Undisputed Attitude
Studio album of cover songs by
Slayer
ReleasedMay 28, 1996 (1996-05-28)
RecordedJanuary–February 1996
Studio
  • Capitol (Hollywood)
  • Hollywood Sound (Hollywood)
Genre
Length33:01
LabelAmerican
Producer
Slayer chronology
Divine Intervention
(1994)		 Undisputed Attitude
(1996)		 Diabolus in Musica
(1998)

Undisputed Attitude is the seventh studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on May 28, 1996, by American Recordings. The album consists almost entirely of covers of punk rock and hardcore punk songs, and also includes two tracks written by guitarist Jeff Hanneman in 1984 and 1985 for a side project called Pap Smear; its closing track, "Gemini", is the only original track. The cover songs on the album were originally recorded by the bands the Stooges, Minor Threat, T.S.O.L., D.R.I., D.I., Dr. Know, and Verbal Abuse, whose work was prominently featured with the inclusion of cover versions of three of their songs.

Undisputed Attitude peaked at number 34 on the US Billboard 200.

Recording

Undisputed Attitude was recorded at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles with Dave Sardy as producer and Reign in Blood producer Rick Rubin as executive producer. Recorded in three to four weeks, the album was largely the brainchild of guitarist Kerry King, who stated that the songs chosen were from highly influential bands who "made Slayer what it is".[2][3] The album was initially to feature material from classic heavy metal artists such as Judas Priest, UFO and Deep Purple.[3] However, after several rehearsals "things didn't pan out" according to King, so the band instead elected to cover punk songs.[2]

Slayer considered covering 1960s psychedelic rock band the Doors as they were an influence to vocalist and bassist Tom Araya. When asked which track they considered recording, Araya responded, "Maybe 'When the Music's Over', 'Five to One', something like that."[3] A cover of Black Flag's "Rise Above" was suggested by Rubin, although was shelved after the band was not sure how to arrange it musically.[2]

Guitarist Jeff Hanneman had written four unreleased songs in 1984–1985 while in the side project Pap Smear with Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and Suicidal Tendencies guitarist Rocky George. The band chose the best two, namely "Ddamm (Drunk Drivers Against Mad Mothers)" and "Can't Stand You".[4][5] "Gemini" was written by King and Araya several months before entering the recording studio. King asserts it is the only Slayer song on the album.[2] The song begins as a sludge/doom number, before becoming a more typical Slayer song.[6]

The band's cover of Minor Threat's "Guilty of Being White" raised questions about a possible message of white supremacy. The controversy involved the changing of the refrain "guilty of being white" to "guilty of being right", at the song's ending. This incensed Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye, who stated "that is so offensive to me".[7] King said the lyric was altered for "tongue-in-cheek" humor, saying that the band thought racism was "ridiculous" at the time.[2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
CMJmixed[8]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal7/10[9]
Entertainment WeeklyC−[10]
NME7/10[11]
Rolling Stone[12]

Undisputed Attitude was released on May 28, 1996, and peaked at number 34 on the Billboard 200 album chart.[13] Paul Kott of AllMusic commented that "Undisputed Attitude, while not perfect, is a fitting tribute to the bands that inspired Slayer to break from the traditional metal mould."[6] 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."[12] Entertainment Weekly's Chuck Eddy dubbed Slayer's cover interpretations "generic hardcore-punk", and observed that the group "seem to think that playing as fast and rigidly as possible makes for harder rock -- but it's just lazy shtick."[10]

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",[14] while Westword Online's Michael Roberts dubbed the record their "biggest mistake."[15] 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."[3]

