Atomizer

Awful.

Gar nicht mein Stil. Heavy Metal…

Very polarizing global reviews, very few 3’s. I fall on the lower side on this one (no pun intended).

Sounds like a panic attack wrapped in anxiety that hurt my ears. Also the topics/lyrics sound like something I don’t need in my life. I imagine Albini accomplished exactly what he wanted with this album and will appreciate my 1 rating.

Nope

I was annoyed after one and a half songs so I shut it off.

It felt like something was ripping out my eardrums

definitely not my type of music

An assault on the ears

I can't. It was just too many abrasive noises on top of each other, and so repetitively. And this, coming from a man who has enjoyed Bastard Noise.

noise rock, wtf. maybe one or two was ok

Really bad noise punk. Pass.

Punkish music released in 1986 - never heard of them. They're talented, but uninteresting. Best Songs Passing Complexion Kerosene Strange things

Bad

1. Jordan, Minnesota - 2 Vocals are completely drowned out. Instrumentally it's very experimental and at times very enjoyable, but overall the song is lacking anything that would make me want to replay it any time soon. 2. Passing Complexion - 6 Instrumentally this is freaking brilliant. The beat and the waning guitar sounds make this a track you will absolutely tap your feet to. Lyrically it's a bit lost but they're never on the track too much to ruin anything on it bar maybe the scream at the end. 3. Big Money - 5 Carbon copy the last song but a little less enjoyment in the instrumentals. Bang on average track. 4. Kerosene - 2 The instrumentals are the only thing keeping this off the bottom rating. Lyrically it's dry, repetitive, and completely boring. 5. Bad Houses - 2 Carbon copy the previous song's critique but this time the vocals are completely drowned out and absolutely pointless being on the track since you can never hear them well enough to make out what they're saying. 6. Fists of Love - 0 I try to keep things within a 1-10 range for tracks... but this was so outrageously and horrendously bad. The lyrics are completely uncompelling while the same riff and drum beat is on repeat for the entirety of the song. Mix in horrible sounding noises like nails across a chalkboard (yes, actual nails across a chalkboard sounding like noises are on this track) and you get something so bad it cannot be awarded a single point out of 10. 7. Stinking Drunk - 3 The guitar in the opening half is amazing but the entire second half of this song from the bridge onward is awful. 8. Bazooka Joe - 3 The opening half a minute to this track is needless. Guitars are outstanding on the track given this between both the chorus riffs and parts in between the verses/choruses. Signing and lyrics, as par for the course for the entire album, leave everything to be desired. 9. Strange Things - 1 A monotonous and incredibly boring track. 10. Cables (Live) - 1 It's just a completely lost song. Guitars on it are peaking and sound very very bad. Lyrics are just non-existent, incomprehensible, or barely even saying anything bar shouting "Rebel!". Average Rating: 2.5 Adjusted to a 5-Point Scale: 1.25 Rounded Down: 1 Star

Some of it doesn't sound as if it was released in 1985. No surprise that one of the members went on to produce some classic grunge albums. Worth a listen but not one of the tracks stood out or made it into another playlist. Never would have heard of them without this and probably wouldn't have missed them.

A lot of my friends love this album but I could not get into it. There are a couple songs that are okay.

Big Black has been described as having “a sound resembling a singing saw blade mercillesly tearing through sheet metal.” My question is, why? You don’t like the sound of a saw blade tearing through sheet metal. I certainly don’t. No one does. People who work in factories where saw blades tear through sheet metal wear ear protection so they don’t have to hear that. So why listen to it by choice? What would make you want to do something like that to yourself, and more importantly, to me? It’s like food critics kind of. A million people eat McDonalds every day; but a million people eat delicious nutritious home cooked meals or at quality local restaurants every day too. So food critics should steer people away from McDonalds and towards good recipes and restaurants. That would be a productive and noble use of their platform. But that takes work and might not draw enough eyeballs. So they do write ups of the weird niche pop up that four people a night go to for clout that charges you $200 to inhale vaporized eel brain. This album is $200 vaporized eel brain. People don’t like it. It sucks. But it’s so extreme that it makes for good copy for lazy music critics to write about. So here we are. Speaking of drawing eyeballs, Steve Albini has walked back his frequent use of racial, gender and sexual orientation-based slurs (how punk rock!) but what no one who later recants saying those types of things ever admits is to why they did it. They did it for attention. They wanted to sell their shitty noise music and have people go to their awful headache-inducing concerts and normal people were never going to do that so they tapped into the edgelord market because edgelords are dumb, have a little money and there are enough of them to sell an okay number of records. Lyrics of that nature are a commercial decision, despite being very non-commercial. Targeting a niche market is still targeting a market. It’s no different than Madonna’s metal bra or Lil Nas X’s video where he gives Satan a lap dance. It’s all manufactured controversy meant to get dumb teenagers to buy your record. So don’t get on Twitter in 2023 and say you shouldn’t have said those things because of your privilege. Give back all the money and fame you intentionally sought by saying them or sit in your Wicker Park condo collecting your interest and shut the fuck up.

