early 80's music scene. While Motley Crue was gaining momentum on the Sunset Strip screwing as many chicks as possible, drinking as many beers as possible, and playing as many clubs as possible, bands like D.R.I. were voicing their love of the music and their passionate ideologies in a rough way that went above and beyond the idea of simple punk, and of which metal really did not yet have a place for. Simply put D.R.I. was one of the bastard children of the 80's aggressive music scene, and they handled it well putting out exactly what they intended--music that pissed on the head of pop culture.

Now, despite this being a historically significant group and album, it is not even close to being the best in the genre. Bands like early Corrosion of Conformity and The Accused were more formidable at creating high octane riffs that blasted through stereotypical boundaries about what divided hardcore and metal. Still though, Dealing With It has some memorable classic D.R.I. material including Argument Then War and Soup Kitchen, but overall, this album is just angsty music with no lasting impression for me with the exception of a few tunes. This serves as a good introduction and gateway album into the world of crossover and perhaps old school thrash for those who have yet to dabble in the more underground side of that genre. This is worth checking out, just keep in mind there is more to be offered elsewhere.