Bad Machines
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Bad Machines
| type = studio
| artist = Shane Nicholson
| cover = Bad_Machines_by_Shane_Nicholson.png
| alt =
| released = {{Start date|df=yes|2011|03}}
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre =
| length =
| label = Liberation
| producer = Shane Nicholson, Nash Chambers{{cite web|url=https://shanenicholson.com/?portfolio=bad-machines|title=Bad Machines portfolio|website=Shane Nicholson|accessdate=30 April 2020}}
| prev_title = Familiar Ghosts
| prev_year = 2008
| next_title = Wreck & Ruin
| next_year = 2012
| misc =
}}
Bad Machines is the fourth studio album from Australian country singer Shane Nicholson, released by Liberation Music in Australia in March 2011. The album peaked at number 29 on the ARIA Charts, becoming Nicholson's first solo album to peak in the top 50. The album spawned the APRA Award-winning song "Famous Last Words", which won Best Country Work at the APRA Music Awards of 2012.
The inspiration for the album's title came after Nicholson read Midnight Express by Billy Hayes and William Hoffer, in which a criminal is likened to a "bad machine". Nicholson said this made him ponder "Are we made a certain way in the beginning or is it conditioning? Are we controlled by an Almighty engineer?".{{cite web|url=https://www.themuses.com.au/shane-nicholson-bad-machines-cd-2/|title= Shane Nicholson and Bad Machine CD|website=The Muses|accessdate=30 April 2020}}
At the ARIA Music Awards of 2011, the album was nominated for Best Country Album, but lost out to his wife Kasey Chambers' Little Bird, an album he produced.{{cite web|url=http://www.ariaawards.com.au/history/year/2011|title=ARIA Awards by Year – 2011|website=ARIA Awards|accessdate=30 April 2020}}
At the Country Music Awards of Australia in January 2012, the album was nominated for Album of the Year.{{cite web|url=https://countryroutesnews.com/2012/02/country-music-awards-of-australia-2012.html|title=Country Music Awards of Australia 2012 |website=Country Route News|date=4 February 2012|accessdate=26 April 2020}}
Reception
Graham Reid from Elsewhere NZ said the album "covers a lot of territory" and described "Famous Last Words" as "a snappy country-rocker", "The Broken Things" as "a gentle, simple declaration of love", "Fish and Whistle" as "a light gospel-country feel" and "Money for Jam" as "a brooding, almost monotone rocker".{{cite web|url=https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/music/4069/shane-nicholson-bad-machines-liberation/|title=Shane Nicholson: Bad Machines (Liberation) |website=Elsewhere NZ |date=11 April 2011|accessdate=30 April 2020}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing =
| title1 = Famous Last Words
| length1 = 2:08
| title2 = Blueberry Pie
| length2 = 3:09
| title3 = Jimmie Rodgers Was a Vampire
| length3 = 3:42
| title4 = Bad Machines
| length4 = 2:43
| title5 = The Broken Things
| length5 = 3:20
| title6 = Fish and Whistle
| length6 = 2:35
| title7 = Everywhere You Go
| length7 = 3:43
| title8 = Money for Jam
| length8 = 4:08
| title9 = Whistling Cannonballs
| note9 = featuring Paul Kelly
| length9 = 2:55
| title10 = Hammer and Nail
| length10 = 2:42
| title11 = Not You, Again
| length11 = 3:16
| title12 = Trick Knee Blues
| length12 = 2:32
| title13 = Music Is Dead
| length13 = 2:46
}}
Charts
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable"
!align="left"|Chart (2011) !align="left"|Peak |
| {{album chart|Australia|29|artist=Shane Nicholson|album=Bad Machines|accessdate=30 April 2020}} |
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (2011)
! scope="col"| Position |
|---|
| scope="row"| Australian Country Albums Chart{{cite web|url=https://www.ariacharts.com.au/annual-charts/2011/country-albums-chart|title=2011 ARIA Australian Artist Albums Chart|website=Australian Recording Industry Association|accessdate=30 April 2020}}
| 43 |
Release history
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |
| scope="col"| Country
! scope="col"| Date ! scope="col"| Format ! scope="col"| Label ! scope="col"| Catalogue |
|---|
| scope="row"| Australia
| March 2011 | {{flat list| | LMCD0127 |
References
{{reflist}}
{{Shane Nicholson (singer)}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Shane Nicholson (singer) albums