Bricks Are Heavy

These girls go hard

Album #80 (1001 challenge extended): "Bricks are Heavy" by L7 (1992) "Bricks are Heavy" is the third studio album by American rock band L7. Grunge and alternative metal are the Wiki-listed genres. It was their major label debut after switching from Sub Pop to Slash Records (who had a distribution deal with Warner Brothers Records). The album was produced by the band and Butch Vig and was a shift towards a more refined and deliberate recording approach. The bandmembers included Donna Sparks (vocals, guitar), Suzi Gardner (guitar, vocals), Jennifer Finch (bass, vocals) and Demetra Plakas (drums, backing vocals). Commercially, the album reached #160 in the US and #24 in the UK and, critically, it had solid reviews with one critic regarding it as one of grunge's best albums. The album opens with "Wargasm" and a driving guitar and beat. Sparks with deadpan vocals as she sings about the hypocrisy of war. Repetitive, guitar noises and a screeching guitar solo. The first single "Pretend We're Dead" slow things down a bit with a slower beat and a grungy guitar. Overlayed with a melodic guitar. Sparks does not want you conforming to societal norms. Catchy song. "Everglade" begins with Metallica-like guitar riff. The pace picks up in a punk anthem. The late Jennifer Finch on lead vocals; don't get in her way! A howling guitar opens the third and final single "Monster." This time, lead guitarist Suzi Gardner on lead vocals sounding creepy and evil; she wants him/her to bring out the monster in her. A deep bass and drums. Echoing backing vocals. Another solid guitar solo. And we also get another howling guitar open in the next song "Shitlist." Repetitive, heavy, screaming vocals and a screeching, grungy guitar solo. Heavy, grungy, repetitive and actual more metal than I was expecting. Great guitar riffs, solos and layering. Vig also does a nice job making the drum sound loud. The three different lead singers works with each sounding a little different in vocal tones but bringing the same anger. And the lyrics are angry with themes of anti-war, against societal expectations, abusive and bad relationships, harassment and self-empowerment. This is a solid hard rock record. It definitely is of the grunge era and after the album stream ended, similar grunge-era songs (mostly female led) randomly played and I let it play for an hour. I guessed I liked the grunge-era music more than I thought. Anyway, an album worth a listen for any hard rock fan. 4.5 out of 5

Couple of decent tracks.

'This ain't pleasure' is both this album's closing track & an accurate description of listening to it.

Its alright but a little boring for some reason to me.

Not exactly heavenly hardcore but decently decadent. One appreciates the directness of attack, the sarcasm and — most of all — the brevity. “Pretend We’re Dead” is as good, clean fun in 26 as it was 92, and remains now every bit as much a Joan Jett song as it was then.

Like some reviews have already mentioned, I got my first taste of L7 when I heard “Pretend We’re Dead” on Grand Theft Auto: San Andres. I thought it was a really great song, and I downloaded it, presumably on Limewire. As much as I enjoyed it though, I never checked out more music from L7. Here’s hoping the rest of the album is as great as “Pretend We’re Dead.” Overall, this album was fine. I enjoyed the sludgy sounding guitars, and the lyrics were incredibly clever and sharp. The album worked well as a whole, due to its really unique guitar sound, but the songs themselves didn’t do a whole lot for me, other than the aforementioned “Pretend We’re Dead.” While I liked the guitar playing, it felt like the album relied too much on that sound to carry everything, and that just didn’t work for me. I enjoyed the intersection of punk and grunge on this album, but I don’t think I’d come back to it.

A classic of the grunge era. I really like it!

Wargasm is a strong start and inclined me to enjoy the rest of the album. Which I did. Energetic, lots of attitude, satisfying sludgy sound.

L7 provides a take on grunge from outside the Pacific Northwest, with punk rock riffing and attitude. While you could also point to the then-relevant riot grrrl comparison, their sarcasm and humor put L7 in a league more akin to Black Flag. Butch Vig's legendry production gives Bricks Are Heavy the perfect edgy tone for the grunge era. Donita Sparks commands much of the tracklist with her sneering vocal style but happily trades lead vocals with Suzi Gardner, who lends a gruff 'n tuff texture to her songs. This makes up much of the personality on Bricks Are Heavy, with songs alternating between lethargic grunge and speedier punk ragers. The result is a well-balanced, easily enjoyed relic of the early '90s. CONTENDER FOR THE LIST: Would it be fair to replace the later Mudhoney album with this one? I think so.

I was a teenager in the early 90’s, of course I like this.

Grunge, alternative metal. Ni fu ni fa.

I was not anticipating how to enjoy this. Was a very solid rock offering

4.5

It’s ok

I remember not hating it but not much else

\m/

Awesomely sludgy guitars. This is like female led hard rock/punk mixed with grunge. Really solid. So Fuzzy. As soon as Pretend We're Dead hit, I was instantly transported back to playing GTA: San Andreas and listening to Radio X. Such a good game! Favourite songs: Everglade, Pretend We're Dead, Slide, Wargasm, Scrap, Monster, Shitlist, This Ain't Pleasure Least favourite songs: Mr. Integrity 5/5

Someone referred to this as "Girl grunge", hahaha. Anyway. This is quite decent. Punky alternate rock, similar to other girl bands of the age (or perhaps just female vocalists). Kenickie, Republica... etc etc. Enjoyed this one more than I expected to.

Småputtrade mest i bakgrunden utan att jag la någon särskild notis om albumet. Om det är gott eller dåligt resultat vet jag inte. Då får det nog bli en trea i betyg.

