Everything about Undisputed Attitude totally explained
Undisputed Attitude is an album of
punk covers and three original songs by
thrash metal band
Slayer. Although the initial idea to record heavy metal covers was shelved, guitarist
Kerry King came up with the concept of paying tribute to bands that "made Slayer what it is". Guitarist
Jeff Hanneman had written four punk songs in 1984–85 and used the best two, while King and vocalist
Tom Araya wrote an original song titled "Gemini".
Released on
May 28,
1996 through
American Recordings,
Undisputed Attitude peaked at number 34 on the Billboard 200. The album received generally negative reviews; Adrien Begrand of PopMatters dismissed the effort as "easily the weakest album in the Slayer catalogue", while Entertainment Weekly's Chuck Eddy commented that the songs were "generic hardcore-punk".
Recording
Undisputed Attitude was recorded at Capital Studios in
Los Angeles, California with producer
Dave Sardy, while
Reign in Blood producer
Rick Rubin helmed executive production. Recorded in three to four weeks, the reason behind the album's creation was due to the interest of guitarist
Kerry King, stating the songs were by bands that "made Slayer what it is", and to keep Slayer in the public eye. The album initially featured material from
heavy metal artists that had influenced Slayer, including
Judas Priest,
UFO, and
Deep Purple. "Gemini" was written by King and Araya several months before entering the recording studio. King asserts it's the only "Slayer" song on the album. King said it was changed for "
tongue-in-cheek" humor as he thought the
racism at the time was "ridiculous".
Paul Kott of
All Music Guide commented that "
Undisputed Attitude, while not perfect, is a fitting tribute to the bands that inspired Slayer to break from the traditional metal mold." Sandy Masuo of
Rolling Stone reasoned; "some punk purists will undoubtedly cry foul, but when the dust settles it's hard to argue with Slayer's mettle."
Entertainment Weekly's Chuck Eddy dubbed Slayer's cover interpretations "generic hardcore-punk", and observed that that the group "seem to think that playing as fast and rigidly as possible makes for harder rock -- but it's just lazy shtick".
Reviewing 2003 Slayer box set
Soundtrack to the Apocalypse, Adrien Begrand of PopMatters dismissed the effort as "easily the weakest album in the Slayer catalogue", whereas Westword Online's Michael Roberts dubbed the record their "biggest mistake." Araya has since stated that he "knew it wouldn't do very well, people want to hear Slayer! The real die-hards picked up on it and that was expected."
Track listing
| # |
Title |
Writer |
Original artist |
Time |
| 1. |
"Disintegration / Free Money" |
Eric Mastrokalos, Brett Dodwell |
Verbal Abuse |
1:41 |
| 2. |
"Verbal Abuse / Leeches" |
Mastrokalos, Dodwell |
Verbal Abuse |
1:58 |
| 3. |
"Abolish Government / Superficial Love" |
Todd Barnes, Ron Emory, Jack Grisham, Mike Roche |
T.S.O.L. |
1:48 |
| 4. |
"Can't Stand You" |
Jeff Hanneman |
Pap Smear |
1:27 |
| 5. |
"Ddamm" |
Hanneman |
Pap Smear |
1:01 |
| 6. |
"Guilty of Being White" |
Brian Baker, Jeff Nelson, Ian MacKaye, Lyle Preslar |
Minor Threat |
1:07 |
| 7. |
"I Hate You" |
Mastrokalos, Dodwell |
Verbal Abuse |
2:16 |
| 8. |
"Filler / I Don't Want to Hear It" |
Baker, Nelson, MacKaye, Preslar |
Minor Threat |
2:28 |
| 9. |
"Spiritual Law" |
Casey Royer, Rikk Agnew, John Calabro |
D.I. |
3:00 |
| 10. |
"Mr. Freeze" |
Kyle Toucher |
Dr. Know |
2:24 |
| 11. |
"Violent Pacification" |
Spike Cassidy, Kurt Brecht |
D.R.I. |
2:38 |
| 12. |
"Richard Hung Himself" |
Royer, Fred Traccone |
D.I. |
3:22 |
| 13. |
"I'm Gonna Be Your God" |
James Osterberg, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton, David Alexander |
The Stooges (parody tribute of "I Wanna Be Your Dog") |
2:58 |
| 14. |
"Gemini" |
Kerry King, Tom Araya |
Slayer |
4:53 |
Bonus track (Europe)
| # |
Title |
Writer |
Original artist |
Time |
| 10. |
"Sick Boy" |
Colin "Jock" Blyth, Colin Abrahall, Ross Lomas |
G.B.H. |
2:14 |
Bonus tracks (Japan)
Personnel
| Tom Araya – bass, vocals
Jeff Hanneman – guitar
Kerry King – guitar
Paul Bostaph – drums
Rick Rubin – executive producer
Dave Sardy – producer, mixing
Wes Benscoter – artwork, illustrations
Ralph Cacciurri – assistant engineer
|
Bryan Davis – assistant engineer
Jim Giddenes – assistant engineer
Greg Gordon – engineer
Dennis Keeley – photography, inlay photography
Michael Lavine – photography, cover photo
Stephen Marcussen – mastering
Bill Smith – assistant engineer
Dirk Walter – art direction, design
|
Further Information
Get more info on 'Undisputed Attitude'.
|
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