At Action Park | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 24, 1994 | |||
Recorded | March 1994 | |||
Studio |
| |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 37:03 | |||
Label | Touch and Go | |||
Producer | Shellac | |||
Shellac chronology | ||||
|
At Action Park is the debut studio album by American rock band Shellac, released in 1994.
The release came in a folded and hand-pressed sleeve which is referred as uni-pak style album jacket. The inner sleeve shows artwork with four microphones, the record sleeve shows an illustration of a fictionalized map of Action Park on one side, and a lengthy medical text Resuscitation from apparent death by electric shock on the other side (the text was found in an old electronics textbook of Weston's). The Vinyl had inscriptions in the run-out groove of both sides, reading: "Smoking is as natural as breathing. They've been doing it since before I was born... ... which is a shame, because I could have invented it. - Todd Stanford Trainer 1994"
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Chicago Sun-Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Chicago Tribune | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Great Rock Discography | 6/10 [8] |
Guitar World | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
MusicHound Rock | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
OndaRock | 9/10 [11] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Select | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The album received highly positive reviews on release. Greg Kot wrote that the "music is still punishing in the extreme, with melody subservient to groove and dynamics, and the human voice just another instrument in a maelstrom", going on to write that "Albini uses his guitar more for color and texture rather than as a lead instrument, while bassist Bob Weston and drummer Todd Trainer create a vicious spin-cycle groove, punctuated by thrilling ebbs and leaps in volume and tempo" and called the engineering "extraordinary". [6] In Guitar World , David Grad wrote, "The trio clearly view themselves as craftsmen, partners in a well-oiled machine, with Trainer and Weston generating the rhythmic line of attack with precision while Albini's guitar responds with storm after storm of skittering sonic steel." [9]
Retrospectively, AllMusic's Mark Deming wrote that despite Albini's continued obsession with "sex, violence, and anti-social behavior" from his Big Black days and while "the hard, metallic guitar figures of "Pull the Cup" and "Song of the Minerals" were as uncompromisingly abrasive as ever", the album revealed "a band more musically intelligent and imaginative" than his former band. [4]
In 2012, Fact ranked it the 18th best album of the 1990s, calling it "brilliantly angular [...] Combining Minutemen-esque grooves that feel like they could last forever with spit-riddled, sneering vocals and a storming rhythm section, there are few albums that sound as simultaneously doomed and driven as At Action Park." [14]
Christian Lemach of Whores called At Action Park his favorite noise rock album of all time. [3] Mike Sullivan of Russian Circles cited this album, alongside Fugazi's Red Medicine , as major influences on his guitar-playing, noting that they "literally changed the way [he] looked at music". [15] Electronic producer Clark included the album among his favorites, noting that "there's almost a techno element to it, it feels blocky, like it's made out of angles rather than anything circular, but still the production's quite warm, it just draws you in." [16]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "My Black Ass" | 3:00 |
2. | "Pull the Cup" | 4:12 |
3. | "The Admiral" | 2:21 |
4. | "Crow" | 4:47 |
5. | "Song of the Minerals" | 4:24 |
6. | "A Minute" | 3:40 |
7. | "The Idea of North" | 3:42 |
8. | "Dog and Pony Show" | 3:59 |
9. | "Boche's Dick" | 1:38 |
10. | "Il Porno Star" | 5:14 |
Total length: | 37:03 |
Personnel:
Staff:
Rapeman was an American noise rock band founded in 1987 and disbanded in 1989. It consisted of Steve Albini on guitar and vocals, David Wm. Sims on bass and Rey Washam on drums. In the years since their brief tenure, Rapeman’s sound has also been described as post-hardcore.
Shellac is an American noise rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1992 by Steve Albini, Bob Weston and Todd Trainer. Their lineup remained consistent until Albini's death in May 2024.
1000 Hurts is the third studio album by American rock band Shellac, released on August 8, 2000. In its official promotional materials Shellac jokingly described this album as follows: "There are no 12-minute songs on this one. This record is more mean-spirited. Todd sings."
Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded first as a solo project by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band became a trio with an initial lineup that included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of Naked Raygun. In 1985, Pezzati was replaced by Dave Riley, who played on Big Black's two full-length studio albums, Atomizer (1986) and Songs About Fucking (1987).
