''Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing'' is the debut studio album by English hardcore punk band

Discharge Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...

, released on 21 May 1982 by

Clay Records Clay Records was an independent record label founded by Mike Stone in 1980 and based in a record shop in Stoke-on-Trent, England. History Clay's first signing was local Stoke punk band Discharge who released the ''Realities of War'' single in ...

. The album is characterized by a minimalistic approach of music and lyrics, a heavy, distorted, and grinding guitar-driven sound and raw, shouted vocals similar to a political speech, with lyrics on

anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...

themes. AllMusic calls the band's sound a "high-speed noise overload" characterized by "ferocious noise blasts." The album is considered highly important in the evolution of extreme forms of metal and punk music, paving the way for genres such as thrash metal,

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

, crust punk and

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. G ...

Reception and legacy

Media response to ''Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing'' was positive. The album was listed as the number one punk album of all time in a poll by '' Terrorizer'' magazine. In David Konow's history of heavy metal, he calls the album the band's "...crowning achievement, a mercilessly brutal masterpiece." The album reached number two on the indie album chart and number 40 in the UK Albums Chart. In the early 1980s, " onic punk fanzines like '' Flipside'', which could make or break

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reputations, pronounced them ischarge"fucking great." ''Treble'' zine called it one of the top ten essential hardcore albums, along with Black Flag's ''

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'' and the Dead Kennedys '' Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables''. ''Treble'' zine states that the music on HNSNSN was "much, much heavier" than previous punk and states that it influenced "punk rock, nd.. metal circles" with its "raw and intense" sound.

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guitarist Scott Ian, whose band covered the track "Protest and Survive" on their 1991 Attack of the Killer B's compilation album, stated in 2015 that "You put on... Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing album now, and it's still as heavy and brutal as anything out there." The group played regularly throughout the UK, often appearing with bands such as GBH and The Exploited, and the success of the debut album also saw them touring Canada, the United States, Italy, Yugoslavia, Holland, Finland, and Sweden.

Track listing

Personnel

*Cal Morris – vocals *Bones – guitar *Rainy – bass *Garry Moloney – drums *Mike "Clay" Stone – producer

References

{{Authority control 1982 debut albums Discharge (band) albums Albums produced by Mike "Clay" Stone