Streetcleaner (album)

Streetcleaner
Studio album by Godflesh
Released November 13, 1989 (1989-11-13)
Recorded May–August 1989
Genre Industrial metal
Length 66:22
Label
Producer
Godflesh chronology
Godflesh
(1988)Godflesh1988		 Streetcleaner
(1989)		 Pure
(1992)Pure1992

Streetcleaner is the debut studio album by British industrial metal band Godflesh. It was released on November 13, 1989, on Earache Records. Being influential in the development in the industrial metal genre, the album was widely praised by critics.

In 2013, the band released a live album, playing Streetcleaner in its entirety. The album was originally released on vinyl and re-released digitally in 2017. [1]

Background

Justin Broadrick stated that the drum machine sound was heavily influenced by hip hop artists in the late 80s, particularly the beat on "Christbait Rising": "It was my attempt at copying the rhythm sample on 'Microphone Fiend' by Eric B & Rakim".[2] The album cover is a shot from the third hallucination scene in the movie Altered States.[3]

Streetcleaner was recorded in several sessions. The first five songs were recorded at Soundcheck in Birmingham, from May–August, 1989. The next five songs (nine on the second CD issue) were recorded at Square Dance in Derby in May, 1989.[4] The last four songs were originally recorded as the Tiny Tears EP, which the band wanted the label to release as their follow up to the Godflesh EP. Earache Records, however, pushed the band to record a full-length album instead, and the Tiny Tears EP never saw an independent release. The tracks were instead later appended as bonus tracks to the second CD issue of Streetcleaner.[5] The sample used at the beginning of the title track is taken from a recording of an interrogation of convicted serial killer Henry Lee Lucas.[6]

Composition and style

Swans' (pictured in 2010) early material was particularly influential on the album's sound

Streetcleaner is regarded as one of the first albums to merge industrial rock and heavy metal music.[7] Ned Raggett of Allmusic said, "Streetcleaner doesn't so much grind as crawl, but it does with an awesome, bass-heavy power",[8] and "Drum machines shatter, shudder, and downright assault, while the riffs the two (or three) cook up are bludgeoning, well worthy of Broadrick's partial inspirations the Swans, arguably the best comparable forebear if one is talking about albums like Cop or Young God."[8] In The Rough Guide to Rock, Richard Fontenoy said, "With the heaviest of metal riffs, slowed down to a crushing, claustrophobic pace and backed by a drum machine, Godflesh created a relentless, alienating wall of sound overlaid with feedback, samples, and Broadrick's misanthropic vocals."[9] In The New Metal Masters, H. P. Newquist and Rich Maloof wrote, "Never before had one band incorporated metal, industrial, techno, and electronica into a single form—let alone one so sinister sounding."[10] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune said that while the vocals were typical of death metal.[11] Rolling Stone critic Ian Christe noted that "Godflesh drew inspiration from such caustic industrial cults as Young Gods, Big Black and New York City's nightmare-inducing Swans. Heavy metal's riffs, screams and guitar solos were all jettisoned to make room for punishing mechanical rhythms, percussive bass guitar and gritty monochromatic guitar scrapes."[12]

Release

Streetcleaner was released on November 13, 1989, on Earache Records. It was remastered and re-released on June 21, 2010. This reissue includes a second disc of bonus material, which is composed of alternate mixes, live excerpts, guitar and drum machine demo tracks, and rehearsals.[13]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Chicago Tribune[11]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[14]

Streetcleaner received positive reviews, and was hailed as a creative masterpiece. Ned Raggett of Allmusic said, "Compared to so many metal wimps who invoke Satan and death in the cheesiest of ways, though, Godflesh let their own brusque impact do the talking for them, and the result is suitably apocalyptic." Raggett also stated that "the band deliver everything with a pinpoint precision". [8] Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot stated that "the sonic landscape is something else, blending the vicious with the ethereal."[11] At Entertainment Weekly, David Browne wrote: "Sounding like a visit to an out-of-control crackhouse that sits next to a train station, ”Streetcleaner” should make Stephen King think twice about calling the comparatively tame AC/DC his favorite band."[14]

