Soon after, Steve recruited Jeff Pezzati (Naked Raygun) on bass and Santiago Durango (also Naked Raygun) joined them on guitar. It's also Albini at his most plainspoken and bleak: "Stare at the wall/Stare at each other and wait 'til we die.

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! Instrumentally, Atomizer is 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. In 1985, Big Black recorded their first full-length, ‘Atomizer’, as well as finishing the ‘Il Duce’ 7”. In addition to the ones mentioned below, the album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The CD omitted track 9 "Strange Things", as well as the artwork and liner notes from the original records.Don't worry about their longevity, as Philips will pronounce them obsolete when the next phase of the market-squeezing technology bonanza begins. 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. Additionally, Atomizer and all post-Atomizer releases by the band do not feature the TR-606, instead opting for the E-mu Drumulator. This is the band’s first recording since bassist Jeff Pezzati left in late 1984 to work more closely with his other group, Naked Raygun.

But needless to say this is a great album, really an example of the Great Lakes underground sound of the 80s, where you can really feel the failing cities and abandoned industrial dystopia of that time and place. My copy (bought new in '86) has white labels, plain white inner sleeve with a printed insert, so make of that what you will.

Vincent (live at the Our Band Could Be Your Life 10th Anniversary Show at New York’s Bowery Ballroom on May 22, 2011. You should take every opportunity to scratch them, fingerprint them, and eat egg and bacon sandwiches off them.