Dear future me, Trust me you won’t like it!

This one was bad. Not excruciating, but I didn’t like anything about it, or really even find it interesting. Bad singing, bad style, bad everything.

Was the goal of this album to make fun melodies with the most annoying sounds possible? If so, I think they nailed it!

To much distortion and strange noises for me to enjoy.

Sorry, what's the point? For me, it has nothing to do with music. And I don't understand why this album is supposed to be one of the most important albums of the 80s.

I only need two words to describe this album: Abrasive noise. This was not a pleasant listening experience and I don't think I would listen again (given that I almost DNFed the first time around.)

There is no reason anybody needs to hear this album. 1 star or F-.

Wow that's a lot of distorted heavy breathing. This sounds like how Wayne and Chip would sing if the audience shouted out "punk rock" on Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Urgh, harsh harsh harsh!

The hell?

No

. Pass very much not a fan. Made my ears and head hurt.

very loud even on low volume - but the bandleader prduced many famous recordings for others

Could not finish

Pre-listening: I own one Big Black album (Songs About Fucking) and it didn't do much for me so I never bothered to explore further. Maybe I will like this one more... Quite a week of personalities, going from two Courtney Love albums to a Steve Albini one. Listening: Yeah, this pretty much sounds like the other album I have. There may have been a time in my life when I would have liked this, but that time was well before 50 years old. This music just gives me a headache now. And I have always found Albini's lyrics pretty repulsive.

Dafuqevenizdis? Shite. Dazwat. Next.

Ugh! That was rough to listen to!

Suck daddy

Tedious.

Yeah turn this shit off

Not good

Like an even more shit version of the Pixies

This took a couple tries to get through, definitely not a sound I enjoyed. I was surprised guitars could sound so bad, I'm reading that they used aluminum guitars to get a shrill tone and intentionally cut out the bass in order to make it more jagged and grating. 1/10

Had to give up 2 tracks in. Too much noise. Was just making me cringe, as it sounded like scraping metal mixed with nails on a chalkboard.

A bit too rockin’

Aika heavy. Pidän kannesta ja bändin konseptista, mutta se tuntuu liian taiteelliselta ollakseen aito. Kasarin metallinkilahdukset tekee tästä vähän meluistan kuuloista, märempi soundi voisi tuoda lihaa luiden ympärille.

The cover made the album seem like it would be fine but it ended up being terrible. Stay as far away from this heaping pile of crap!

More noise than music

Terrible by choice.

Not my style

Atomizer ist ein wütendes, kompromissloses Album, das nichts beschönigt und nichts zurückhält. Es ist laut, düster und verstörend – ein Muss für Fans von ehrlichem, kraftvollem Noise Rock. Einfach: ein Schlag ins Gesicht, aber auf die beste Art jedoch nichts für mich.

I haven't been a fan of really any of the punk albums in this list so I don't have high hopes. Wow the production is absolutely awful on this album, it sounds like it was recorded through a shoe. This is literally horrible. I didn't realize this was Steve Albini's band, for some reason that makes sense. I'm sure he'd say some pretentious nonsense about how this music is about _pushing boundaries_ but it's actually just shit.

What was this nonsense?! I am not generally a fan of punk so maybe this is good and I’m not metal enough to get it? I had a hard time distinguishing among the songs as they all appeared to begin with the same painful wall of noise.

Bad. Horrible. No good. Awful. Terrible.

wtf it's just noise

I couldn't finish this...

