So why is The Suicide Machines on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
The Suicide Machines’ self-titled album caps an insanely great three-album run (and in fact, it’s followed by Steal This Record, no slouch in its own right at #829 of the best 1,000 albums ever!).
While The Suicide Machines doesn’t quite catch the high highs of Destruction by Definition (#230) or Battle Hymns (#26), it’s a remarkably consistent and great album in its own right.
What’s noteworthy about it too is that while it still holds onto a chunk of the aggressive ska punk influence that powers the band’s first two albums, there’s a much greater emphasis on a poppier alternative rock sound that pays tremendous dividends.
It’s also the kind of album where I just enjoy the entire thing and don’t have any particular favorite songs. I’d pick “Permanent Holiday” as a strong representative song for the reasons I mention above.
“I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” is super catchy upbeat ska punk-meets-pop punk with a clear tongue-in-cheek flair (“I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden…”). Classic Suicide Machines, in other words.
“The Fade Away” is a nice moody alt rock number with great vocals.
And “I Hate Everything” is angsty and funny at the same time. It’s also oddly cathartic too, I’ve found, especially when turning it way up while at the gym.
No huggin’ trees
Because today I hate everything
Pop culture stuff that has something to do with The Suicide Machines
I am entirely susceptible to going down “YouTube rabbit holes,” as I call them. Thankfully, I’m not talking about anything weird or politics-related. I’m talking about TV, music, and movies-related stuff, and Saturday Night Live clips are often what trigger a session the fastest.
So it was that I recently got caught up watching this hilarious SNL sketch that, I think you’ll find, does tie in nicely from a thematic standpoint with The Suicide Machines’ “I Hate Everything.”
Also: the star power in that band is just unbelievable, yes?
Some stats & info about The Suicide Machines
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Ska Punk, Third Wave Ska Revival, Punk Rock, Alternative Rock, Pop Punk
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 3 out of 5 stars
- When was The Suicide Machines released? 2000
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #441 out of 1,000
The Suicide Machines on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from The Suicide Machines that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
I won’t spend another day in this heart attack city, it’s messed up here and everything’s money.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.