Formed by songwriter/guitarist Al Barile (then a machinist at the General Electric plant in Lynn, Massachusetts and a student at Northeastern University), SSD started performing at smaller venues throughout the greater Boston metropolitan area in the summer of 1981. The band quickly gained notoriety within the local music scene for intense performances charged and for the provocative antics of its core group of followers, the Boston Crew.
The original lineup was Al Barile on guitar, Springa (David Spring) on vocals, Jaime Sciarappa on bass and Chris Foley on drums. They released their debut EP The Kids Will Have Their Say on their own X-Claim label in 1982. Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat was a friend and supporter and his Dischord label's logo appeared on the back cover.
In 1983 they added second guitarist Francois Levesque and released Get it Away. This EP is widely regarded to be their best record. The X-Claim pressings of it and The Kids Will Have Their Say are both highly collectable.
Like many hardcore bands - particularly those in the Boston area - SSD, as they were now officially called, were heading in a heavy metal direction. In 1984 they signed to the Boston label Modern Method and released the How We Rock EP which was rooted in the hardcore sound but exhibited overt heavy metal characteristics, such as a relatively high number of lengthy guitar solos. After signing to Homestead they released the Break it Up LP in 1985. Their first (and only) full length LP, it had both feet planted in the metal genre, leaving behind all trappings of punk and hardcore.
SSD broke up in 1985.
Jaime Sciarappa went on to play bass with the Boston hardcore band Slapshot for a short time.
After the breakup Springa went on to front the short lived band Razorcaine and the comedy rock projects Die Blitzkinder (with The Slaves) and Springa as Tom Jones. His flamboyant persona and lounge lizard lifestyle during this time stood in marked contrast to the straight edge rhetoric of SS Decontrol. In the early 1990s he would move to Chicago to pursue comedy further with The Second City.
In 1991 Al Barile compiled Power for Taang! records. It spans SSD's entire career and is the only official release in print today. In the early 1990s he took up the bass guitar and he and Levesque formed the hardcore band Gage.
War Threat
SSD Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Be proud you were taught
Soldiers that died
All are forgotFight for some reason
You were not told
Die for some fuckers
Pot of gold
Who is the enemy
Shooting at each other
Yet we never met
Religion teaches
Not to kills
But it causes death
At its will
Each seek power
Church and state
As bombs of destruction
Seal our fate
Powerless puppets
Mixed up in war
They pull the strings
We enforce their laws
I'm not afraid to die
For something I believe in
In the song War Threat by SSD, the lyrics refer to the idea of nationalism and patriotism being used as a means to control and manipulate people. The opening line "This is your country, be proud you were taught, soldiers that died, all are forgot" suggests that people are taught to believe in their country, and to respect those who have fought and died for it, but ultimately these people are forgotten and their sacrifice is in vain. The song goes on to suggest that people are sent to fight in wars for reasons that they are not told, and are expected to die for "some fuckers pot of gold."
The lyrics go on to question who the real enemy is, highlighting the fact that soldiers are shooting at each other without ever having met. There is a sense of frustration and anger at the way in which religion and politics have been used to justify war, and the fact that these things have caused so much death and destruction. The line "powerless puppets mixed up in war, they pull the strings, we enforce their laws" suggests that ultimately it is the people in power who benefit from war, while those on the front lines are left to suffer.
The final line of the song "I'm not afraid to die for something I believe in" shows that the singer is not against the idea of standing up for what is right, but suggests that people should not be blindly sent into war without knowing the reasons why.