In a restrospective review of the reissue, The Quietus' Noel Gardner wrote: "Broadrick's vocals can also make a substantial difference to the extent to – and the manner in – which Streetcleaner whales on you."[5]

Accolades

Year Publication Country Accolade Rank
1995 Alternative Press United States "Top 99 of '85 to '95" 34 [15]
1998 Alternative Press United States "The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s" 79 [16]
2000 Kerrang! United Kingdom "200 Albums for the Year 2000 (Industrial)" 5 [17]
2000 Terrorizer United Kingdom "100 Most Important Albums of the Eighties" * [18]
2002 Revolver United States "The 69 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time" 66 [19]
2017 Rolling Stone United States "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time" 64 [12]
"*" denotes an unordered list.

Track listing

All tracks written by J. K. Broadrick and G. C. Green. Tracks 6 to 9 also written by Paul Neville.

No.TitleLength
1."Like Rats"4:29
2."Christbait Rising"7:00
3."Pulp"4:16
4."Dream Long Dead"5:19
5."Head Dirt"6:09
6."Devastator"3:20
7."Mighty Trust Krusher" (On some releases, tracks 6 and 7 are combined into one)5:26
8."Life Is Easy"4:51
9."Streetcleaner"6:42
10."Locust Furnace"4:45
Total length:52:21
CD-only bonus tracks (Tiny Tears EP)
No.TitleLength
11."Tiny Tears"3:25
12."Wound"3:05
13."Dead Head"4:09
14."Suction"3:22
Total length:66:22

Personnel

Godflesh
Other personnel

Charts

Chart (1989) Peak
position
UK Indie Chart[20] 19

References

  1. ↑ https://godflesh1.bandcamp.com/album/streetcleaner-live-roadburn-2011
  2. ↑ Rock-A-Rolla Magazine. Jun–Jul 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ↑ Cimarusti, Luca (April 8, 2014). "Artist on Artist: Justin Broadrick of Godflesh talks to producer Sanford Parker". The Chicago Reader. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  4. ↑ Godflesh - Streetcleaner album liner notes.
  5. 1 2 Gardner, Noel (9 August 2010). "Godflesh - Streetcleaner (Reissue)". The Quietus. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  6. ↑ Necci, Marilyn Drew (August 17, 2010). "Godflesh “Streetcleaner” Receives Deluxe Double-disc Reissue". RVA. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  7. ↑ The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History: The grunge and post-grunge years, 1991-2005. Greenwood. 2006. ISBN 0313329818.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Raggett, Ned. "Streetcleaner Review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
  9. ↑ Fontenoy, Richard (2003). "The Godfathers: Godflesh". In Buckley, Peter. The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. p. 432.
  10. ↑ Newquist, H. P.; Maloof, Rich (May 2004). The New Metal Masters. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 38–39.
  11. 1 2 3 Kot, Greg (February 21, 1991). "Godflesh Streetcleaner (Combat/Earache...". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  12. 1 2 "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Godflesh's 'Streetcleaner' To Be Reissued With Bonus Disc". Blabbermouth.net. May 7, 2010. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  14. 1 2 Browne, David (January 1991). "Streetcleaner". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  15. ↑ "Alternative Press – Top 99 Of '85 to '95". Alternative Press. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  16. ↑ "Alternative Press – The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s". Alternative Press. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  17. ↑ "Kerrang! – 200 Albums For The Year 2000". Kerrang!. Retrieved April 16, 2008.
  18. ↑ "Terrorizer – 100 Most Important Albums of the Eighties". Terrorizer. Retrieved April 16, 2008.
  19. ↑ "Revolver – The 69 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". Revolver. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  20. ↑ Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1989. Cherry Red Books. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
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