Enemy of the System
{{more citations needed|date=December 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Enemy of The System
| type = studio
| artist = the Toasters
| cover = Enemy_of_the_System_Cover.jpg
| alt =
| released = 2002
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Ska
| length = 46:30
| label = Asian Man, Moon Ska Brasil, & Moon Ska Europe
| producer = Robert "Bucket" Hingley
| prev_title = Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down
| prev_year = 2004
| next_title = One More Bullet
| next_year = 2007
}}
Enemy of the System is a studio album by the ska band the Toasters, released in 2002.{{cite web |title=The Toasters Biography by Steve Huey |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-toasters-mn0000479350 |website=AllMusic |access-date=23 December 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Danton |first1=Eric R. |title=Ska Pioneering Toasters at the Webster |work=Hartford Courant |date=6 Feb 2003 |department=Calendar |page=31}} The album was the first Toasters release on Asian Man Records; their long standing label Moon Ska Records became defunct in 2000.{{cite news |last1=Lundstrom |first1=Jim |title=The Toasters more comfortable flying just below the radar |work=The Post-Crescent |date=16 May 2002 |department=Encore |page=6}} It was released 5 years after Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down, due to the demise of ska label Moon Ska and, also, the decrease of third wave ska's mainstream popularity that saw the disappearance of a lot of ska bands some years before. The band supported the album with a North American tour.{{cite news |title=Ska-Doobie |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=17 Jan 2003 |department=Arts & Entertainment |page=2}} "Dog Eat Dog" is about the music business and the band's label struggles.{{cite news |last1=Brouk |first1=Tim |title=The Toasters make sure ska music is alive and well |work=Journal & Courier |date=16 May 2003 |page=T10}}
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
|rev1 = AllMusic
|rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |title=Enemy of the System Review by Rick Anderson |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/enemy-of-the-system-mw0000215862 |website=AllMusic |access-date=23 December 2023}}
}}
Exclaim! noted that "there is nothing new here; the music is poppy ska mixed with rock, blasting horns and Bucket's trademarked vocals."{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Dan |title=Toasters Enemy of the System |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/toasters-enemy_of_system |website=Exclaim! |access-date=23 December 2023 |date=September 1, 2002}} Trouser Press opined that "the music is consistently upbeat, but the playing is even more restrained and predictable than it was on Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down.{{cite web |last1=Neugebauer |first1=Delvin |title=Toasters |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/toasters/ |website=Trouser Press |access-date=23 December 2023}} The Chicago Tribune called the album "infectious old-school ska so tuneful and danceable it blows most of today's ska-punk urchins right off their skateboards."{{cite news |last1=Reger |first1=Rick |title=The Toasters |work=Chicago Tribune |date=6 Feb 2004 |department=Friday |page=4}}
AllMusic wrote that "their first studio album in five years shows blessedly little in the way of artistic maturation; it's chock-full of the same old straight-up, R&B-influenced ska that the band has been playing since the early '80s."
Track listing
- "Skafinger" – 2:44
- "Enemy of the System" – 3:03
- "Dog Eat Dog" – 4:19
- "Pirate Radio" – 3:52
- "Sweet Home Town Jamaica" – 4:12
- "Sitting on the Top of the World" – 3:07
- "Modern World America" – 2:44
- "Why, Oh, Why?" – 4:23
- "Pendulum" – 3:04
- "Can I Get Another?" – 2:41
- "Barney" – 3:29
- "If You Loved Me" – 2:49
- "Road to Rio" – 2:53
- "Social Security" – 3:04
References
{{reflist}}
{{The Toasters}}
{{Authority control}}