Awesome

Hmmm... GGGarth's production on subsequent L7 LP *Hungry For Stink* slaps harder than the one of Butch Vig on *Bricks Are Heavy*, but that latter album admittedly harbors more iconic cuts. There are the pop-punk ones (the absolute melodic banger that "Pretend That We're Dead Is", but also the pretty cool "Monster", taking a page out of Sonic Youth for the vocal lines while still retaining its truck roadhouse ambience), along with the full punk riots (the equally iconic "Shitlist", where the vocal performance goes full bezerk) and the sludgy, heavier cuts ("Diet Pills", "One More Thing"). I also like that the last leg of the record is as strong as its first half, if not even stronger. With such a monomaniac drive, in spite of the slight rhythmical differences form one song to the next, you would think that the LP would overstay its welcome in the long run. The thing is, it does not do so, at least for very casual fans of the genre like me. So *Bricks Are Heavy* or *Hungry For Stink*? As of now, it's a tie for me, and I'm not sure I want to include *two* L7 albums in my own imaginary finite list of 1001 albums... Should I? And then, I'm already hearing the cries of protest of some fans taking the defence of the underrated *The Beauty Process*... So many questions, and they feel as heavy as bricks indeed. When you can enjoy too many music genres, this whole 1001 Albums project becomes such a crazy, unsolvable endeavor. But that's also the whole beauty of it, I guess... 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list dedicated to essential albums, rounded up to 4. 8.5/10 for more general purposes (4.5/5 for the musicianship and production values + 4/5 for the artistry) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 105 (including this one) Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 116 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 249 ---- Hey Émile, j'ai répondu sous Demon Days ET ta sélection pour la users list ! 🙂

Another in the long line of thought it was on the main list. It is criminal that they never hit the big time.

This is great. More of this. More punk. More all female bands. Great suggestion. Love the energy, lyrics, vocals, instrumentation, and songwriting. Amazing stuff. 4/5

Naisgrunge on kyllä genre jota sais olla olemassa enemmänkin.

Important album, but not so joyful to listen to.

Dredging the bottom of the barrel here. There's nothing here that's not been done a million times over by better bands. Dull, mediocre and devoid of originality.

I’ve heard a few of their songs and they rock. A whole album is too much ear torture, though.

Bricks Are Heavy, album is a bit bland. One More Thing is an okay chugger but there's little remarkable about this, 2/5.

Probably influential in the 90s but not my stuff.

L7 are bad ass bitches.

Such a great album and one of the best of the grunge era. L7 never quite reached the audiences that they deserved, even with the backing of Butch Vig doing their production. Nirvana are still the peak of the genre, but "Bricks Are Heavy" is not far behind in my opinion. "Pretend We're Dead" and "Shitlist" remain two of my favorites from this era.

Totally worth getting your fanny out on The Word for.

4/10. Not bad, not my thing.

This is a great hard rock/punk album carrying doses of grunge. The female lead singer is great! I had heard the song “Shitlist” somewhere in my past before, but never really knew who sang it. Enjoyed hearing the rest of this album.

Yeah could use more female-led bands. This is great stuff. My personal rating: 4/5 My rating relative to the list: 4/5 Should this have been included on the original list? Yes.

Not bad

Awesome filthy guitars!

Boy I hadn't thought about L7 for a long time. I have to say it feels like attitude and personality (which were certainly striking) made up a lot of what makes this band stand out: the music really is straightforward punk/thrash/hardcore adjacent rock and roll (if more aggressively profane in the lyrical department). Which, dont get me wrong, I like just fine.

Very similar to early Hole (or should I say early Hole was similar to this). Singer sounds almost identical to Courtney Love on certain songs. Pretty good, sort of runs out of steam by the end and the lyrics aren't all that, but enjoyable enough.

Heaviness is relative

A simple, plug and chug LP that delivers on its straightforward desire to rock. Appreciated the no-nonsense feel of this one, the dry lyricism and dead serious instrumentals made this album stand out and take on a distinct personality relative to other hard rock efforts on the list. Good add, heard of these guys for a while and have clearly been missing out on a good time.

Just so great to hear this kind of music with female vocals. Wished the album was a bit longer though!

Maybe this album will go away if I pretend I'm dead.

Grunge, alternative metal. Ni fu ni fa.

Bricks Are Heavy is an album by female grunge/punk/rock band L7. It contains their best known song "Pretend We're Dead". To be honest, I wish it wasn't. The band was known for their outspoken, funny and feminist lyrics. The lyrics of this song are rather dull. The album as a whole has not aged that well compared to contemporaries like Hole. Still not a punishment to listen to it after all those years.

Nice tunes nice attitude

Girl Grunge remains extremely good

Pretty good, feels a bit like generic heavy rock but good energy. 3 stars.

Rating: 9/10 Best songs: Wargasm, Pretend we’re dead, Diet pill, Slide, Shitlist

I was only familiar with Pretend That We’re Dead but when I saw this album turn up, my reaction was “of course this belongs here”. Apart from the fact that’s an all-female act, this album pinned down the grunge trope before most of the monsters of that genre even released their first attempts. If you consider this album as proto-riot grrl, then it’s a foundational disc for two separate genres. But let’s focus on the fact that L7 always saw themselves as a punk rock outfit. I love that, and you can totally hear it in the lyrics. This isn’t angst so much as anger. A singularly worthy disc.

Driving around San Andreas listening to Pretend We're Dead? Ah shit..here we go again

Perfectly fine hard rock sorta punky album with female vocals