I went with Atomizer, mostly for 'Kerosene' and 'Jordan, Minnesota' (one of the very few songs that legit scares me).

I've always enjoyed "Stinking Drunk." Unsure if it tips the scales, but "Passing Complexion" is relentless. Extremes.

Atomizer

I’d have to go with Atomizer. I love both albums though.

Fucking seems like the latest and final and most highly realized version of the concept.

Atomizer is close second.

Bulldozer for the acoustic drums. and Cables.

jason from volo wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 11:22 am

motorbike guy wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 11:09 am Bulldozer for the acoustic drums. and Cables.

Best BB song IMO.

First time I heard that intro... I was floored. The tone, the way it was recorded, etc.

it was the big hit. We played the everlovin' shit out of that song at my college radio station in 1983

Songs About Fucking is the first Big Black record I heard in the fall of 1987. Within that same time I heard the Butthole Surfers Locust Abortion Technician, Killdozer Snake Boy and Dinosaur Jr You're Living All Over Me and they all broke my little 14 year old mind.

I also think it has more consistently high quality songwriting, performance and recording. Jesus fucking christ nothing sounds like that record. Have you heard it on headphones on weed?


SONGS ABOUT FUCKING

This is much harder than I thought at first glance of the thread title.

Young me says Atomizer. Older me says SAF...an album I weirdly didn't fully appreciate until I was well into adulthood.

It's Passing Complexion vs Pavement Saw for me.

Atomizer.

jason from volo wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 11:22 am

motorbike guy wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 11:09 am Bulldozer for the acoustic drums. and Cables.

Best BB song IMO.

First time I heard that intro... I was floored. The tone, the way it was recorded, etc.

I love it too. But the story behind that song makes me so sad and angry that sometimes I can't even stomach to listen to it. It disturbs me a lot more than Jordan, Minnesota.

boilermaker wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 5:19 am I love it too. But the story behind that song makes me so sad and angry that sometimes I can't even stomach to listen to it. It disturbs me a lot more than Jordan, Minnesota.

Is it common knowledge that the story behind this song is a fabrication? Obviously child abuse exists and the song is still disturbing in a general sense, but the 'Jordan child sex ring' or whatever was made up by an overeager prosecutor during the moral panic of the '80s.

I'll take your word for the Cables story.. as I can piece enough of it together to know that yeah, it'll probably ruin my day too.

jason from volo wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 11:21 am

penningtron wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 10:35 am

boilermaker wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 5:19 am I love it too. But the story behind that song makes me so sad and angry that sometimes I can't even stomach to listen to it. It disturbs me a lot more than Jordan, Minnesota.

Is it common knowledge that the story behind this song is a fabrication?

I read about that recently. I believe it was thought to have been real at the time the song was released. Still disturbing regardless if fiction or real.

I've thought of this frequently over the last year, given the parallels between the Satanic Panic (etc.) and QAnon. I believe FM Steve has expressed some regret in recent years for being taken in by the Jordan MN conspiracy theory. Doesn't particularly diminish the intensity of the song for me, though.

Tough poll. Atomizer arguably has a more (relatively!) conventional album arc and stronger individual "singles", whereas SAF is just a blitz of pure aggression. Love 'em both, but I'm going with Atomizer by a hair for those indelible songs, and because 'Passing Complexion' and 'Big Money' really scratched the itch for me last summer. This opinion is subject to change the next time I listen to SAF.