>We knew we were going to be making ugly and obscene music. We knew we were going to be making this noisy music that was going to appeal to a limited audience. We knew that it had a limited appeal. We knew that there was just no way that that could be a popular thing, right? So there no point in entertaining any notions of popularity. Then as the band was winding down, we started to draw more people to our shows. As more people started turning up, we started to see people we didn't want to associate withhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIf8uYoM-pEwhy were Gen Xers so afraid of the idea of "selling out"? Big Black would've been huge if they continued (at least during the grunge era). I saw Kurt Cobain acting like this in certain interviews, but Albini took that arrogance to another level. It's like they didn't know how to read the room before it was too late.
>>124434755I'm Gen X (younger, on the cusp), but I'm not a cunt like he is.He would even talk shit about the very bands he recorded. I'm sure some of them just stumbling in for some help weren't good, but he had no class anyhow. He was just a cunt of a human.
>>124434755>Big Black would've been huge if they continuedHow delusional are you to think this?
>>124434776He's probably right because Industrial rock was finally getting popular by the time they broke up. It was kind of adjacent.
>>124434776bands like Steel Pole Bath Tub got signed to a major label during that period. Sounds like you're the delusional one.
>>124434790>>124434791Saying they'd be HUGE implies they'd sell out stadiums or something. That would've been impossible for a band like Big Black. They are currently about as famous as they ever could've hoped to be.
>>124434802Fair enough. I wasn't thinking like that either. Maybe huge like early Ministry standards or something.
>>124434816Big Black is way more beloved than Ministry in 2024, so I'd say they definitely won the 'popularity contest' long-term.
>>124434802Huge might be an embellishment, but we're literally talking about bands that slept on the floors of fans' apartments while barely scrounging enough money to survive. Meanwhile a couple of years later major labels had fomo and wanted to sign as many bands like this as they could.
On a sidenote, was he a trust funder? lol. I thought I heard his dad was loaded or something. To just dump a successful band purely out of spite seems like a luxury only a trusty could do. 99% of people are struggling to make anything happen and wouldn't be so brash if they had a bit of success.
>>124434755>>124434838I think this entire thread misunderstands the whole ethos of Steve Albini. He WAS huge, he's a successful musician and producer (or 'recording engineer' as he preferred to be called) with a devoted cult following. Anyone interested in those punk/alternative scenes knows his name. And he did all this while remaining outside the grasps of the major labels. He achieved exactly what he wanted.
>>124434877He records vocals like shit...and Kurt was smart to disobey him and remix it.
>>124434863Albini had to borrow gear from peers to create Lungs - I'd say that is highly unlikely. He used only one guitar on stage while performing Big Black songs, one stack of amplification and one drum machine.
>>124434942>like shitdefine like shit, because im almost inclined to tell you that's the whole point
>>124434863>To just dump a successful band purely out of spite seems like a luxury only a trusty could doHe formed a new band almost immediately after. This was also around the time he started being a producer/recording engineer for other bands, like the Pixies. It wasn't like he just sat on his ass and did nothing after Big Black.
>>124434978The most bare bones music experience to me (if it has vocals) is the lone singer-songwriter/bluesman/country dude able to get above other instruments and articulate a poem or a story or lead a crowd for a dance somehow. He has to be in the front, sonically. The frontman. This could probably go all the way back to Homer or some shit. Maybe King David and his lyre. Who knows. While Albini tells me there is no such thing as a frontman and the vocalist is a mere whimper sitting in some ambient space possibly getting drowned out by drums and bass. What is telling me with this? He's telling me he sucks.
>>124435020Sounded like he still had the luxury to gamble and just troll. Rapeman was met with picket lines almost off the bat.
>>124435075I think his production works perfectly for his own bands, but less often for other bands.
>>124435075That was an unnecessarily esoteric response. I can only hope you thought In Utero was a better listening experience than Nevermind
>>124435119>That was an unnecessarily esoteric responseThis is an Albini thread, Anon. What did you expect?
>>124435119I don't even count In Utero because they adjusted this.I don't mean to sound esoteric. It's as simple as saying me or any random person playing a guitar and barely being heard singing over it would suck for most audiences too. This isn't something most people want to recreate on purpose (a weak singer or shitty microphone).
one of the few american pop artists whose ethics are actually worth anything
>>124435190>pop
>>124435119>an unnecessarily esoteric responseIt's what Steve would've wanted :(
>>124434755Why would you make this thread about Big Black, the one band that never should've tried selling out?>I saw Kurt Cobain acting like thisThis is good to bring up however. If Kurt hadn't been so concerned about maintaining his non-existent "indie cred", he would've had a more successful career and he would maybe even still be alive.
>>124434755What does it actually mean to "sell out"?
>>124434755>read the roomthat is what the room read like then
>>124436392it’s when your band says yes to every corporate offer and takes the money for tv commercials to license your music and turn it into an ad rather than protect the integrity and say no. fans used to care way more about that and artists did as well
>>124434755In the era of hating sellouts music was kino.In the era of "just tryna secure the bag fo'real" music is horrid.That's why.
>>124434776they probably would have been 90s meatpuppets or butthole surfers popular if they kept going which is reasonably mainstream compared to their humble beginnings
>>124436754But why would they want to be?
>>124434755Wrong. Cobain was a phonie that wanted to sign with sub pop, unlike albini. Bad analogy, retard. The fact you make bold generalizations (generational gibberish) prove itrrya
>>124434755>started to see people we didn't want to associate withCertain...melanin-enriched doctors?
>>124436392It's when the record company is going to give you lots of money and everything is going to be alright
I listen to a certain live performance of Heartbeat regularly. To say they were underrated or ahead of their time is an understatement.
124438485>sub popgeffen i meant
>>124438485The only mistake Kurt made was taking these dorks seriously.Should've been like the chad Billy, who laughed all the way to the bank and didn't give a single fuck. And he was from the Illinois area where Albini and all his sycophants were. Deep in the Belly of the Beast and told them all to suck his dick. Then fucked Kurt's gf while he was at it too.
>>124434755This guy said all kinds of fucked up stuff
>>124441925>good cheese OR roast beefSo his sandwich is literally beef between bread, or cheese between bread
>>124441925>>124441944upvote my comrade redditors
>>124435075>implying he didn't do exactly what you're talking about when the music called for itMagnolia Electric Company sounds beautifully made. They are not quite Jesus Lizard.
>>124434863his dad was a rocket scientist or somethingprobably had money but i don't think albino used it to get into the industry
>>124441944>dude just eat beef and bread lmao>have a heart attack and die in your 50s
>>124434755Zoomies don't get the disjunction between underground and mainstream back then. You had to tweak your sound with the help of major label producers to get over on radio and MTV. Basically try to sound like what's already succeeding. That's what "selling out" really meant.In any case most bands have only a few albums in them. Big Black said everything they had to say and peaked with Atomizer and SAF.>>124436754Those bands had one fluke hit. Is it worth sticking around for that?
>>124442092lmao
>>124434755Was he referring to big labels, people in the music business and game chasers? He despised those can kind all people, he at least stayed true to his ideals when it came to selling music
>>124434755Moby was one of the only Gen Xers who didn't care about selling out
>>124434755fuck normies that's all im gonna say