I'm barely a song in and I want to stop. Why is this shite highly rated? It's AWFUL. Maybe I'm old but just no, I never needed to hear this before I die. And the screaming? Why?

Kind of metal, not good.

I just fucking hate punk. With some exceptions. This is not one of them.

Just noise

Terrible album. Calling it noise is an insult to noise. I thought a 1 star was too harsh, but after a little more contemplation, this is a 1 star album. I really hope there isn’t another Big Black album on this list.

I did not care for this. I wasn't in a great mood and this was not what I needed to hear. Not sure if I ever need to. Enjoy it.

No

Lots of noises. Some of it very unpleasant. Also some very strange subject matter. Hard pass.

No thank you. Just noise. Completely unnecessary inclusion. 1⭐️

Just noise - tough listen, I don't really get why people enjoy this sort of thing

pas mon style non plus lol

Not for me. 1

Just alot of noise

garbage

Nope, screaming and screeching for 40 minutes with no redeeming qualities for me. 1* I thought the album had one song that didn't suck, but my music player had actually moved on to sonic youth.

Two stinkers in a row, this one sounds like grunge alternative. The bass kind of overshadows everything else. It's not British but I think I'd be biased if I didn't also give this 1 star. It doesn't make me as mad as yesterdays album, but I'm still made at the wasted inclusion.

Terrible. There's just no circumstance where I would want or enjoy listening to something this hardcore personally. If it had more character (e.g., Ministry) maybe. But I just couldn't find anything enticing about this.

Noise. no. Just. No.

If y’all can rate pop 1 star bc you’re misogynistic I can rate this 1 star

Anger management might have helped these guys.

Shit

I had such high hopes too

1.5

Kind of lame edgelord metal

Bra melodier o riffs annors lite motbjudande för mig.

I can't think of any situation where I'd ever want to listen to this loud, abrasive noise.

Heavier and covering harsh topics. The sound was relatively decent considering but still not good for me.

Kinda interesting, but mostly just noise. One of the worst albums I've heard on here. One star.

The lyrics to the songs I read on this album appear to be atrociously stomach churning and repulsively vulgar. This album is completely distasteful and I'm skipping it.

The most surprising thing I have realized after listening to 119 albums her is that Johnny Rotten is not the worst ever musician who got a record-deal. I have encountered James Hetfield and let's not forget Little Simz (have to be inclusive these day's) and no there are these guys as proof that my opinion regarding mr. Rotten was totally wrong. It is not only the musicians though, the wiki article does not mention the studio where this was recorded nor the sound-engineer responsible for this. Now if I did my job as bad as this I wouldn't want my name associated with it either so I can't blame them for that. Now I don't know what the sound-engineer was thinking but he (/she/it/they/attack-helicopter again must be inclusive) either just set the controls on the mixing-desk to random positions and then buggered off for a long boozy lunch or maybe he (/etc) was already stinking drunk. Maybe the studio was an equal opportinity employer and he (/etc) was as deaf as a post (are posts deaf? listening posts would not be right?). There is also the (tiny) chance that the sound-engineer knew exactly what he (/etc) was doing and the fact that most of the time you can hardly make out the lyrics is a deliberate attempt to shield us from their horribleness. Anyway after a lot of dross I did not give a crap about finally an album I can hate from the bottom of my heart. I see that as progress.

boring front to back

I just want to know who thought this album is good and has a big enough impact to be on this list because frankly it is not.

Quick listen on a day when I could barely function.

Not sure what this is or who it’s for

oof....

Not on Spotify

Couldn’t listen, wasn’t available on Spotify

Not on Spotify. 1/5

Müll

Lots of noise. Largely not great noise but on occasion it didn’t make me want to turn it off. Although it got very close very often 1.4

This album was not available on Spotify.

Only made it thru a couple of songs. Not for me.

Horrific.

First album I couldn't listen through. I got to the second song and turned it off. This wasn't available on Spotify, so I listened on youtube. Judging by the comments, the album sounded fine. Horrible.

Old school punk like noise.

No esta en Spotify

Wtf... I mean it gets a bit more listenable but i feel gaslit by all the reviews and being on the "Best album of 86s" list. Just seems like Edge lord material when I read the wiki. Not finding a criminal record on his wiki makes me guess it is an excuse to say triggering things and saying it is a message of the opposite. Just like people say "It's just a prank, bro!" today. This reminds me of a song a friend sent me of a 12 year old screaming obscenities, recorded in a garage that was on spotify... I wouldn't really call that a masterpiece or the best Swedish album of 2000.

