Scratch the Surface

Last updated

Scratch the Surface
Scratch the Surface (Sick of It All album - cover art).jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 18, 1994
Recorded1994 at Normandy Sound, Warren, Rhode Island
Genre Hardcore punk
Length35:20
Label East West
Producer Sick of It All, Billy Anderson [1]
Sick of It All chronology
Just Look Around
(1992)
Scratch the Surface
(1994)
Live in a World Full of Hate
(1995)
Singles from Scratch the Surface
  1. "Scratch the Surface"
    Released: 1994
  2. "Step Down"
    Released: 1995
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Kerrang! Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [4]
MusicHound Rock Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

Scratch the Surface is the third studio album by American hardcore band Sick of It All, released in 1994. [5] It was the band's first major label recording on East West Records, their first venture away from an indie label.

Contents

Scratch the Surface became Sick of It All's most successful release and produced two singles: "Scratch the Surface" and "Step Down".

The album peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Heatseekers – Middle Atlantic chart [6] and 121 on the UK Albums Chart. [7]

Critical reception

Decibel called the album a "hardcore magnum opus" and a "slab of extraordinarily lithe, stylized aggression". [8] Trouser Press wrote: "As a blast of unreconstructed hardcore in a time and a place where such a thing was once impossible to imagine, Scratch the Surface makes Sick of It All's principled point loud if not clear." [9]

Track listing

  1. "No Cure"  – 2:58
  2. "Insurrection"  – 1:50
  3. "Consume"  – 3:42
  4. "Who Sets the Rules"  – 2:45
  5. "Goatless"  – 1:21
  6. "Step Down"  – 3:15
  7. "Maladjusted"  – 2:25
  8. "Scratch the Surface"  – 2:51
  9. "Free Spirit"  – 1:53
  10. "Force My Hand"  – 2:28
  11. "Desperate Fool"  – 1:52
  12. "Return to Reality"  – 2:43
  13. "Farm Team"  – 2:22
  14. "Cease Fire"  – 2:58

Credits

Production

Additional musicians

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References

  1. 1 2 MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1013.
  2. Franck, John. "Scratch The Surface – Sick of It All – Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards – AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  3. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 7. MUZE. p. 442.
  4. Chirazi, Steffan (November 12, 1994). "Albumz". Kerrang! . No. 520. EMAP. p. 43.
  5. "Sick of It All | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  6. "Sick of It All". Billboard.[ dead link ]
  7. "Chart Log UK: DJ S - The System Of Life". www.zobbel.de. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  8. "Sick of it All – "Scratch the Surface"". Decibel Magazine. August 28, 2012.
  9. "Sick of It All". Trouser Press. Retrieved January 9, 2021.