Scratch the Surface
Scratch the Surface | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 18, 1994 | |||
Recorded | 1994 | |||
Studio | Normandy Sound, Warren, Rhode Island | |||
Genre | Hardcore punk, Beatdown hardcore | |||
Length | 35:20 | |||
Label | East West | |||
Producer | Sick of It All, Billy Anderson[1] | |||
Sick of It All chronology | ||||
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Singles from Scratch the Surface | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Kerrang! | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
MusicHound Rock | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Ox-Fanzine | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rock Hard | 8.5/10[6] |
Scratch the Surface is the third studio album by American hardcore band Sick of It All, released in 1994.[7] It was the band's first major label recording on East West Records, their first venture away from an indie label.
Scratch the Surface became Sick of It All's most successful release and produced two singles: "Scratch the Surface" and "Step Down".
The album peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Heatseekers – Middle Atlantic chart.[8] By 1997, it had sold 250,000 copies worldwide.[9] Vocalist Lou Koller attributed most of the album's sales to word-of-mouth and Sick of It All's two-year touring schedule, due to EastWest's lackluster promotion of the album.[9]
Critical reception
Decibel called the album a "hardcore magnum opus" and a "slab of extraordinarily lithe, stylized aggression".[10] Trouser Press wrote: "As a blast of unreconstructed hardcore in a time and a place where such a thing was once impossible to imagine, Scratch the Surface makes Sick of It All's principled point loud if not clear."[11]
Track listing
- "No Cure" – 2:58
- "Insurrection" – 1:50
- "Consume" – 3:42
- "Who Sets the Rules" – 2:45
- "Goatless" – 1:21
- "Step Down" – 3:15
- "Maladjusted" – 2:25
- "Scratch the Surface" – 2:51
- "Free Spirit" – 1:53
- "Force My Hand" – 2:28
- "Desperate Fool" – 1:52
- "Return to Reality" – 2:43
- "Farm Team" – 2:22
- "Cease Fire" – 2:58
Credits
- Lou Koller - vocals
- Pete Koller - guitars
- Craig Setari - bass
- Armand Majidi - drums
Production
- Billy Anderson - producer, mixing
- Tom Soares - engineering
- Fred Bortoloti - Assistant engineering
- Thomas Bricker - Art direction
- BJ Papes - photography
- Howie Weinberg - mastering
Additional musicians
- Fred Bortoloti - backing vocals
- Billy Anderson - backing vocals
- Timothy Shaw - backing vocals
- Brian BTJ - backing vocals
References
- ^ a b MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1013.
- ^ Franck, John. "Scratch The Surface – Sick of It All – Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards – AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 7. MUZE. p. 442.
- ^ Chirazi, Steffan (November 12, 1994). "Albumz". Kerrang!. No. 520. EMAP. p. 43.
- ^ Hiller, Joachim (April–May 2014). "Review - Sick of It All - Scratch the Surface". Ox-Fanzine (in German). Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ Jaedike, Jan (October 21, 1994). "Scratch The Surface". Rock Hard (Vol. 90) (in German). Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ "Sick of It All | Biography & History". AllMusic.
- ^ "Sick of It All". Billboard.[dead link]
- ^ a b Winwood, Ian (April 1997). "Sick of It All: Fucking Hardcore!". Metal Hammer. UK: Dennis Publishing. pp. 36–37.
- ^ "Sick of it All – "Scratch the Surface"". Decibel Magazine. August 28, 2012.
- ^ "Sick of It All". Trouser Press. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
- v
- t
- e
- Lou Koller
- Pete Koller
- Armand Majidi
- Craig Setari
- Rich Cipriano
- Max Capshaw
- EK
- Blood, Sweat and No Tears (1989)
- Just Look Around (1992)
- Scratch the Surface (1994)
- Built to Last (1997)
- Call to Arms (1999)
- Yours Truly (2000)
- Life on the Ropes (2003)
- Death to Tyrants (2006)
- Based on a True Story (2010)
- XXV Nonstop (2011)
- The Last Act of Defiance (2014)
- Wake the Sleeping Dragon! (2018)
- Sick of It All (1987)
- We Stand Alone (1991)
- Potential for a Fall (1999)
- Relentless (2003)
- When the Smoke Clears (2016)
- Live in a World Full of Hate (1995)
- Spreading the Hardcore Reality (1997)
- Live in a Dive (2002)
- Outtakes for the Outcast (2004)
- Discography
- Sick of It All: The Story So Far
- Our Impact Will Be Felt
- Hardcore punk
- Fat Wreck Chords
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