XTRMNTR

XTRMNTR
Studio album by Primal Scream
Released	31 January 2000 (UK)
Recorded	1997–1999
Genre	Big beat, shoegaze, noise rock[1]
Length	60:24
Label	Creation
Producer	Primal Scream, Brendan Lynch, Adrian Maxwell Sherwood, Jagz Kooner, David Holmes, Hugo Nicolson, The Chemical Brothers, Kevin Shields, Tim Holmes, Dan the Automator
Primal Scream chronology
Echo Dek (1997)Echo Dek1997 XTRMNTR (2000) Evil Heat (2002)Evil Heat2002
Singles from XTRMNTR
"Swastika Eyes" Released: 8 November 1999 "Kill All Hippies" Released: 20 March 2000 "Accelerator" Released: 11 September 2000

XTRMNTR (pronounced "Exterminator") is the sixth studio album by Primal Scream. In a departure from Primal Scream's earlier hedonistic recordings, the band took a more political stance, attacking government, police, and multinational corporations. The sound of the album is much more aggressive and forceful than the group's previous output, with harsh industrial sounds forming the basis for songs such as "Insect Royalty", "Accelerator" and "Swastika Eyes". A free postcard championing the cause of the "Free Satpal Ram Campaign" and encouraging fans to participate was included with initial copies of the album's UK release.

The album is also notable for being the final LP release on the influential British label Creation Records. The track "Accelerator" was later lifted from the album to become the last single to be released on the label. Although Gary Mounfield joined the band in 1997 and recorded a selection of tracks on the album Vanishing Point, it was the first time he shared songwriting credits with the band and his first full album since his time in The Stone Roses.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	90/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Alternative Press	4/5[4]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[5]
The Guardian	[6]
The List	[7]
NME	9/10[8]
Pitchfork	8.1/10[9]
Q	[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[12]

XTRMNTR was critically acclaimed upon release and is recognised as one of the two definitive Primal Scream albums - the other being Screamadelica. NME magazine (30 December 2000, p. 77) rated XTRMNTR #2 in its "Top 50 Albums Of The Year 2000", and later at the NME Carling Awards 2001, it won "Best Album" of the year. Uncut, like NME, named it at #2 on their list of the best albums of 2000.^[13] The album has a Metacritic score of 90/100, indicating universal acclaim.^[14]

Over the years, it has gathered more praise, including appearances on lists of the top albums of the 2000s: NME placed it at #3 of their top 50 albums of decade list^[15] and Pitchfork placed it at #142 in its Top 200 Albums of the 2000's list.^[16] Metacritic placed it at #20 of the 40 best reviewed albums released 2000-9.^[17] In 2001, Q magazine named it as one of the "50 Heaviest Albums Of All Time".^[18] Praising the production, Stylus Magazine included the album on their 2006 list of the "Top Ten Best Sounding Records, 1997–Present",^[19] and later ranked the album at number 10 on their "Stylus Decade" list of the "Top 100 Albums of the 2000s".^[20]

In October 2011, NME placed "Swastika Eyes" at #45 and "Accelerator" at #114 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".^[21][22] In 2014, they ranked "Shoot Speed/Kill Light" at #190 and "Accelerator" at #497 and in their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".^[23]

Referring to the 2013 update, the album ranks at number 160 in NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.^[24]

Track listing

All tracks written by Primal Scream, except where noted.

Notes

• In "Exterminator" the line "So look out kid, you keep it all hid" is a quotation from the Bob Dylan song "Subterranean Homesick Blues", and the line "Too young kid, you're gonna get hit/Looks like you're never gonna make it off the government list" is a quote from The Jesus and Mary Chain's "Blues from a Gun".
• "Kill All Hippies" samples the voice of Linda Manz from the 1980 film Out of the Blue, the string section from the introduction of Labi Siffre's "I Got The ...",^[25] and a brief noise from the beginning of Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft's "Der Mussolini".^[26]

2009 Japan Reissue

A two-CD edition of XTRMNTR was released as part of a deluxe series consisting of their fourth through eighth albums. The first disc includes original album with three bonus tracks; the second includes an additional five B-sides and remixes.^[27]

Disc 1

Disc 2

Personnel

Primal Scream

• Bobby Gillespie - vocals, guitar, samples
• Andrew Innes - guitar
• Robert Young - guitar, programming
• Martin Duffy - keyboards, programming
• Rob Alton - synths, programming, effects, samples
• Gary 'Mani' Mounfield - bass
• Darrin Mooney - drums
• Jim Hunt - saxophone
• Duncan Mackay - trumpets

Guests

• Marco Nelson
• Kevin Shields
• Bernard Sumner
• Phil Mossman
• Darren Morris
• Zac Danziger
• Brendan Lynch
• Greg Knowles
• Gay-Yee Westerhoff
• Keith Tenniswood

Production

• Primal Scream - producing ("Kill All Hippies", "Accelerator", "Extermimator"), recording (all-tracks)
• Brendan Lynch - producing ("Kill All Hippies", "Accelerator", "Exterminator", "Shoot Speed/Kill Light"), co-producing ("Kill All Hippies", "Exterminator"), recording ("Accelerator", "Exterminator", "Shoot Speed/Kill Light")
• Kevin Shields - producing ("Shoot Speed/Kill Light"), mixing ("Accelerator", "MBV Arkestra (If They Move Kill 'Em)")
• Adrian Maxwell Sherwood - recording ("Blood Money", "Keep Your Dreams")
• Jagz Kooner - producing & mixing ("Swastika Eyes"), programming ("Keep Your Dreams")
• David Holmes - producing ("Blood Money", "Keep Your Dreams"), co-producing ("Blood Money")
• Hugo Nicolson - producing, co-producing, mixing ("Insect Royalty")
• The Chemical Brothers - producing & mixing ("Swastika Eyes")
• Tim Holmes - producing ("Shoot Speed/Kill Light")
• Dan the Automator - producing & mixing ("Pills")
• Andy Wilkinson - engineering ("Accelerator", "MBV Arkestra (If They Move Kill 'Em)")
• Jon Weiner - engineering ("Blood Money")
• Alan Branch - recording ("Blood Money", "Keep Your Dreams")

References

External links

• XTRMNTR at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)