10 Most Inaccessible But Ultimately Rewarding Albums Ever

10. Big Black - Atomizer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxiCp6uSvcI Extreme is the first thing that comes to mind upon first hearing the harsh musical makeup of 1986's Atomizer. It is industrial noise-rock in the most broad sense of the term because of the record's ability to power forth furiously but also sweep up every other kind of musical connotation along the way, creating a truly menacing sound that is still yet to be matched to this day in terms of its jagged intensity. Big Black's influence on later bands of the genre like Nine Inch Nails is plain to be seen on songs like the steamrolling, clanger 'Jordan Minnesota' or the abrasive, guitar heavy 'Kerosene', the latter underpinning the wonderful lyrical fluidity that runs throughout Atomizer's blazing 34 minute duration. Although extremely dark in places ('Kerosene' is about setting yourself on fire because you're bored...) you can tell the lyrics are coming from a very real place, a place where locality frustration and hormonal angst collide. Atomizer can feel like an auditory bombardment at first but its hypnotic programmed drumming and its tinny yet explosive guitar riffs find a way into the system because of how relentless it all is. No song exemplifies this any better than the simply astonishing 'Passing Complexion'. Every moment of the song just doesn't sound right to the senses yet it is somehow utterly infectious. The guitar work is contorted inexplicably, creating a disorientating blast of sheer unbridled noise. It is a shining example of just how creative the group are on this record within and without the confines of their genre. Big Black linchpin Steve Albini would later go onto produce Nirvana's In Utero and his stark engineering work can be felt all over this overlooked, rough diamond of a record.