''Scratch the Surface'' is the third studio album by American
hardcore
Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to:
Arts and media Film
* ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film
* ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott
* ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...
band
Sick of It All
Sick of It All is an American hardcore punk band formed in 1986 in Queens, New York City. The band's lineup consists of brothers Lou and Pete Koller on lead vocals and guitars respectively, Armand Majidi on drums, and Craig Setari on bass. Sick ...
, released in 1994. It was the band's first major label recording on
East West Records
East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in London, England.
History
Upon its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had one hit with th ...
, 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
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' Heatseekers – Middle Atlantic chart and 121 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
.
Critical reception
''
Decibel
The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose levels differ by one decibel have a po ...
'' called the album a "hardcore magnum opus" and a "slab of extraordinarily lithe, stylized aggression".
''
Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...
'' 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."
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
References
1994 albums
East West Records albums
Albums produced by Billy Anderson (producer)
Sick of It All albums
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