Track listing

Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Original artistLength
1."Disintegration/Free Money"
  • Eric Mastrokalos
  • Brett Dodwell
  • Roy Hansen
Verbal Abuse1:41
2."Verbal Abuse/Leeches"
  • Mastrokalos
  • Dodwell
  • Hansen
Verbal Abuse1:58
3."Abolish Government/Superficial Love"
T.S.O.L.1:48
4."Can't Stand You"Jeff HannemanPap Smear1:27
5."DDAMM (Drunk Drivers Against Mad Mothers)"Jeff HannemanPap Smear1:01
6."Guilty of Being White"Ian MacKayeMinor Threat1:07
7."I Hate You"
  • Mastrokalos
  • Dodwell
  • Hansen
Verbal Abuse2:16
8."Filler/I Don't Want to Hear It"
Minor Threat2:28
9."Spiritual Law"Casey RoyerD.I.3:00
10."Mr. Freeze"Kyle ToucherDr. Know2:24
11."Violent Pacification"
  • Spike Cassidy
  • Kurt Brecht
D.R.I.2:38
12."Richard Hung Himself"
  • Royer
  • Fredric Taccone
D.I.3:22
13."I'm Gonna Be Your God" ("I Wanna Be Your Dog")
The Stooges2:58
14."Gemini"
Slayer4:53
Total length:33:01
European edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Original artistLength
10."Sick Boy" (bonus track)
  • Colin "Jock" Blyth
  • Colin Abrahall
  • Ross Lomas
GBH2:14
11."Mr. Freeze"ToucherDr. Know2:24
12."Violent Pacification"
  • Cassidy
  • Brecht
D.R.I.2:38
13."Richard Hung Himself"
  • Royer
  • Traccone
D.I.3:22
14."I'm Gonna Be Your God" ("I Wanna Be Your Dog")
  • Osterberg
  • Asheton
  • Asheton
  • Alexander
The Stooges2:58
15."Gemini"
  • King
  • Araya
Slayer4:53
Total length:35:15
Japanese edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Original artistLength
10."Sick Boy" (bonus track)
  • Blyth
  • Abrahall
  • Lomas
GBH2:14
11."Mr. Freeze"ToucherDr. Know2:24
12."Violent Pacification"
  • Cassidy
  • Brecht
D.R.I.2:38
13."Memories of Tomorrow" (bonus track)
Suicidal Tendencies0:54
14."Richard Hung Himself"
  • Royer
  • Traccone
D.I.3:22
15."I'm Gonna Be Your God" ("I Wanna Be Your Dog")
  • Osterberg
  • Asheton
  • Asheton
  • Alexander
The Stooges2:58
16."Gemini"
  • King
  • Araya
Slayer4:53
Total length:36:09

Personnel

Slayer

Production and artwork

Charts

Chart (1996) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[17] 16
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[18] 43
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[19] 38
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[20] 44
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[21] 40
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[22] 33
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[23] 27
French Albums (SNEP)[24] 43
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25] 45
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[26] 22
Scottish Albums (OCC)[27] 51
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[28] 20
UK Albums (OCC)[29] 31
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[30] 5
US Billboard 200[31] 34

References

  1. ↑ Rosenberg, Axl; Krovatin, Christopher (October 24, 2017). Hellraisers: A Complete Visual History of Heavy Metal Mayhem. Race Point Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7603-6182-5.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Audio interview with Kerry King Part 1 and 2". toazted.com. Archived from the original on January 30, 2008. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Midwest Metal Magazine interview with Tom Araya". Midwestmetalmagazine.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
  4. ↑ "About". Slayer.net. Archived from the original on March 11, 2007. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
  5. ↑ Davis, Brian (July 26, 2004). "A Rare Interview with Slayer Shredder Hanneman, Gripping Firmly onto the Reigns of Metal". Knac.com. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
  6. 1 2 3 Kott, Paul. "Undisputed Attitude". AllMusic. Retrieved March 18, 2007.
  7. ↑ Blush, Steven, American Hardcore: A Tribal History (New York: Feral House, 2001), "Guilty of Being White", in an interview with Ian MacKaye, 30–31.
  8. ↑ Lien, James (July 1996). "Review of Undisputed Attitude". College Music Journal (35): 43.
  9. ↑ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 408. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  10. 1 2 Eddy, Chuck (June 21, 1996). "Undisputed Attitude Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
  11. ↑ Staunton, Terry (August 17, 2000). "SLAYER - Undisputed Attitude". NME. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  12. 1 2 Masuo, Sandy (May 30, 1996). "Slayer: Undisputed Attitude : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. p. 49. Archived from the original on August 21, 2007. Retrieved March 18, 2007.
  13. ↑ "Slayer's album chart history". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
  14. ↑ Begrand, Adrien (January 23, 2004). "The Devil in Music". PopMatters.com. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
  15. ↑ Roberts, Michael (August 2000). "Westworld Online interview with Kerry King". SlayerSaves.com. Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved December 20, 2007.
  16. ↑ "Drummer Jon Dette: 'To Be Part Of The Slayer History Again Is Awesome". February 25, 2013. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Slayer – Undisputed Attitude". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Slayer – Undisputed Attitude" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Slayer – Undisputed Attitude" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Slayer – Undisputed Attitude" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 3012". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Slayer – Undisputed Attitude" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  23. ↑ "Slayer: Undisputed Attitude" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  24. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Slayer – Undisputed Attitude". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  25. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Slayer – Undisputed Attitude" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  26. ↑ "Charts.nz – Slayer – Undisputed Attitude". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  27. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  28. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Slayer – Undisputed Attitude". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  29. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  30. ↑ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  31. ↑ "Slayer Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
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