Why So Serious?

When I Rise released their album back in 2008, I was a bit underwhelmed with it. Their 7 inch was insanely good... same with the songs on the split with Soul Control... but the For Redemption record just felt like it was missing something. In the years since its release, I really haven't spent much time with the album. In fact, I even sold one of the two copies of the record that I'd intially bought... and as someone that rarely gets rid of anything, that really speaks to how indifferent I was feeling toward For Redemption. When I was picking up a Spiritual Cramp 7 inch from a Discogs seller recently, I decided to check to see what else they had for sale. I saw that they had I Rise album with the special Sound & Fury cover for around $10, and I thought that maybe I should check it out and see how I felt about it 18(!) years later.

Look, the For Redemption album isn't going to compete with the earlier I Rise stuff, but sitting here in 2026, these songs are hitting me pretty hard. Since I decided to revisit these songs, they have been getting repeat time in my daily playlist, so I was very happy to grab this limited cover.

Handnumbered out of 100 made for S&F, with the George Bush/Joker "Why So Serious?" cover, and spraypainted dust jacket. Someone went really hard with that spraypaint though, as you can see some of the residue blasted through the dustjacket and left a mark on the actual vinyl.