BIG BLACK

Metal Related / Non-Metal / Hardcore Punk • United States
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Big Black was a noise rock / post-hardcore / post-punk band from Evanston in Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987.

Big Black was founded by singer and guitarist Steve Albini. The band's early lineup also included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of Naked Raygun. In 1985, Pezzati was replaced by Dave Riley. The band did not use a drummer and instead relied on a Roland TR-606 drum machine, credited as "Roland" on releases.

Big Black became known for it's controversial politically and culturally loaded topics including murder, rape, child sexual abuse, arson, racism and misogyny.
Thanks to Bosh66 for the addition

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BIG BLACK Discography

BIG BLACK albums / top albums

BIG BLACK Atomizer album cover 4.29 | 3 ratings
Atomizer
Metal Related 1986
BIG BLACK Songs About Fucking album cover 4.62 | 3 ratings
Songs About Fucking
Metal Related 1987
BIG BLACK Talk About 0.00 | 0 ratings
Talk About "Fucking"
Non-Metal 1987

BIG BLACK EPs & splits

BIG BLACK Lungs album cover 3.50 | 1 ratings
Lungs
Non-Metal 1982
BIG BLACK Bulldozer album cover 4.00 | 1 ratings
Bulldozer
Metal Related 1983
BIG BLACK Racer-X album cover 4.00 | 1 ratings
Racer-X
Metal Related 1985
BIG BLACK Headache / Heartbeat album cover 4.00 | 1 ratings
Headache / Heartbeat
Metal Related 1987

BIG BLACK live albums

BIG BLACK Big Black album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Big Black
Metal Related 1983
BIG BLACK Sound Of Impact album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Sound Of Impact
Metal Related 1986
BIG BLACK Pigpile album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Pigpile
Metal Related 1992

BIG BLACK demos, promos, fans club and other releases (no bootlegs)

BIG BLACK Big Money album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Big Money
Hardcore Punk 1986
BIG BLACK It's Toasted album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
It's Toasted
Metal Related 1992

BIG BLACK re-issues & compilations

BIG BLACK The Hammer Party album cover 4.00 | 1 ratings
The Hammer Party
Metal Related 1986
BIG BLACK The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape album cover 4.50 | 1 ratings
The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape
Metal Related 1987

BIG BLACK singles (5)

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0.00 | 0 ratings
Il Duce
Hardcore Punk 1985
.. Album Cover
0.00 | 0 ratings
Rema-Rema
Metal Related 1985
.. Album Cover
0.00 | 0 ratings
He's A Whore / The Model
Metal Related 1987
.. Album Cover
4.00 | 1 ratings
Heartbeat
Metal Related 1987
.. Album Cover
0.00 | 0 ratings
Kerosene
Metal Related 1989

BIG BLACK movies (DVD, Blu-Ray or VHS)

.. Album Cover
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Live
Metal Related 1986
.. Album Cover
0.00 | 0 ratings
The Last Blast: Live In Seattle
Metal Related 1987
.. Album Cover
0.00 | 0 ratings
Pigpile
Metal Related 1992

BIG BLACK Reviews

BIG BLACK Headache / Heartbeat

EP · 1987 · Metal Related
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Warthur
Proudly proclaiming itself to be "not as good as Atomizer", you can't accuse the Headache EP of having an inflated sense of its own importance. Indeed, it was often bundled with the Heartbeat single, the band perhaps realising it needed a little more meat on the bone.

The fact is that Headache is a bit of a straggler - an EP emerging between their two major LP releases, Atomizer and Songs About Fucking, was always going to be overshadowed by those two classic slices of post-hardcore, and whilst the group had done interesting stuff in the EP format, the heyday of that approach had come and gone, with Lungs, Bulldozer, and Racer-X offering fascinating snapshots of how their sound came together. They sound is already together by this point - and with full-length albums now their main concern, they're not going to put the choicest cuts on something like this.

Still, B-grade Big Black is still a compellingly enjoyable prospect, and Grinder in particular is an exercise in seething tension the way only they do it.

BIG BLACK The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape

Boxset / Compilation · 1987 · Metal Related
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Warthur
Despite - or perhaps because - Steve Albini was wary of exploitative CD rereleases of material (hence the title of this compilation), Big Black's CD compilations are actually pretty good value. The Hammer Party, for instance, is simply better on CD than vinyl because the CD release adds the Racer-X EP, whilst vinyl only has the material from Lungs and Bulldozer on it.

Likewise, The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape is a great one-stop summation of the band's Atomizer era, compiling that album plus the Headache EP and Heartbeat single which followed it. ("Strange Things" is missing from early releases, mind.) Ultimately, it's Atomizer which is the star attraction here, but the other material is solid enough to make this an attractive way of acquiring it.

BIG BLACK Heartbeat

Single · 1987 · Metal Related
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Warthur
Tense late-period Big Black single. The A-side covers a Wire song, whilst the B-side is probably most notable for Things To Do Today, a sinister recording at a slower tempo than we're accustomed to hearing from them, the lyrics sneering their way coldly through an assassin’s to-do list (inspired by a real murder case). It's very much in keeping with the foreboding, ominous air that the band apply to the Wire song. Decent but not essential, this used to be packaged with the Headache EP, though the most convenient way to track it down these days is on The Rich Man’s Eight-Track Tape, which collects this, Headache, and Atomizer in one package.

BIG BLACK The Hammer Party

Boxset / Compilation · 1986 · Metal Related
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
Warthur
Despite Steve Albini's open contempt for the CD format during this era (the other major Big Black compilation, following this one, would be entitled The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape, and Songs About Fucking had a pro-vinyl message on the back), it has to be said that the CD version of the Hammer Party is simply superior to the vinyl release for one important reason - it includes the Racer-X EP, which despite not being as good as Bulldozer is still very good, and a touch above the Lungs EP.

In other words, on the CD release you get the first three Big Black EPs all in one convenient package - and that makes this a very handy one-stop acquisition to cover more or less everything of significance from their pre-Atomizer era.

BIG BLACK Racer-X

EP · 1985 · Metal Related
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
Warthur
Not quite the breath of fresh air that the Bulldozer EP was, one has the sense on Racer-X that Big Black might have been holding back their best material for the Atomizer LP, which was forthcoming - but despite this (and some perhaps misguided lyrical decisions) it's still a darkly compelling EP which offers a somewhat less confrontational take on the band's trademark post-hardcore noise buzz. The band are also varying their sound a bit more, with Deep Six in particular having a playful swing to it which you can't imagine the band trying on their prior EPs, exhibiting a touch of the sense of humour which had bubbled under the surface on the liner notes for a while but is translating into the music better than ever here.

BIG BLACK Movies Reviews

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