The Jesus Lizard is an American rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas by vocalist David Yow, guitarist Duane Denison and bassist David Wm. Sims. They relocated to Chicago, Illinois, in 1989, where they found kindred spirits in recording engineer Steve Albini and Touch and Go Records. With the addition of drummer Mac McNeilly, they began performing live, eventually attracting an international audience with their powerful live show.
Spiderland is the second and final studio album by the American rock band Slint. It was released by Touch and Go Records on March 27, 1991. Slint's lineup at the time of recording comprised Brian McMahan on vocals and guitar, David Pajo on guitar, Todd Brashear on bass guitar and Britt Walford on drums. Spiderland was engineered by Brian Paulson and recorded over four days in August 1990. The music and vocal melodies were composed throughout the summer of 1990, while lyrics were written in-studio.
Terraform is the second studio album by American band Shellac, released in 1998.
Songs About Fucking is the second and final studio album by American rock band Big Black, released in 1987 by Touch and Go Records. The album includes a rendition of Kraftwerk's "The Model" in a remixed version from that which appeared on Big Black's then-recent single. The compact disc of Songs About Fucking added the other side of that single, a cover of Cheap Trick's "He's a Whore".
Bob Weston is an American musician, producer, recording engineer, and record mastering engineer. Critic Jason Ankeny declares that "Weston's name and fingerprints are all over the American underground rock of the post-punk era, producing and engineering dates for a seemingly endless number of bands." As a performer, Weston is best known as the bass guitarist in the groups Volcano Suns and Shellac.
The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History is the first release by American noise rock band Shellac, a three-song 7" on Touch and Go Records. It was released in 1993 on vinyl format only. The brown smear on the cover was originally rumored to be real shellac, but is actually root beer concentrate.
Steven Frank Albini was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (1992–2024), and engineered acclaimed albums like the Pixies' Surfer Rosa (1988), PJ Harvey's Rid of Me and Nirvana's In Utero.
Black Snake Dîamond Röle is the debut solo album by former Soft Boys frontman Robyn Hitchcock.
Come Pick Me Up is the seventh studio album by American indie rock band Superchunk, released in 1999. It is marked by the presence of co-producer Jim O'Rourke, a well-known figure in underground circles. Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster said that O'Rourke was selected because the band wanted someone "coming from a different head-space." O'Rourke helped the band decorate the album with string and horn touches that were not typical of their guitar-based sound. One of the horn players who appeared on the album is another well-known figure in underground circles, Shellac's Bob Weston.
Volcano Suns was an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts formed by Mission of Burma drummer Peter Prescott in 1984.
Uranus is the second release by American noise rock band Shellac, a two-song 7" on Touch and Go Records. It was released in 1993 on vinyl format only. It is believed that it was recorded at the same time as their first release, The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History. As their first release had printed liner notes listing the microphones used during the recording, this release listed details about the recording tape, tape machines, and mastering equipment used.
The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger is the third release by American noise rock band Shellac, a two-song 7" on Drag City. The title is a parodic reference to the album The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird by Six Finger Satellite, and was originally the title of an article on Shellac that appeared in the magazine Alternative Press after the release of the band's earlier releases. It was Shellac's first non-Touch and Go release.
Attractive Nuisance, released in 2000, is The Loud Family's fifth full-length album. It has the same line-up as the 1998 album, Days for Days. At the time of its release, it was announced as the final Loud Family album.
Dude Incredible is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Shellac, released on September 16, 2014 on Touch and Go Records. This is the final studio album released during Steve Albini's lifetime.
The End of Radio is a 2019 album by Shellac. The album contains two previously unreleased recordings made for the BBC Radio One's John Peel Show in 1994 and 2004. Steve Albini has spoken about his admiration for John Peel, stating that "he listened religiously to every single record he received in the mail, devoting hours of every day to the task".
To All Trains is the sixth studio album by American rock band Shellac, released by Touch and Go Records on May 17, 2024. It was their first studio album in a decade and the final recording made before band leader Steve Albini's death just days prior to the album's release.