𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
August 9, 1994 — Machine Head released their debut studio album, Burn My Eyes via Roadrunner Records. (Apple Music or Spotify)
The album's themes generally tie into the social disorder and corresponding inner tension that the band was exposed to in their native Oakland, California, reflected in Robb Flynn's lyrics, such as the Los Angeles Riots of 1992 and the Waco Siege of 1993.
The album's title alludes to the third part of the phrase, "𝙱𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎" during the breakdown of Old (Watch video). The album shipped over 400,000 copies worldwide, becoming Roadrunner Records' best selling debut album until the release of Slipknot's self-titled debut album. This is Machine Head's only studio album to feature drummer Chris Kontos.
The albums cover was designed by David McKean (English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician).
Background:
The songs make references to some certain well-publicized controversies such as the 1992 Los Angeles Riots (heard in dialogue on Real Eyes, Realize, Real Lies) and the Waco Siege of 1993 (Davidian - Watch video). Elsewhere, there are tales of physical and mental abuse (None But My Own, The Rage to Overcome), the condemning of profits from religious soliciting (Death Church), succumbing to substance abuse (I'm Your God Now), and aforementioned themes of urban decay, social unrest, rebellion, belligerence, or socio-political commentary.
Stylistically, the album is credited as having bridged the gap between "𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍-𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙱𝚊𝚢 𝙰𝚛𝚎𝚊 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚑 (𝚃𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕, 𝚎𝚝𝚌.) 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗-𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚗-𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝙿𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚜."
Compared to their later releases, it's rawer and more aggressive; after changing their sound on their three subsequent albums, the style was resurrected in modified form—the influences of Gothenburg were evident—on their post-Supercharger output.
The release of this album was followed shortly by numerous tours, which eventually led to drummer Chris Kontos leaving the band and being replaced, after careful consideration, by Dave McClain, who would stay with the band until 2018. Kontos, along with guitarist Logan Mader, would return to Machine Head in 2019 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Burn My Eyes release with a tour, though neither of them officially rejoined the band.
The album has since become a lasting success. In 1994, it quickly became a Roadrunner Records best seller and was the label's best-selling debut album for a number of years, until the release of Slipknot's 1999 self-titled debut.
Critical Reception:
Q magazine (11/94, p. 115) – 𝟺 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜 – 𝙴𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝 – "...𝚊 𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗- 𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛..."
Kerrang! (p. 21) – "𝙱𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝙼𝚢 𝙴𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝-𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚜."
Kerrang! (p. 53) – "𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚟𝚎-𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚎."
Cancelled Reissue:
On October 31, 2006, Roadrunner Records announced that as part of their 25th anniversary, they would be re-releasing Burn My Eyes with a bonus CD, which includes previously unreleased tracks and rarities.
It was said to be due out on January 8, 2007, but was then pushed back to September 2007 so it would not interfere with the release of The Blackening. However, the re-release was in fact cancelled. Robb Flynn explained this on his blog, which is posted on Machinehead1.com;
"𝚃𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝙼𝙴 𝚛𝚎-𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝟸𝟻𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚁𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚁𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟻 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚎-𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍𝚞𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝙾𝚌𝚝 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟼, has been back-burnered. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎‘𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎-𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚎-𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝟷𝟹-𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝟸 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚜 (𝟹 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚘) 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚣𝚎𝚛𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚜. 𝚆𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚛𝚎-𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑, 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚋-𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗‘𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎-𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝙳𝚅𝙳𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝... 𝚜𝚘, 𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍, 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚢."
Notice: Any reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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