Some words on Steve Albini R.I.P.

A quick word on the greatest producer of guitar rock of the last 30 years.

Steve Albini died last week of a heart attack at the age of 61. Such news reminds me that the good die and the bad prevail. Albini was admired greatly for his stewardship of the once-seen-never-forgotten Shellac for over thirty years, a band with iron its its blood; but he was worshipped for his production and engineering and - dare I sound pretentious for a moment - his musical philosophy. He produced some of the most cutting edge artists of the grunge+ era, from Pixies to Nirvana to PJ Harvey. As for the bands you may not be quite so familiar with, they are great and they are myriad. From Urge Overkill to Boss Hog to Slint, Albini laid his sound, drew a raw energy from his charges, and calcified many a musical act’s purest moment of identity.

A long time back I began to think of Albini as having a writer’s approach to the bands he produced and played in. A short story writer, even. Listen to the playlist I chucked together below and you’ll hear that Albini believed in the great opening line. Not a single song wastes the listener’s time. He understood the emotional allure of the great riff, and he knew how to use it to get the listener hook, line, and sinker.

And I think that Albini also believed (as do I) that there is no greater sound on earth than an electric guitar played in anger. Like Lou Reed, he searched for that perfect, full, sound, and he got it time after time with the different guitarists he worked with.

Personally, he will always have my heart for producing a few of my favourite albums of all time: The Wedding Present’s Seamonsters, Pixies’ Surfa Rosa, and Nirvana’s In Utero, albums that are defined by their sound as much as they are by the band moving about inside that sound. He was a genius and a visionary, and I don’t use either of those terms lightly.

R.I.P. Steve Albini.

Gary Raymond is a novelist, author, playwright, critic, and broadcaster. In 2012, he co-founded Wales Arts Review, was its editor for ten years. His latest book, Abandon All Hope: A Personal Journey Through the History of Welsh Literature is available for pre-order and is out in May 2024 with Calon Books.