Released 27 years ago today, this is the first album by Chevelle, a hard rock/metal band by two brothers for almost 30 years now, though actually at this moment a third brother was playing bass too. This album really hits hard, and by that I mean that this three-piece creates a lot of noise and lets out a lot of anger on this album. Guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter Pete Loeffler passionately sings and sometimes screams poetic lyrics trying to understand the complexities of life and questioning the things he's been taught. The highlight for me is still the title track which opens the album with six minutes of excellent metal, including a two-minute intro. But it doesn't stop from there; throughout it's 42 minutes of grunge-y guitars with thundering bass and drums as well as Pete's dynamic vocals. Producer Steve Albini and Chevelle kept the instrumentation and the production sparse and it keeps the energy up and probably sounds more like their live show, which I think was a very good choice for this band's debut. The band has continued to make music, but I haven't listened to much of their music except for this album in the last 20 years, honestly, as I found their few albums after this less and less compelling to me personally.

Release Year: 1999
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