:This Is Fort Apache

{{Infobox album

| name = This Is Fort Apache

| type = compilation

| artist = various artists

| cover = ThisIsFortApache_cover.jpg

| alt = An excerpt of a black-and-white aerial photograph of several buildings surrounding a road labeled "Massachusetts".

| released = 1995

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio = Fort Apache

| genre = Alternative rock

| length = 47:45

| label = Fort Apache/MCA

| producer =

| prev_title =

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}}

This Is Fort Apache is a 1995 compilation album of songs recorded at Fort Apache Studios, a recording studio which has had several locations around the New England area. The alternative rock album was the first release of Fort Apache/MCA Records, a partnership between the studio and MCA Records.{{Cite magazine |date=January 28, 1995 |title=News / Schmooze |url=https://archive.org/details/cashbox58unse_16/page/n31/mode/2up |magazine=Cash Box |page=32 |access-date=January 15, 2023}} The album's packaging work, by designer Tim Stedman, received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Recording Package at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony,{{Cite news |date=January 4, 1996 |title=List of Grammy nominees |work=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Music/9601/grammy_noms/grammy_list.html |access-date=January 15, 2023}}{{Cite book |last=O'Neil |first=Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/grammys0000onei/page/610/mode/2up |title=The Grammys |publisher=Perigee Books |year=1999 |isbn=0399524770 |location=New York |pages=611 |language=English |access-date=January 15, 2023}} losing to Robbie Cavolina and Joni Mitchell for Turbulent Indigo.{{Cite news |last=Pareles |first=Jon |date=February 29, 1996 |title=Rookies' Win Big in the 38th Grammy Awards |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/29/arts/rookies-win-big-in-the-38th-grammy-awards.html |access-date=January 22, 2023}} The album includes songs by the label's first signees Cold Water Flat{{Cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Mark |date=February 19, 1995 |title=Uneven Muse Releases |work=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1995/02/19/uneven-muse-releases/65f91501-3ad5-4f62-b3f3-33dda3253eaf/ |access-date=January 22, 2023}} and studio silent partner Billy Bragg.{{Cite magazine |title=Various Artists - This Is Fort Apache |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAsEAAAAMBAJ |magazine=Billboard |page=58 |access-date=January 22, 2023}}

Style

The album is described as alternative rock. De Volkskrant{{'}}s Gert van Veen notes that the diverse styles of the different acts are unified by their use of a "nice and raw", "piercing" guitar sound which was "partly determined by the primitive conditions" of the studio in its early years, a sound which by the compilation's time had become standard with the popularity of grunge and post-grunge.{{Cite news |last=van Veen |first=Gert |date=February 10, 1995 |title=Platen: Pop |language=Dutch |trans-title=Plates: Pop |work=De Volkskrant |url=https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/platen-pop~bfe0978e/ |access-date=January 22, 2023}}

Reception

Cashbox{{'}}s Steve Baltin called the album an "impressive compilation" with an "attention-grabbing" opening track from Cold Water Flat and further strong showings from the Walkabouts, Buffalo Tom, and Treat Her Right.{{Cite news |last=Baltin |first=Steve |date=January 21, 1995 |title=Various Artists: This Is Fort Apache |pages=13 |work=Cashbox |url=https://archive.org/details/cashbox58unse_15/page/12/mode/2up |access-date=January 15, 2023}} Billboard called it a "welcome salute to one of the nation's most dynamic recording facilities". The Heights{{'}} Brian J. DiMattia called the album "Boston indie rock at its best" which would have warranted a four-star rating if not for the record coming in poor packaging docking it half a star.{{Cite magazine |last=DiMattia |first=Brian J. |date=January 23, 1995 |title=Dumb and Dumber and Fort Apache offer variety of artists |url=https://newspapers.bc.edu/?a=d&d=bcheights19950123.2.68 |magazine=The Heights |page=24 |access-date=January 22, 2023}}

AllMusic's Jonathan Lewis also noted Treat Her Right as a highlight, as well as Radiohead and Billy Bragg, while calling the work of other acts "standard". Lewis concluded that while the album features several "heavyweights" of early 1990s alt rock, it's the "lesser-known artists who manage to shine through."{{Cite news |last=Lewis |first=Jonathan |title=Various Artists - This Is Fort Apache |work=AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/this-is-fort-apache-mw0000124675 |access-date=January 15, 2023}} The Washington Post{{'}}s Mark Jenkins said few of the songs were catchy, with "Everyone Can Play Guitar" and "Off to One Side" being notable exceptions, but that those two songs are both available on their respective bands' albums so they wouldn't compel fans to purchase the compilation.