Unsane (album)
| Unsane | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 26, 1991 | |||
| Recorded | January 16, 1991 | |||
| Studio | Fun City (New York City, New York) | |||
| Genre | Noise rock[1] | |||
| Length | 36:52 | |||
| Label | Matador | |||
| Producer | Wharton Tiers, Unsane | |||
| Unsane chronology | ||||
| ||||
Unsane is the debut album by Unsane, released on November 26, 1991, through Matador Records.[2][3] It is the only studio album by the group to feature founding member Charlie Ondras (with the exception of 1989's Improvised Munitions, which didn't get a proper release until 2021).[4] Ondras died of a heroin overdose during the 1992 New Music Seminar in New York during the tour supporting Unsane.[5] The album's cover art, depicting a decapitated corpse on subway tracks, was given to the band from a friend who worked on the investigation for the case.[6]
Death metal band Entombed covered "Vandal-X" on their self-titled compilation album in 1997.
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | [1] |
| Distorted Sound | 9/10[7] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [8] |
| Kerrang! | [9] |
| Ox-Fanzine | [10] |
| Select | [11] |
Patrick Kennedy from AllMusic called it a brilliant and daring debut that "assaults the senses like the Swans or Foetus before them, but tempers that art-scum priggishness with clear roots in punk and classic rock."[1]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Unsane.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Organ Donor" | 2:10 |
| 2. | "Bath" | 2:54 |
| 3. | "Maggot" | 3:17 |
| 4. | "Cracked Up" | 2:57 |
| 5. | "Slag" | 2:43 |
| 6. | "Exterminator" | 5:55 |
| 7. | "Vandal-X" | 2:04 |
| 8. | "HLL." | 2:31 |
| 9. | "AZA-2000" | 2:33 |
| 10. | "Cut" | 2:48 |
| 11. | "Action Man" | 2:28 |
| 12. | "White Hand" | 4:26 |
| Total length: | 36:52 | |
Personnel
- Unsane
- Charlie Ondras – drums, lead vocals on "AZA-2000" and "Action Man"
- Pete Shore – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Chris Spencer – lead vocals, guitar
- Additional musicians and production
- Simon Bodger – photography
- Wharton Tiers – production, engineering
- Unsane – production
References
- ^ a b c Kennedy, Patrick. "Unsane Review". AllMusic. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
- ^ Earles, Andrew (2014). Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981-1996. Voyageur Press. p. 346.
- ^ "Unsane". Bandcamp. Retrieved February 17, 2026.
- ^ Manning, Todd (May 4, 2021). "Unsane's Journey Through The Past". Rock and Roll Globe. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
- ^ Jones, Brad. "Unsane in the Brain". Unsane Biography, October 1994. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
- ^ Jagernauth, Kevin (October 29, 2015). "Exclusive: Have A Religious Experience With Unsane In Clip From Amphetamine Reptile Doc 'The Color Of Noise'". Indie Wire. Archived from the original on March 13, 2017. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
- ^ Brown, Gavin (September 21, 2022). "Album Review: Unsane (reissue) - Unsane". Distorted Sound Magazine. Retrieved March 8, 2026.
- ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). "Unsane". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8 (4th ed.). New York : MUZE : Oxford University Press. p. 353. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Gitter, Mike (March 21, 1992). "Rekordz". Kerrang!. No. 384. EMAP. p. 17.
- ^ Hiller, Joachim (December 2022). "Review". Ox-Fanzine (in German). Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ Perry, Andrew (May 1992). "Soundbites". Select. EMAP. p. 73.