Shot is an album by the band The Jesus Lizard, its first release on Capitol Records.[8][9] Some copies of the album were accompanied by a documentary titled "Sho(r)t".[10]

Shot
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 16, 1996
Recorded1995
GenreNoise rock
Length43:00
LabelCapitol
ProducerGGGarth
The Jesus Lizard chronology
Down
(1994)
Shot
(1996)
The Jesus Lizard
(1998)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[6]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[4]
NME[5]
Pitchfork Media6.2/10[7]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide[3]

Production

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Impressed by his work on the album Houdini by Melvins, the band hired producer GGGarth to record Shot.[11] Of note on the album is the very different production of David Yow's vocals, which are now much clearer and higher in the mix than on previous recordings.

Shot is the first studio album by the band that was not recorded by Steve Albini.[12] It has been widely held that Steve Albini refused to work with the band because they had signed to a major label, although Albini himself denied this in comments made to a review of the 2009 reissue of the Touch and Go catalog that appears on the Paste Magazine web site.[citation needed]

Critical reception

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Shot became the band's only album to chart in the US, as it peaked at No. 28 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart.[13]

Trouser Press wrote that "songs like 'Thumbscrews' and 'Skull of a German' prove Yow hasn’t lost anything in terms of horror-storytelling, but his stab at 'singing' (much in the manner he employed in his Scratch Acid days) is ill-advised."[14] Kerrang! wrote that Shot "features [David Wm.] Sims’ best bass playing," praising "the spiralling flourish at 2:37 on 'Skull Of A German'."[15] Perfect Sound Forever wrote that "even though the band is bathed in 'clean' conventional studio mix, they are still the Jesus Lizard and that means dark, ugly and weird."[16] The Rough Guide to Rock called the album "another wedge of death-metal-grunge that showed little sign of burnout."[17]

Track listing

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All songs written by the Jesus Lizard.

  1. "Thumper" – 3:31
  2. "Blue Shot" – 4:13
  3. "Thumbscrews" – 3:10
  4. "Good Riddance" – 3:15
  5. "Mailman" – 3:26
  6. "Skull of a German" – 3:42
  7. "Trephination" – 3:34
  8. "More Beautiful Than Barbie" – 2:50
  9. "Too Bad About the Fire" – 4:00
  10. "Churl" – 2:53
  11. "Now Then" – 2:34
  12. "Inamorata" – 3:05
  13. "Pervertedly Slow" – 2:40
  14. "Shut Up" (Japanese CD only bonus track) – 1:20
  15. "Bad Guy" (Japanese CD only bonus track) – 2:20

Personnel

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  • GGGarth - producer
  • Jeff Lane and GGGarth - engineer
  • Joe Barresi - mixing
  • Chad Bamford - second mixing engineer
  • Howie Weinberg - mastering
  • Michael Lavine - photography

References

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  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "allmusic ((( Shot > Review )))". AllMusic. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4. MUZE. p. 621.
  3. ^ Brackett, Nathan. "The Jesus Lizard". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. November 2004. pg. 430, cited April 25, 2010
  4. ^ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 602.
  5. ^ Columnist. "Shot". Q. May 1996. pg. 59, cited April 25, 2010
  6. ^ Sinclair, Tom. "Shot". Entertainment Weekly. April 1996, cited April 25, 2010
  7. ^ Josephes, Jason. "Shot". pitchfork.com. Retrieved on May 7, 2010.
  8. ^ "The Jesus Lizard's Sho(r)t was the best document of its major label dalliance". News.
  9. ^ "The Jesus Lizard | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  10. ^ "Jesus Lizard's 'Sho(r)t' Strategy". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. August 3, 1996 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ The Jesus Lizard Book. Akashic Books. February 16, 2014. ISBN 9781617751219 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ "Inside the Jesus Lizard's New BOOK". Pitchfork.
  13. ^ "Former Jesus Lizard David Yow Casts Lewd Clanging Solo Album Debut". Billboard. June 15, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  14. ^ "Jesus Lizard". Trouser Press. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Your Essential Guide To The Jesus Lizard". Kerrang!.
  16. ^ "Jesus Lizard". www.furious.com.
  17. ^ The Rough Guide to Rock (2nd ed.). Rough Guides Ltd. 1999. p. 516.
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