Project 1001: Scum by Napalm Death
This is a hard pass for me. I like a lot of the music, the guitars and drums, etc. I even like the hyper speed. But the singing style, sometimes described as puking into the mic,1 is unenjoyable in the extreme for me. I just can’t get past it. Full kudos for inventing grindcore though. My rating:
AllMusic:
“The combination of hyperspeed drums, crazed but still just-clear-enough guitar and bass blurs, and utterly unintelligible vocals take the "loud hard fast" rule to a logical extreme that the band's followers could only try to equal, but never better.”2
From Brandon Stosuy’s review of the 20th Anniversary reissue in Pitchfork:
“I just stopped short of writing "Napalm Death's groundbreaking Scum." The English band is rightfully credited with helping to invent grindcore, or at least mixing ingredients that bubbled to the surface and terming a sound that was happening to different degrees elsewhere as well, but Scum's always felt most important to me for establishing a template later extreme metal bands could have fun smashing and expanding. So we could argue about whether this is "seminal" or not but dropping record-geek tropes glosses over the fact that these 28 raw, compelling, sometimes just okay songs are actually scruffy, crusty tunes.”3
Metal Forces magazine:
“Here it is folks! This album will finally settle the argument of who is the fastest band in the world. Like those super-fast, mega intense bands that have preceded them, Napalm Death have come up with an album which on the surface may sound like a cataclysm, but in fact has some of the meanest and most technical noise around at the moment etched on its grooves.”4
In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Robert Dimery wrote:
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Fifth printing, ed. by Robert Dimmery p.
Enjoy and listen without prejudice. Cheers!
Prime Playlist: 220. Scum by Napalm Death
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For details about this project, read this: Project 1001 Albums
Charts
• Peak on Billboard 200 album chart: n/a
• Singles on Billboard Hot 100 chart: n/a
• RIAA certification: n/a
Released on July 1, 1987. Here’s what else was happening:
Pop Culture
• Number one song: “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” by Whitney Houston5
• Number one album: Whitney by Whitney Houston6
• Number one movie: Dragnet by Tom Mankiewicz7
• Most watched TV programs: The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers, Murder, She Wrote, The Golden Girls8
• NYT bestseller, fiction: Misery by Stephen King9
• NYT bestseller, non-fiction: The Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom10
Some other albums released that month
• Love Is for Suckers by Twisted Sister
• No Protection by Starship
• Echo & the Bunnymen by Echo & the Bunnymen
• In the Dark by The Grateful Dead
• Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra by Elton John
• Buster Poindexter by Buster Poindexter
• Faster Pussycat by Faster Pussycat
• Frehley's Comet by Ace Frehley
• Hold On by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
• Paid in Full by Eric B. & Rakim
• Touch by Laura Branigan11
Sport
• Jul 1 New York City radio station WFAN-AM commences first 24 hour all sports radio format.
• Jul 4 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Martina Navratilova earns 8th Wimbledon singles title with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Steffi Graf.
• Jul 5 A's 1st baseman Mark McGwire becomes first rookie to hit 30 HRs before the MLB All-Star Game as Oakland beats Red Sox, 6-2.
• Jul 5 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Pat Cash of Australia scores his only Grand Slam singles success 7-6, 6-2, 7-5 over Ivan Lendl12
Notable Births
• Jun 24 Lionel Messi, Argentine soccer striker (6 x FIFA Ballon d’Or; 6 x European Golden Shoes; 10 x La Liga titles; 4 x UEFA Champions League; 6 x Copas del Rey; FC Barcelona, PSG), born in Rosario, Argentina.
• Jul 14 Dan Reynolds, American singer and songwriter (Imagine Dragons - "Radioactive"), born in Las Vegas, Nevada.
• Jul 21 Peter Doocy, American journalist (White House correspondent Fox News), born in Washington D.C.13
Historical Events
• Jun 30 The Royal Canadian Mint introduces the $1 coin, known as the Loonie.
• Jul 1 US President Ronald Reagan nominates Robert Bork for a seat on the Supreme Court, rejected by US Senate in October.
• Jul 4 Nazi Klaus Barbie, "Butcher of Lyon" sentenced to life imprisonment in France.14
Notable Deaths
• Jun 25 Boudleaux Bryant, American country music and pop songwriter, usually with wife Ffelice ("Love Hurts"; "Bye Bye Love"; "Wake Up Little Susie"; All I Have To Do Is Dream"), dies of cancer at 67.
• Jun 30 Jackie Fields, American featherweight boxer (2x World Welterweight Champion, Olympic gold 1924), dies at 79.
• Jul 10 John H. Hammond, American music producer, talent scout, promoter, and activist, "discovered" Billie Holiday, Teddy Wilson, Count Basie, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen, dies at 76.15
King, Ian, Appetite for Definition: An A-Z Guide to Rock Genres, Harper Perennial, First Edition, 2018, p. 192.
Ibid.