Bad Machines

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Bad Machines
Bad Machines by Shane Nicholson.png
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 2011 (2011-03)
Label Liberation
Producer Shane Nicholson, Nash Chambers [1]
Shane Nicholson chronology
Familiar Ghosts
(2008)
Bad Machines
(2011)
Wreck & Ruin
(2012)

Bad Machines is the fourth studio album from Australian country singer Shane Nicholson, released by Liberation Music in Australia in March 2011. The album peaked at number 29 on the ARIA Charts, becoming Nicholson's first solo album to peak in the top 50. The album spawned the APRA Award-winning song "Famous Last Words", which won Best Country Work at the APRA Music Awards of 2012.

Contents

The inspiration for the album's title came after Nicholson read Midnight Express by Billy Hayes and William Hoffer, in which a criminal is likened to a "bad machine". Nicholson said this made him ponder "Are we made a certain way in the beginning or is it conditioning? Are we controlled by an Almighty engineer?". [2]

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2011, the album was nominated for Best Country Album, but lost out to his wife Kasey Chambers' Little Bird , an album he produced. [3]

At the Country Music Awards of Australia in January 2012, the album was nominated for Album of the Year. [4]

Reception

Graham Reid from Elsewhere NZ said the album "covers a lot of territory" and described "Famous Last Words" as "a snappy country-rocker", "The Broken Things" as "a gentle, simple declaration of love", "Fish and Whistle" as "a light gospel-country feel" and "Money for Jam" as "a brooding, almost monotone rocker". [5]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Famous Last Words"2:08
2."Blueberry Pie"3:09
3."Jimmie Rodgers Was a Vampire"3:42
4."Bad Machines"2:43
5."The Broken Things"3:20
6."Fish and Whistle"2:35
7."Everywhere You Go"3:43
8."Money for Jam"4:08
9."Whistling Cannonballs" (featuring Paul Kelly)2:55
10."Hammer and Nail"2:42
11."Not You, Again"3:16
12."Trick Knee Blues"2:32
13."Music Is Dead"2:46

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2011)Peak
Position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [6] 29

Year-end charts

Chart (2011)Position
Australian Country Albums Chart [7] 43

Release history

CountryDateFormatLabelCatalogue
AustraliaMarch 2011 Liberation Records LMCD0127

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References

  1. "Bad Machines portfolio". Shane Nicholson. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  2. "Shane Nicholson and Bad Machine CD". The Muses. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  3. "ARIA Awards by Year – 2011". ARIA Awards. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  4. "Country Music Awards of Australia 2012". Country Route News. 4 February 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  5. "Shane Nicholson: Bad Machines (Liberation)". Elsewhere NZ. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  6. "Australiancharts.com – Shane Nicholson – Bad Machines". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  7. "2011 ARIA Australian Artist Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved 30 April 2020.