In 1991, the most famous band in the world since the 1980s released what many believe is their best album to date — U2’s Achtung Baby. And although my favorite all-time band is U2, there was one album I liked even more in 1991. And almost nobody knows about this Boston band. And that’s a damn shame.
The name of the band is Tribe, and the album I’m referring to is “Abort”.
As I said, nobody knew who they “were”, but many people from a generation later do know who they now are. Well, at least half the band, and perhaps not AS the band. They were the founders of the Guitar Hero video game. And my favorite song from this awesome album, “Outside”, is a very popular song in the Rock Band video game. The inclusion is obviously a nod to its great guitar work. Although Tribe never really got their due, the inclusion of “Outside” in the game sort of makes up for it, to a point. But I wonder how many people realize that the band who recorded “Outside” are the founders of Guitar Hero?
And I wonder if the breakup of the band turned out to be a good thing. After all, they became a lot more successful because they had to do something else. Well, at least half of the band did. At the same time, if they had ever gotten the chance to release a third album, they could have been huge. They were that good. But we’ll never know, will we?
Original version from the “Here at the Home” album, and featured in Rock Band:
More polished version from the “Abort” album (and the one I fell in love with):
