The End of Radio | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | June 14, 2019 | |||
Recorded |
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Studio | Maida Vale Studios (London) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 62:02 | |||
Label | Touch and Go | |||
Producer |
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Shellac chronology | ||||
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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. [1] 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". [2]
The 1994 session was recorded in July 1994 in the BBC Maida Vale Studio to 24 track tape and then mixed to stereo. The tracks are:
All of the tracks were unavailable on other recordings at the time. A studio version of "Crow" was released later the same year on the album At Action Park , but the other three songs would not appear in studio versions until subsequent albums were released many years later.
The eight tracks on the 2004 session were recorded live in front of a studio audience at BBC Maida Vale and broadcast simultaneously. The session was undertaken a few weeks after John Peel had died and the performance was dedicated to his memory. The songs are:
As with the 1994 session, the 2004 recordings included some songs that were unavailable on official releases at the time. "The End of Radio", "Steady As She Goes" and "Paco" were later recorded for the album Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007).
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 83/100 [3] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [4] |
Exclaim! | 9/10 [5] |
OndaRock | 7/10 [6] |
Pitchfork | 7.6/10 [2] |
Spectrum Culture | 3.75/5 [7] |
Based on 4 reviews, the album received a Metacritic score of 83/100, indicating "[u]niversal acclaim". [3] Pitchfork wrote that The End of Radio "captures, in great fidelity, the acerbic personality and power of Steve Albini's trio". [2] Spectrum Culture gave the album 3.75/5 and described it as "an invaluable document of a band unwilling to be tamed, not even by itself". [7] Allmusic stated that "the clarity of the remastering on The End of Radio makes this a must for fans of Shellac. It would be nice if we could get another live set from this trio that was recorded less than 15 years ago, yet as an artifact of the Live Shellac Experience and a sincere tribute to fallen comrades, this is as good as you could hope for". [4]
The Attic picked the album as one of their favorites of the year, [8] while The Quietus ranked it at #31 on the list of their "100 favourite reissues, soundtracks, mixes[,] live albums, compilations and miscellany" of 2019. [9]
Adapted from liner notes:
Shellac is an American noise rock band from Chicago, Illinois, composed of Steve Albini, Bob Weston and Todd Trainer and formed in 1992.
At Action Park is the debut studio album by American rock band Shellac, released in 1994.
Steve Albini is an American musician, audio engineer and music journalist, whose many recording projects have exerted an important influence on independent music since the 1980s. Most of his projects from 1997 onwards were recorded at the Electrical Audio studios in Chicago. Albini is occasionally credited as a record producer, though he dislikes the term to describe his work, preferring the term "recording engineer" when credited, and refuses to take royalties from bands recording in his studio, as he feels it would be unethical to do so.
Incesticide is a compilation album by the American rock band Nirvana. It consists of their 1990 non-album single "Sliver", B-sides, demos, outtakes, cover versions, and radio broadcast recordings, and as such is not the official follow-up to the band's breakthrough album, Nevermind. The album was released on December 14, 1992, in Europe, and December 15, 1992, in the United States. It eventually reached number 39 on the Billboard 200.
With the Lights Out is a box set by the American rock band Nirvana, released on November 23, 2004. It contains three CDs and one DVD of previously rare or unreleased material, including B-sides, demos, and rehearsal and live recordings. The title comes from the lyrics of Nirvana's 1991 single "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
Peel Session is an EP by Boards of Canada, featuring the tracks played on their 1998 Peel Session broadcast on BBC Radio 1. It was originally released on 11 January 1999 as a 12" and CD by Warp Records, with catalogue numbers WAP114 and WAP114CD, respectively.
"Dumb" is a song by the American rock band, Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist, Kurt Cobain. It is the sixth song on the band's third and final studio album, In Utero, released in 1993.
Heart and Soul is a box set by English rock band Joy Division containing nearly every track the band recorded between 1977 and 1980. The first two discs contain almost their entire studio output, including the albums Unknown Pleasures and Closer, along with singles and compilation appearances. Discs three and four collect rare demos and live recordings, many of which were previously unreleased. All tracks are digitally remastered. It reached #70 in the UK.
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.
Ask for It is an EP by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1995. It was the band's second and last release on Caroline Records, the first being their debut album Pretty on the Inside (1991). Although the EP was released after 1994's platinum-selling Live Through This, its contents were recorded by an earlier lineup of the band between 1991 and 1992. The EP comprises three songs by Hole as well as several cover versions of songs by the Wipers, Beat Happening, the Velvet Underground, and the Germs.
Steve Albini is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer, and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, Flour, and is part of Shellac. He is the founder, owner, and the principal engineer at Electrical Audio, a recording studio complex in Chicago. In 2018, Albini estimated that he had worked on several thousand albums over his career. He has worked with acts such as Nirvana, Pixies, Bush, Melt Banana, the Breeders, PJ Harvey, The Jesus Lizard, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Gogol Bordello, Mclusky, and former Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.
"Doll Parts" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's sixth single and second from their second studio album, Live Through This, in November 1994 to accompany the band's North American tour. It was also the first single to be released following the death of bassist Kristen Pfaff in June 1994.
Todd Trainer is the drummer for the band Shellac. He also performs as a solo artist under the name Brick Layer Cake. He previously played drums for the bands Breaking Circus and Rifle Sport, and he played drums with Scout Niblett in 2005.
The Southern Death Cult is a compilation album by British gothic rock band Southern Death Cult. It is a collection of studio outtakes, demos and live recordings by the band, released originally in 1983, after the band had broken up.
The discography of Shellac, an American alternative rock band, includes five studio albums. Shellac numbers almost all their releases.
Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC sound studios, of which five are in regular use, in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, west London.
Alison Chesley, known also by her stage name Helen Money, is a Chicago-based cellist and composer.
Maida Vale: The BBC Radio One Sessions is a compilation album by Van der Graaf Generator, containing eight songs from four different recording sessions at Maida Vale Studios for BBC Radio 1 in 1971, 1975 and 1976, three of which were Peel Sessions. It was released in June 1994 on Band of Joy Records.
Dude Incredible is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Shellac, released on September 16, 2014 on Touch and Go Records.
Made Available: John Peel Sessions is a 1996 compilation of tracks by the band This Heat. Culled from two live John Peel Radio 1 sessions, the tracks were originally recorded and broadcast in 1977.