Big Black

1,012,021 plays (59,067 listeners)

noise rock, post-punk, punk, noise, hardcore… see all

Chicago, Illinois, United States (1982 – 1987, 2006 – 2006)

Big Black was a noise rock band founded in Chicago, Illinois, United States, that was active between 1982 and 1987. They were headed by singer, lyricist, guitarist, and co-songwriter Steve Albini.

They sought and found little mainstream success, but the group’s piledriver drum machines and brutal, slashing electric guitars were widely influential, especially for industrial rock. Albini’s snide, malevolent singing and provocative lyrics garnered much attention.

They have been classified as noise rock, and were a formative influence on industrial rock, but the band members have always described the band as solidly punk rock; in the notes for Pigpile, a live recording of their final London performance, Albini explicitly describes Big Black as punk.

Albini made a name for himself for his controversial “Tired of Ugly Fat?” column in the Chicago zine Matter, as well as irregular contributions to Forced Exposure. At the time, the band consisted of Albini and his drum machine, a Roland TR-606. (All of Big Black’s recordings credit “Roland” as if “he” were a member of the band.)

The Lungs EP, the first effort to appear under the Big Black name, was recorded by Albini in his dorm room at Northwestern University. Intended primarily to recruit members to fill out the band, Lungs was released by Ruthless Records.

Songs About Fucking
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Atomizer
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The Hammer Party
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The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape
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Top Tracks

1	The Model	480
2	Bad Penny	476
3	L Dopa	436
4	The Power of Independent Trucking	358
5	Colombian Necktie	357
6	Precious Thing	338
7	Fish Fry	320
8	Pavement Saw	315
9	Kitty Empire	312
10	Ergot	304
11	He's a Whore	295
12	Kerosene	253
13	Bombastic Intro	252
14	Tiny, King of the Jews	230
15	Kasimir S. Pulaski Day	222

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westonelchulo wrote:
45 minutes ago

Big Black cock.

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Kashkabald wrote:
Monday evening

I prefer Atomizer too.

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westonelchulo wrote:
Monday evening

Bad Penny is a good song!!

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brammadan wrote:
Saturday morning

no no no no, the production is extraordinary good..

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GilmoursAngst wrote:
last week

It's odd that I prefer Atomizer over Songs About Fucking, it's also odd that I enjoy Big Black as much as I do.

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xtheblademaster wrote:
last month

http://www.last.fm/group/No-Fi

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RUNxTDM wrote:
last month

songs about fucking is great, but i'll take atomizer, racer x, and bulldozer over it ANY DAY.

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R010203R wrote:
last month

songs about fucking is-the-best

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BagOfGlass wrote:
last month

The more Steve Albini stuff I hear, the more I like him.

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Swarrrmed wrote:
last month

I used to love Atomizer, but now I just don't find it as entertaining as Songs About Fucking. I guess SAF is just a lot more fun.

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boxingbull wrote:
last month

great soundtrack for date rapes

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anunonimos wrote:
August 2008

"Songs About Fucking" one of the best albums ever------------Great band

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[deleted-user] wrote:
August 2008

Bazooka Joe has some of my favorite lyrics ever. :D
talkloud wrote:
August 2008

likely

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Piss-Me-Off wrote:
August 2008

To annoy you.

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talkloud wrote:
August 2008

i don't understand why the production on songs is so shitty

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Yikko wrote:
August 2008

I want a colombian necktie

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Waqcku wrote:
August 2008

songs about sucking lol

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FastPork wrote:
August 2008

Songs about fucking has a better flow and as such is a better album, but Atomizer has better songs (Fists Of Love, Kerosene, Cables, Jordan Minnesota etc.).

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Naicob wrote:
August 2008

great band.

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Recent Activity

gillianMFC wrote about Big Black in Things that are lame.. Monday morning
mr_white87, thesavagehippy and caucazoid added Big Black to their libraries. Monday morning
Yoooshi tagged Big Black with ‘noise rock’ and ‘post-punk’. Sunday afternoon
JorgeAngst, ms753, buttrock32 and 1 other person added Big Black to their libraries. Sunday afternoon
rakshasa07 tagged Big Black with ‘post-punk’, ‘industrial’, ‘noise rock’ and ‘noise’. Sunday morning
trivav, sKaNkPiT and DeeTannis added Big Black to their libraries. Sunday morning
Lunnny tagged Big Black with ‘punk’ and ‘noise rock’. Saturday evening
dieguchis, jasoncelal, Rockfromhell and 5 other people added Big Black to their libraries. Saturday evening
nmblack tagged Big Black with ‘rock’ and ‘post-punk’. Saturday morning
mcpoopy7000, real0cool0time and 20 other people added Big Black to their libraries. Saturday morning