Big Black - Rich Man's 8 Track Tape
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CD Details
Artist: Big BlackEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1992-11-27
Music Label: Touch & Go Records
Soundtracks:
- Jordan Minnesota
- Passing Complexion
- Big Money
- Kerosene
- Bad House
- Fists Of Love
- Stinking Drunk
- Bazooka Joe
- Cables (Live)
- Heartbeat
- Things To Do Today
- I Can't Believe
- My Disco
- Grinder
- Ready Men
- Pete, King Of The Detectives
Music reviews of Rich Man's 8 Track Tape
Music Review: Buy two just to make Albini mad...
Rating: 5 Stars
Big Black founder/recording studio owner/all-around curmudgeon Steve Albini has hated the CD format since the beginning. He considers it inferior in sound quality and overpriced to boot. Thus, "The Rich Man's Eight-Track Tape," originally released in the late 80's, is both a compromise to the market and a deliberate provocation. Albini's own words on the subject:
"This compact disc, compiled to exploit those of you gullible enough to own the bastardly first generation digital home 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."
Of course, it's now been a couple of generations, in tech terms, since the CD was introduced, and the format is still with us, though many (like the business executives who make money off them) believe they're in sharp decline. Rival formats (SACD, DVDA, etc.) have tried to muscle in, and then there's the swift encroachment of the lowly mp3. Since none of Albini's bands are available for legal download, it's pretty easy to imagine his opinion of the format. Big Black were and are a brilliant band, and anyone who thinks they know something about "extreme" rock music has to have their music. My advice: buy two copies of each of their releases on CD, and convert them to mp3's. That'll be sure to annoy the hell out of him, and an annoyed Albini is a creative Albini. Then again, take a listen to the CD versions of the music and the LP versions. Guess which one will sound better? This is, of course, on purpose. Even though today's CD's are much better to the original model, Big Black's releases have never been remastered and if Albini has anything to say about it, they never will be.
"Eight Track" is basically the CD release of Big Black's debut full-length LP, the incredible "Atomizer," with the omission of the mediocre "Strange Things." Oddly taking advantage of the longer running times of CD's, this release also tacks on the just swell "Headache" EP, as well as the "Heartbeat" 7" single. Needless to say, it's a classic of aggressive, noisy post-punk, with a relentless, deliberately primitive drum machine (nicknamed "Roland") instead of a live skin basher. Despite the lean, muscular sound the band acheived, this is not the immature, knuckle-dragging sludge that so much heavy metal (at least of that era) cranked out. Wheareas metal was marketed to immature knuckle-draggers, Big Black wrote ABOUT them. That's a distinction lost on a lot of critics back in the day, but the steely intelligence of pummelling songs like "Fists Of Love" or "Passing Complexion" should be obvious now. Album opener "Jordan, Minnesota" is based on a real news story about an entire town of alleged pedophiles. This story was eventually proven to be a hoax, part of the wave of child-abuse hysteria that struck the country during the 80's, but the song still has the metaphorical impact of a brutal horror movie. Likewise, the pyromaniacal pain-freaks of one of Big Black's greatest songs, "Kerosene" don't need to correspond with any actual real-world events to be effective. Throughout the album, Abini's corrosive guitar and Dave Riley's lurching bass, not to mention the relentless pounding of the drum machine, create an uncompromising roar stripped of any melodic frills. There is, however, a sense of humor. It's sardonic and ironic, but it's there.
So if you don't mind having to crank the volume way up and fidgeting with the EQ just to get a passable sound, this is the place to start. The band's second (and final) album, the cheekily-titled "Songs About F***ing" is in my opinion even better, and is just as recommended. Still, let's permit Abini to have the last words:
"The future belongs to analog loyalists. F*** digital."
Description of Rich Man's 8 Track Tape
All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.Alternative Rock CDs
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