Not my kind of music

What a mess

I mean, yes its music, yes its punk, but it also sound like electric drivel. I am sure a few more playthroughs would make it palatable.

It was bad. I did not care of it. Thankfully it was a short album. I didn't need to listen to it. It got a little screamy at points which is unnecessary. I will round down.

Awful.

Unfortunately unlistenable

I guess someone might like it. I certainly didn't

A lot of noise, none of which I enjoyed.

1 idea, and not a very good one

over before I realized. Most tracks sounded the same.

Absolute trash

Woof, no thank you

I love punk music, but cleanly not 80s punk. I need some semblance of melody. Just a tiny bit. This is all dissonance, as usual 3.5/10

Not my thing

Screaming grunge. 1/5

Was this recorded on a microwave? It was absolutely terrible. There are countless examples of hard-core punk from that time period that are much, much better than this headache of an album. I'd give it 0/5 if I could.

Screamy and no melody. It probably has its place, but ultimately not into it.

Couldn't listen to much not for me

The ads YouTube served up between tracks were better than the songs.

Wow. This was total shit. Possibly the worst album I’ve ever listened to. Brutal. Sounds like shit someone from NW would put out.

1/5 irritating metal

Unable to listen as not on Spotify 👎🏻

*couldn't listen as wasn’t on Spotify*

not for me

harsh, too punk for me I guess

Once again a first time listen. Will probably leave it at that.

luckily this was hard to find and listen to as what i heard on youtube was not my bag unlistenable punk

Reminds me of Dream Theater but all noise. Big miss

Not on spotify, so I had to listen on youtube. I've never looked forward to an unskipable ad more than when I was listening to this album, as the ads were a nice break for my ears. To be fair, I'm sure it was very influential. In fact, it influenced me to turn down my volume level. In all seriousness, some parts of some songs were listenable. Rating 1 star.

Meh not my scene

Album not available.

Just don't see anything special in this. Punk was long dead by this time so why class it as such? OK to a certain degree but only so far.

Punk - Nooooo!

Boring

Говно. Сталь режет уши.

TRASH

Abysmal

I did not like this.

Unable to review as not available on Spotify

I'm coming down from a high and not only did I have to listen to this shit album but I had to go on youtube to listen to it. There were moments that reminded me of the hyper aggression of 100 gecs but this was nowhere even close to that level quality and was instead just an assault on the ears.

Another bout of noise

I want to call this "unlistenable" but I'll just leave it at "not my thing"

Just no. Absolutely not. I award this no starts and may God have pity on your soul.

Het EP'tje dat deze band hierna uitbracht heette 'Headache' en dat vat mijn gevoelens over dit album goed samen.

Best thing about the album was that it is only 37 minutes long.

Nasty and disgusting. Absolute waste of a record. Possibly one of the worst albums on the whole list.

Big Black has got to be one of the most overrated bands ever. Just a bunch of aimless noise. I appreciate what Albini has done as a producer, but the music blows. 1.5/5

I didn't want to listen to this since I knew it would be a 1 or 2 rating and on Day 887 I have more respect for my ears and brain and won't make them go through that. Since honesty is a virtue, I wouldn't hit "did not listen" and also give it a 1 or 2 rating - not sure the App allows that anyway. So I had to listen to the first song. 

Terrible

Pretty confident Spotify banned this album from their site because it is TERRIBLE.

The fork in the garbage disposal of albums

Not great

First song is ROUGHHHHHHHHH, hard to continue the album after that one, but I have been pleasantly surprised before on this list. Second song starts just as rough. I had to double check that the video I'm listen to this album on isn't terrible quality. Nope, it's just the songs sounding like barbed wire and sand! I feel like there is actually some decent music behind the "rawness" of this album, but it sounds like they are mixing the audio with the sounds of a paper shredder trying to shred aluminum foil. I would be interested to see King Gizz do a noise rock album.

esunaporon

Pee-you! It stinks

2/10. Atomizer? I 'ardly know 'er!