Line by Line Meaning
This is your country
You were born and raised in this nation
Be proud you were taught
You were taught to take pride in your nationality
Soldiers that died
Military personnel who lost their lives
All are forgot
Their sacrifices were ultimately forgotten
Fight for some reason
Fight for a vague cause
You were not told
You weren't given a clear reason or motive for fighting
Die for some fuckers
Lose your life for people who don't care about you
Pot of gold
A perceived reward or bonus for fighting
Who is the enemy
It's unclear who the enemy actually is
I'm supposed to get
What is expected of me as a soldier
Shooting at each other
Engaging in combat with an indistinguishable foe
Yet we never met
Despite being at war, there has been no actual interaction with the enemy
Religion teaches
Lessons taught by religious leaders
Not to kills
The idea that one should not take another's life
But it causes death
Irony of how religion can lead to violence and death
At its will
The destructive impact of religion is left to chance
Each seek power
Everyone strives for dominance
Church and state
The governing entities of religion and government
As bombs of destruction
Deadly weapons that cause destruction
Seal our fate
Our destiny is determined by these destructive capabilities
Powerless puppets
Soldiers manipulated by higher-ups
Mixed up in war
Entangled in a situation that feels chaotic and unpredictable
They pull the strings
The leaders above the soldiers are the ones controlling the situation
We enforce their laws
The soldiers are the ones carrying out orders and enforcing policy
I'm not afraid to die
Unafraid of the possibility of death
For something I believe in
The motivation to make a sacrifice is rooted in personal beliefs and values
Contributed by Mackenzie M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@romanpyatibratov4361
i dont like to lose ships. Nor do i like to spend credits and time re-building fleet and sending ships across galaxy.
So my tactic with SSD is hit and run, but with a twist. In Fall of The Republic mod there are repair ships. And they do repair capital ship's hardpoints. And their repair stacks, the more you have them - the more the repair. But since SSD so big - you cant efficently stack them to keep big boi alive.
The biggest problem of hit and run tactics - enemy bombers will flank you and attack engines of SSD. Not intentionally, it's just their flight path and the first thing they can attack on the way back.
Without enginges - SSD cant retreat and will be destroyed.
So i have like 4 repair ships at the back, keeping engines fixed. And if i see my SSD is going down - i just bail out ezpz.
And since i'm playing Fall of the Republic against CIS. They have TON of fighters and bombers. Like holy shit half of my screen is covered with fighters icons
@sergeantassassin3425
Be warned, this is as much a strategy guide as a comment, which means it's very long and contains a lot of detailed info. Get some popcorn, it's a doozy.
SSD's and their brethren are lynchpins to the strongest fleets that you can muster, but they are only a piece. A strong piece, but no single ship does a fleet make. One thing they talked about but I feel glossed over a bit, is fleet composition, which I believe is the most important aspect.
Realistically, only a single SSD should be in any one fleet. I know it's tempting to make a 'super-ultra-mega-deadly' fleet full of nothing but SSD's, but that's not only a pipe dream, it's a bad one. As stated above, SSD's are great at killing just about everything, including other SSD's. They, like all other ships, have a weakness, though...and theirs is the same as most other capital ships: fighters/bombers. They have MANY guns, and HEAVY guns to boot, but barring training all of them on a single X-Wing and just firing blindly hoping to hit with sheer number of blasts, they're not going to harm a fighter. Same goes with a bomber, so carrier-heavy fleets are the natural born enemy of any large ship, including SSD's.
In turn, your opponent could decide that they're going to go so heavy on capital ships to try and beat your SSD with sheer firepower that they'll commit an ungodly amount of forces to taking out your SSD. It IS possible to overwhelm an SSD with sheer numbers/firepower, though the costs are usually staggering...but as long as your enemy is willing to commit, you still need to know how to deal with it. Here's how:
Ideal Fleet Composition.
- 1 SSD. Enough said.
- At least 5 other capital ships, preferably around 10. I prefer ISD-II's, as they bring their own form of heavy firepower to bear on targets, so your SSD isn't having to duke it out against a whole hoard of high-powered vessels all by its lonesome. Octuple-barbette Turbolaser Batteries hit like a truck, and can quickly bring down shields of even strong Mon-Calamari capitals, to say nothing of ripping apart smaller frigates. They also bring in swarms of TIE's, which helps with anti-fighter/bomber suppression.
