Atomizer (album)

Atomizer is the debut full-length album by American punk rock group Big Black released in 1986.

Atomizer
Studio album by
Big Black
ReleasedJanuary 1, 1986
Genre
Length37:24
LabelHomestead
ProducerBig Black
Big Black chronology
Racer-X
(1984)		 Atomizer
(1986)		 The Hammer Party
(1986)

Singles

One song from the album, "Big Money", was released as a B-side to the "Il Duce" single prior to the release of Atomizer. Homestead Records also issued "Big Money" and "Il Duce" the A-side of a 12" record with three live songs on the B-side (including the live version of "Cables" that would appear on Atomizer) with the agreement that the 12" be used for promotional purposes only. The label sent the promo 12" to radio stations, then sold extra copies outside of Big Black's native Chicago, hoping the band would never find out. When they did, Big Black left Homestead and signed to Touch and Go Records.[1]

Follow-up and CD releases

In the year after Atomizer's release, Big Black recorded their 4-song Headache EP and released it with a sticker that bore the words, "Warning! Not as good as Atomizer, so don't get your hopes up, cheese." The same sticker also appeared on some copies of Sonic Youth's EP Master=Dik. That same year Atomizer was compiled onto compact disc along with the Headache EP and the band's "Heartbeat" single under the name, The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape. The CD omitted the album's instrumental "Strange Things", as well as the artwork and liner notes from the original records. Instead, Steve Albini expressed his general dislike for the compact disc format in the CD's liner notes, saying, "This compact disc, compiled to exploit those of you gullible enough to own the bastardly first generation digital music system, contains all-analog masters. Compact discs are quite durable, this being their only advantage over real music media. You should take every opportunity to scratch them, fingerprint them, and eat egg and bacon sandwiches off them. Don't worry about their longevity, as Philips will pronounce them obsolete when the next phase of the market-squeezing technology bonanza begins."[2]

Reception
Retrospective professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]
The Great Rock Discography7/10[6]
The Line of Best Fit9/10[7]
MusicHound Rock3/5[8]
NME10/10[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]
Select5/5[11]
Spin Alternative Record Guide9/10[12]

Reviewing for The Village Voice in September 1986, Robert Christgau wrote that, "Though they don't want you to know it, these hateful little twerps are sensitive souls—they're moved to make this godawful racket by the godawful pain of the world, which they learn about reading everything from textbooks to bondage mags. This is the brutal guitar machine thousands of lonely adolescent cowards have heard in their heads. Its creators deserve credit for finding each other and making their obsession real."[13] "After countless rock and neo-industrial outfits attempted to one-up each other's levels of extremity over the years, Atomizer holds up extremely well" writes Andy Kellman of Allmusic, "It's not every day that one hears a song considering self-immolation as "just something to do" or another that tackles the case of an alleged parent-child molestation ring from the viewpoint of the offender. Instrumentally, Atomizer is a wailing behemoth of assaultive Roland beats, Steve Albini and Santiago Durango's clanging and whirring guitars, and new member Dave Riley's lumberjack bass." He describes the song "Kerosene" as "undeniably Big Black's brightest/bleakest moment, an epically roaming track that features an instantly memorable guitar intro, completely incapable of being accurately described by vocal imitation or physical gesture. It's also Albini at his most plainspoken and bleak: "Stare at the wall/Stare at each other and wait 'til we die." It's Big Black's "Light My Fire," literally." He concludes by calling it "as horrifying as the day it was recorded."[3]

Accolades

In addition to the ones mentioned below, the album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[14]

Publication Country Work Accolade Rank
Alternative Press USA Atomizer Top 99 Albums of '85 to '95 #11[15]
Spin USA Atomizer 100 Alternative Albums #83[16]
Top 100 (+5) Albums of the Last 20 Years #92[16]
Kerrang UK Atomizer The 100 Greatest Rock Albums #63[17]
The Kerrang! 200 Albums For The Year 2000 (under "Essential Alt-Rock") -[18]
Sounds UK Atomizer The Top 80 Albums from the '80s #28[17]
Mojo UK Atomizer The 80 Greatest Albums from the 80s -[17]
Rockdelux Spain Atomizer The 300 (+200) Best Albums from 1984-2014 -[17]
NME UK Atomizer The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time #372[19]
Pitchfork USA "Kerosene" The Pitchfork 500 -[20]
Toby Creswell Australia "Kerosene" 1001 Songs -[21]
Kerrang UK "Kerosene" 666 Songs You Must Own: The Ultimate Playlist ("Alternative Rock") #5[22]
Rockdelux Spain "Kerosene" The Top 100 Songs from 1984-1993 #39[21]

Covers

The song "Kerosene" has been covered by Kerbdog (as a b-side to their single "End of Green"[23]), Pitchshifter (on the "enhanced" version of their album Deviant[24]), Lamb of God (as Burn the Priest on their album Legion: XX[25]) and St. Vincent (live at the Our Band Could Be Your Life 10th Anniversary Show at New York’s Bowery Ballroom on May 22, 2011. It was named by Consequence of Sound as one of her best covers.[26]).

Track listing

All tracks are written by Big Black.

No.TitleLength
1."Jordan, Minnesota"3:20
2."Passing Complexion"3:05
3."Big Money"2:30
4."Kerosene"6:05
5."Bad Houses"3:10
6."Fists of Love"4:21
7."Stinking Drunk"3:27
8."Bazooka Joe"4:23
9."Strange Things"3:54
10."Cables" (Live)3:09

Personnel

Big Black always credited Roland along with the band's members, though Roland is a brand of drum machine and not an actual person.[27]

See also

References
  1. Azerrad, Michael (2001). Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981–1991. New York: Little, Brown and Company. p. 314. ISBN 0-316-78753-1.
  2. Albini, Steve (1987). The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape. Chicago: Touch and Go Records. pp. CD liner notes. TG94.
  3. Kellman, Andy. "Atomizer – Big Black". AllMusic. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
  4. Christgau, Robert (1990). "B". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved August 17, 2020 – via robertchristgau.com.
  5. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
  6. Martin C. Strong (1998). The Great Rock Discography (1st ed.). Canongate Books. ISBN 978-0-86241-827-4. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  7. Alex Cull (September 25, 2015). "Big Black's magnum opus is as potent an atomisation as ever". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  8. Gary Graff, ed. (1996). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (1st ed.). London: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 978-0-7876-1037-1.
  9. "Big Black: Atomizer". NME: 30. November 28, 1992.
  10. Gross, Joe (2004). "Big Black". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 69–70. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  11. Perry, Andrew (December 1992). "Big Black: The Hammer Party / Atomizer / Songs About Fucking / Pigpile". Select (31): 86.
  12. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  13. Christgau, Robert (September 2, 1986). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  14. Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
  27. Albini, Steve (1986). Atomizer. Homestead Records. pp. liner notes.
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