Not really my thing

Rubbish

I'd never heard of Big Black or Steve Albini before. I'd gone my whole life oblivious to their 1986 album "Atomizer". I'd never seen the cover image before, didn't know what kind of music they played, had never heard a single note. I had absolutely no idea what it was going to sound like. And I was not prepared. "Atomizer" is like being trapped inside a burning landfill, an enormous dustbin being lashed with knives, the inside of a virus-riddled spaceship. Proto-industrial, metal-leaning, produced inside a tin can… it's an overwhelming barrage of noise. The subject matter ups the ante, ramping the album from abrasive sonic experiments to an exhausting exploration of humankind's worst vices. "Jordan, Minnesota" is about an alleged child sex abuse ring and ends with a horrifying depiction of such abuse. "Fists of Love"? Extreme sex degenerating into assault. "Stinking Drunk"? Giving in to addiction. "Big Money"? Abuse of power in the police. "Kerosene"? Bored teenagers setting themselves on fire. It's a real shame that there isn't more light and shade here, because in moderation, "Atomizer" is breathtaking. On first (and second, and third) listen, "Kerosene" really knocked me out. None of the rest of the album quite matches its furious intensity, wearing very thin after about three tracks. So in general, I felt this was powerful music, but that I would never be of the temperament to ever really enjoy it or add it to my collection. 2 stars and done. And then I learned more about Steve Albini. I read that he has grown in stature as a producer since Big Black, working on Pixies' "Surfer Rosa" and Nirvana's "In Utero", among others. Nice! I read some articulate interviews with him reflecting on Big Black, his more controversial lyrical content, what he has learned since, and how he is trying to be an ally to marginalised groups. Great! And then I read that back in the 80's, around the time "Atomizer" was released, his way of being provocative was by owning magazines depicting violent acts of paedophilia. Reading about this, on top of his liner notes for "Jordan, Minnesota", absolutely ruined my day. And now I have no desire to hear any of it ever again. For all "Atomizer"'s intriguing production choices, it boils down to a stubborn and desperate need to be seen as "cutting edge" by being as edgy or shocking as possible. It's a gimmick of the worst kind: cheap, lazy, and just not nice. And so, any goodwill I might have had about the content of this album has evaporated. If you think this makes me a sensitive snowflake and I'm "missing the point", go ahead, give yourself a pat on the back and enjoy Big Black's music while thinking about how edgy it makes you. Ooooh, yes, you're well hard.

my first DNF

No.

Noise and I guess possibly rock.

Ummm interesting

The first song is not a great start, loud, abrasive, unintelligible lyrics, and fatiguing to listen to. Hoping it gets better. I don't mind the song "Kerosene", it's the highlight for me so far. "Bad Houses" wasn't terrible either. Meh I don't like giving 1's, but I quickly grew tired of this album and just want it to end.

Could be the recording or listening through headphones but the sound is wack which makes it painful to listen to

The music wasn't terrible but I just really hated it. Didn't help it wasn't on Spotify. That's probably not the band's fault.

This sucked. IDK if the recording was trash or it was supposed to sound that way.

Unbearable tbh. May have been influential for noise music bands maybe, but I've heard better, more interesting, less simply awful versions of the same thing. Couldn't get through it. Might try again but I doubt it.

A guy screaming at me, over noise.....blech

Really not a fan of this industrial noise music. Somehow, I was already familiar with the song "Kerosene" but I can't for the life of me remember where I heard it before. I still pretty much hated it though.

HL: “Passing Complexion”, “Kerosene” I hit up Wikipedia immediately after the first track ended, to learn a little about Big Black/Steve Albini. Turns out he was involved (as an audio engineer) in several of my least favourite albums on this list so far (Blues Explosion, Slint, even Surfer Rosa), so my distaste with this sound is at least consistent. The demented riff in Passing Complexion was probably the high(est)light for me

Not my type of music

Punk metal stuff. Not my cup of tea

beurk

Hated it.

Not on Spotify

Not my thing. Couldn’t get through it

Einstaka sinnum skemmtilegt gítarsarg og gott beat, en miður skemmtilegt umfjöllunarefni í textunum og á köflum of fráhrindandi fyrir mig. Æi, ég nenni þessu ekki.

Сверх ужасная музыка. Записывали явно на кухне

Just not me. Tried hard, but this didn’t move the needle.

Just not for me