Atomizer (album)

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.{{cite book |last=Azerrad |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Azerrad |title=Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981–1991 |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=2001 |isbn=0-316-78753-1 |location=New York |page=314}}

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 track 9 "Strange Things" (although included in a subsequent reissue), 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."{{cite book |last=Albini |first=Steve |url=http://www.touchandgorecords.com/bands/album.php?id=138# |title=The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape |publisher=Touch and Go Records |year=1987 |location=Chicago |pages=CD liner notes |id=TG94}}

In the book Gimme Indie Rock, music journalist Andrew Earles describes Atomizer as "Big Black at the height of its two-guitars-plus-bass-plus-drum-machine powers, forging a line-straddling, industrial-meets-nascent-noise-rock force to be reckoned with." Andy Kellman of AllMusic described the sound as "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." The guitar work on the tracks "Passing Complexion" and "Kerosene" have been described as "warped-beyond-recognition." Kellman described the guitar intro of the latter track as "completely incapable of being accurately described by vocal imitation or physical gesture."

Earles opined that the album contains "generally the harshest lyrical subject matter [the band] had to offer," describing the tracks as "fictional forays into the American underbelly." The album's opening track, "Jordan, Minnesota," is controversial due to its lyrics, which describe events regarding the bust of a child pornography ring in the titular city from the perspective of the perpetrators. In congruence, Kellman stated that the album sees Albini "at his most plainspoken and bleak." Kellman also stated his belief that the track "Bad Houses" could be "a perhaps unintentional reply" to "Pink Houses" by John Mellencamp. Additionally, the album contains themes of self-immolation.{{Citation |title=Atomizer - Big Black {{!}} Album {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/atomizer-mw0000617813 |access-date=2025-04-03 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Earles |first=Andrew |title=Gimme Indie Rock |publisher=Voyager Press |pages=33}}

{{Music ratings

| title = Retrospective professional ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/atomizer-mw0000617813|title=Atomizer – Big Black|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=March 17, 2010|last=Kellman|first=Andy}}

|rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

|rev2score = B+{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=B&bk=80|chapter=B|accessdate=August 17, 2020|title=Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s|publisher=Pantheon Books|year=1990|isbn=0-679-73015-X|via=robertchristgau.com}}

| rev3 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev3score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |last=Larkin |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Larkin (writer) |publisher=Omnibus Press |edition=5th concise |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}

| rev5 = The Line of Best Fit

| rev5score = 9/10{{cite web|url=https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/big-blacks-magnum-opus-is-as-potent-an-atomisation-as-ever|title=Big Black's magnum opus is as potent an atomisation as ever|author=Alex Cull|website=The Line of Best Fit|date=September 25, 2015|accessdate=July 12, 2020}}

| rev4 = The Great Rock Discography

| rev4score = 7/10{{cite book|title=The Great Rock Discography|author=Martin C. Strong|author-link=Martin C. Strong|edition=1st|year=1998|isbn=978-0-86241-827-4|publisher=Canongate Books}}

| rev6 = MusicHound Rock

| rev6score = 3/5{{cite book|title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide|editor=Gary Graff|editor-link=Gary Graff|edition=1st|year=1996|location=London|isbn=978-0-7876-1037-1|publisher=Visible Ink Press}}

| rev7 = NME

| rev7Score = 10/10{{cite journal|title=Big Black: Atomizer|journal=NME|date=November 28, 1992|page=30}}

| rev8 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev8Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite book|chapter=Big Black|last=Gross|first=Joe|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|publisher=Simon & Schuster|edition=4th|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/69 69–70]}}

| rev9 = Select

| rev9Score = {{rating|5|5|full=U+25A0.svg|empty=U+25A1.svg|rating=medal}}{{cite journal|title=Big Black: The Hammer Party / Atomizer / Songs About Fucking / Pigpile|journal=Select|issue=31|date=December 1992|last=Perry|first=Andrew|page=86}}

| rev10 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

| rev10Score = 9/10{{cite book|title=Spin Alternative Record Guide|editor1-last=Weisbard|editor1-first=Eric|editor2-last=Marks|editor2-first=Craig|publisher=Vintage Books|year=1995|isbn=0-679-75574-8}}

}}

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."{{cite news|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv9-86.php|title=Christgau's Consumer Guide|work=The Village Voice|date=September 2, 1986|accessdate=June 19, 2016|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau}}

Andy Kellman of AllMusic assessed, "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," concluding his review by stating that the album is "as horrifying as the day it was recorded."

In the book Gimme Indie Rock, music journalist Andrew Earles stated that the album "belongs in the collection of anyone with more than a passing interest in [underground rock music]."

In addition to the ones mentioned below, the album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.{{cite book|author1=Robert Dimery|author2=Michael Lydon|title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition|date=23 March 2010|publisher=Universe|isbn=978-0-7893-2074-2}}

Among the cover versions of the song "Kerosene" is one by St. Vincent performed 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.{{Cite web|url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2011/09/st-vincents-best-cover-songs/3/|title=St. Vincent's Best Cover Songs|date=9 September 2011}}

{{Track listing

| all_writing = Big Black

| title1 = Jordan, Minnesota

| length1 = 3:20

| title2 = Passing Complexion

| length2 = 3:05

| title3 = Big Money

| length3 = 2:30

| title4 = Kerosene

| length4 = 6:05

| title5 = Bad Houses

| length5 = 3:10

| title6 = Fists of Love

| length6 = 4:21

| title7 = Stinking Drunk

| length7 = 3:27

| title8 = Bazooka Joe

| length8 = 4:23

| title9 = Strange Things

| length9 = 3:54

| title10 = Cables

| note10 = Live

| length10 = 3:09

}}

• Steve Albini – guitar, vocals, drum machine programming
• Santiago Durango – guitar
• Dave Riley – bass guitar
• Iain Burgess – recording engineer

Big Black always credited Roland along with the band's members, though Roland is a brand of drum machine and not an actual person.{{cite book|last=Albini|first=Steve|title=Atomizer|year=1986|publisher=Homestead Records|pages=liner notes}} Additionally, Atomizer and all post-Atomizer releases by the band do not feature the TR-606, instead opting for the E-mu Drumulator.

• Jordan, Minnesota sexual abuse scandal

{{Reflist}}

{{Big Black}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Big Black albums

Category:1986 debut albums

Category:Homestead Records albums

Category:Touch and Go Records albums

Category:Blast First albums