- At least 10 anti-starfighter/bomber ships. I prefer Victory-I's, those flak cannons and heavy missile launchers are no joke, and can protect a fleet from a swarm of enemy starfighters quite easily. Again, they also bring their own fighters/bombers to help with screening duties.
- Specialized, strong starfighters. Unless you can somehow find a carrier that will bring these babies into battle, you'll need to craft them separately, but it's worth it. For the Empire (my main), that would be the TIE Defender. You're going to want at least 10 squadrons, and you can deploy them as-needed while the battle progresses.
- At least 2 carriers. The biggest threat to your SSD is going to be fighters/bombers, and that cannot be stressed enough. In turn, you can make your opponent's headache worse by bringing your OWN swarms with you in the form of heavy carriers. The Secutor-class is great for such a role, bringing a TON of fighters/bombers with it, and has some long-ranged heavy guns to allow it to chip in even as it sits behind the lines and just pumps out problems like a bee hive. I say 2 carriers because it's possible that one gets destroyed, so you immediately have another one to jump in and continue spamming swarms like crazy, keeping up the pressure. You CAN get away with one, though.
- At least 1 Interdictor. I cannot stress enough how important these ships are. They allow you to CONTROL the battlefield, deciding who gets to retreat, if at all, and when. ESPECIALLY if you're going up against the Rebellion, who LOVE their hit-and-run tactics to death. Let them get in deep, have all their ships in the sector, and then pop this bad boy on and watch them panic when they can't run. Honestly, I would recommend having 2 in your fleet, seeing as the second they realize you have an Interdictor, they are going to do EVERYTHING in their power to kill it, and if they do, you can just jump another one in and re-establish the chokehold. Having the ability to retreat if things are going south is invaluable in battle, and stealing that ability from your enemy is borderline cruel...which is why it's so damn powerful.
Last thing I want to mention is cross-fire/overlapping targeting. While it's great and all to have one ship target one ship at a time and have them duke it out like gentlemen, you're in a war, not a boxing tournament. The goal is to kill, efficiently and expeditiously. Making sure that your ships can support one another with overlapping targeting greatly reduces the time needed to kill targets, and allows you to save your ships from damage that they otherwise would have sustained doing it solo. If you can, target the most dangerous ships first, ripping them apart as fast as possible with as much firepower as you can muster. Then work your way down the threat ladder. Occasionally, your opponent may jump a ship in as a reinforcement that changes the situation, and you'll need to quickly assess to see if that new ship is now target priority, or if you keep hammering away at your current target.
Oh, and don't force your SSD to target. It has thousands of guns. It will target EVERYTHING. Let it do its job. Your goal is to control the smaller vessels and have them micro-manage the possible threats. Have your fighters/bombers guard the capital ships (SSD included) and have them run screening detail to remove enemy fighters/bombers as a threat while you rain hellfire upon the enemy forces. The battle will be prolonged if they've brought enough forces (I had the AI bring over 800 ships at me once, I still won using this tactic), but you will eventually win. Patience is a virtue, after all.
@Battleship009
I like to build up my economy before going on the attack, and I use star dreadnoughts as the breakthrough ship when on said offensive.
@grimassassin9722
I do something similar
@AnnatarCarvour
Same here
Don't come out of light speed to close to the system though 😉😂
@elijahsellers3727
Admiral Ozzel is as clumsy as he is stupid.
@deutchecheems7678
I build my economy while attacking enemies
@pc_suffering6941
I build up my economy by capturing planets/non-surface areas with what I have.
@abohachuk4765
I once had a glitch in the vanilla EaW FoC where I had two Darth Vaders at the same time. Which meant - two SSD's at any space skirmish that absolutely annihilated whatever forces the AI enemies had.
@Bickdickrandy
“This is getting out of hand, now there’s two of them!”
@AKUJIVALDO
@@jorisdejong90Sir, this is trap! There is two of them!
@ZKP314
Yeeeeesssssssssss……