Challenge for a Civilized Society

Challenge for a Civilized Society is the sixth studio album by the American post-hardcore band Unwound, released on January 13, 1998 by Kill Rock Stars. It was produced by Steve Fisk and recorded from August 1, 1997, to August 15, 1997, at John and Stu's in Seattle, Washington. The album received positive reviews from critics.

Challenge for a Civilized Society
Studio album by
Unwound
ReleasedJanuary 13, 1998
RecordedAugust 1–15, 1997
Genre
Length46:27
LabelKill Rock Stars
ProducerSteve Fisk
Unwound chronology
Repetition
(1996)		 Challenge for a Civilized Society
(1998)		 A Single History: 1991–1997
(1999)

Recording and release

Challenge for a Civilized Society was written in "a little more than a month" after Unwound took a break of a year and a half without writing any songs.[1] The album was produced by the band's long-time collaborator, Steve Fisk, and recorded from August 1, 1997, to August 15, 1997, at John and Stu's in Seattle, Washington.[2] According to singer and guitarist Justin Trosper, "With Challenge, we tried to expand our studio sound more than anything. The song structures are tighter and the album contains some of our best songs, but as a whole I think it's not our best album. It was less inspired than the others. Steve Fisk's production is really awesome. He does things that most other people would never think of. I think most producers are wankers with no ideas except commercial potential. Challenge just makes me want to make an album that goes even further out, to really question the whole process even more. What is a record? What is production? What's the audience? What's an artist, and so on?"[3] An early title for the album was Empire.[4]

The album was released on January 13, 1998 by the independent record label Kill Rock Stars, which also released the band's previous four albums.[5] The album cover features a photo of Boston's stained-glass Mapparium.[6] The album spent a total of 16 weeks on the CMJ Radio 200 Chart for 1998, peaking at No. 4.[7] The band toured extensively in support of the album.[8]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
The Boston Phoenix[10]
Kerrang![11]
NME7/10[12]
Pitchfork5.9/10 (1998)[13]
7.8/10 (2015)[14]
The Stranger[15]

Challenge for a Civilized Society received positive reviews from music critics. AllMusic reviewer Jason Ankeny stated that the album "is a study in extremes, as the group's noise assault reaches new pinnacles of raw abrasion."[9] Similarly, NME observed that the album "uses the clenched rigour of emo-hardcore as a springboard rather than, as is so often the case, a constricting ideology. So tense little hate-songs like 'Laugh Track' and 'Mile Me Deaf' expand into tricksy, emotional guitar flurries plainly inspired by Sonic Youth, but, crucially, never lose their basic vicious power."[12] Richard Martin, writing for CMJ New Music Monthly, highlighted the album's sinister mood, concluding "the tone on most of these ten tracks remains foreboding, but this consistent, inventive band rewards those willing to accept its Challenge."[16]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Justin Trosper, Vern Rumsey, and Sara Lund

US Version
No.TitleLength
1."Data"3:33
2."Laugh Track"3:13
3."Meet the Plastics"3:12
4."The World Is Flat"4:34
5."Sonata for Loudspeakers"5:20
6."NO TECH!"1:42
7."Side Effects of Being Tired"9:00
8."Lifetime Achievement Award"5:09
9."What Went Wrong"8:34
10."XLNT" (Unlisted hidden track on US version)2:05
UK and Japanese Versions
No.TitleLength
1."Data"3:33
2."Laugh Track"3:13
3."Meet the Plastics"3:12
4."The World Is Flat"4:34
5."Sonata for Loudspeakers"5:20
6."Mile Me Deaf"2:23
7."NO TECH!"1:42
8."Untitled 3" (Alternate title of Side Effects of Being Tired)9:00
9."Lifetime Achievement Award"5:09
10."Untitled 2" (Alternate title of What Went Wrong)8:34
11."XLNT"2:05
12."The Light at the End of the Tunnel is a Train"10:11

Personnel
Unwound
  • Justin Trosper – lead vocals, guitar, saxophone, univox beatbox, synthesizer
  • Vern Rumsey – bass guitar, lead vocals on "Side Effects of Being Tired/Untitled 3", EPS
  • Sara Lund – drums, percussion
Additional musicians
Technical personnel
  • Steve Fisk – production
  • Kip Beelman – engineer
  • Kevin Suggs – engineer
  • Virginia Benson – photography
  • Roger Seibel – mastering

References
  1. Allison Linn (1998-01-09). "Unwound winds up on tour". The Register-Guard: 5. Retrieved 2015-08-01.
  2. Challenge for a Civilized Society (CD booklet). Unwound. Olympia, Washington: Kill Rock Stars. 1998.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. Piero Scaruffi. "Beautiful Noise". Insound. Archived from the original on 2001-06-03. Retrieved 2001-06-03.
  4. Bowe, Miles (2015-09-01). "Stream Unwound's remastered final album, read our interview". Fact Magazine. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
  5. "Unwound". Kill Rock Stars. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  6. "CMJ Radio 200 '98". CMJ New Music Monthly. 57: 11. January 1999. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  7. Tobi Vail (2013-06-21). "Interview: Unwound". eMusic. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  8. Jason Ankeny. "Challenge for a Civilized Society". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2014-03-15. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  9. Justin Farrar (March 13, 1998). "The Boston Phoenix March 13-19, 1998: Vol 27 Iss 11". The Boston Phoenix – via Internet Archive.
  10. Meany (1998-02-21). "Albums". Kerrang!. No. 687. UK: EMAP. p. 46.
  11. "Challenge For A Civilized Society". NME. 1999-01-15. Archived from the original on 2014-06-26. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  12. Mirov, Nick. "Unwound: Challenge for a Civilised Society: Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  13. Rytlewski, Evan (2015-09-07). "Unwound: Empire". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 2019-10-09. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  14. The Stranger December 1997 issue, page 18
  15. Richard Martin (March 1998). "Challenge For A Civilized Society". CMJ New Music Monthly (55): 46. Retrieved 2013-07-08.
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