Released to massive European acclaim, Machine Head's full-length debut, Burn My Eyes, successfully bridges the gap between second-generation Bay Area thrash (Testament, Death Angel, etc.) and the modern-day Pantera school of hard knocks. Produced by underground stalwart Colin Richardson, Burn My Eyes is a bone-shattering exercise in brutality that gives Pantera's classic, Vulgar Display of Power, a good run for its money. A veteran of the Bay Area thrash scene, guitarist/vocalist Robb Flynn emerges as Machine Head's anchor. As guitar player of the riff-heavy yet vocally challenged band Vio-Lence, Flynn had already distinguished himself as a riff-making machine on tracks like "Serial Killer" and "Kill on Command." Interestingly, with the release of Burn My Eyes, every effort was made to cover up Flynn's involvement with his ex-bandmates. Looking back at it, it's easy to understand why. Because of the quick word of mouth in the underground metal community, comparisons to his ex-bandmates would have limited the impact of the record, possibly thwarting its merits. If Vio-Lence held promise, Machine Head was a different proposition all together. Anthems like "Davidian" and "Take My Scars" are monstrous slabs of metal that, by far, eclipse anything Flynn had previously done. Nevertheless, Burn My Eyes is a classic debut and one that helped launch a huge European groundswell for the band that would result in a tour as Slayer's support act. A few months later, the Head would return and headline the very same venues in which they'd opened for Slayer. ~ John Franck, All Music Guide
Robb Flynn (Vocals), Logan Mader (Guitar), Robb Flynn (Guitar), Colin Richardson (Mixing), Steve Warner (Assistant Engineer), Dave McKean (Illustrations), Vincent Wojno (Mixing), Dave McKean (Design), Chris Kontos (Drums), Liz Sroka (Assistant Engineer), Adam Duce (Bass), Robert Flynn, Jr. (Vocals), Vincent Wojno (Engineer), Adam Duce (Vocals (Background)), Robb Flynn (Design), Machine Head (Producer), Haraldo (Photography), Colin Richardson (Producer), Robert Flynn, Jr. (Guitar), Jesse Fischer (Photography), Eddy Schreyer (Mastering)
Burn My Eyes is the debut album by American heavy metal band Machine Head. The album's themes generally tie into the social disorder and corresponding inner tension that the band was exposed to in their native Oakland, California, reflected in Robb Flynn's lyrics.
The songs make references to some certain well-publicized controversies, such as the 1992 Los Angeles Riots (heard in dialogue on "Real Eyes, Realize, Real Lies") and the Waco Siege of 1993 ("Davidian"). Elsewhere, there are tales of physical and mental abuse ("None But My Own", "The Rage To Overcome"), the condemning of profits from religious soliciting ("Death Church"), succumbing to substance abuse ("I'm Your God Now") and aforementioned themes of urban decay, social unrest, rebellion, belligerence, and socio-political commentary.
Stylistically, the album is credited as having bridged the gap between Pantera-style groove and the thrash metal stylings of Slayer's 80's output (which certainly can be heard on songs such as "Blood for Blood" and "A Nation on Fire"). The band's goal with this album was to create the "west coast's" answer to Biohazard's street narratives. Compared to their concurrent releases, it is probably their most raw and aggressive recording thus far, and the style is somewhat harkened back to on their post-Supercharger output.
The release of this album was followed shortly by numerous tours, which eventually led to drummer Chris Kontos leaving the band, and being replaced after careful consideration by the current drummer Dave McClain.
The album has since became a lasting success. In 1994, it quickly became a Roadrunner Records best seller and was the label's best-selling debut album for a number of years, until the release of Slipknot's 1999 self-titled debut.
Reception
Q magazine (11/94, p.115) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...a violent, grinding experience, spiked with social comment and spruced up with some brain- tingling guitar..."
Kerrang! (p.21) - "Burn My Eyes took the heaviness and speed of thrash and combined it with the sledgehammer grooves of more left-field acts" -
Kerrang! (p.53) - "[O]ne of the most ferocious and groove-laden behemoths the metal world has, and likely will ever see."
"Alan's on Fire" - 4:00 (Poison Idea cover; Digipak Bonus Track)
Australian Tour Edition
The following songs consisted entirely of the Burn My Eyes Demo.
"Death Church" – 6:18
"Old" – 4:23
"The Rage to Overcome" – 5:04
"A Nation on Fire" – 4:46
"Real Eyes, Realize, Real Lies / Fuck It All" – 6:54
Re-release
On October 31st 2006, Roadrunner Records announced that as part of their 25th Anniversary, they will be re-releasing Burn My Eyes with a bonus CD, which includes previously unreleased tracks and rarities. It was said to be due out on January the 8th, 2007 but was then been pushed back to September 2007 so it did not interfere with the release of 'The Blackening'. However, the re-release was in fact cancelled. Robb Flynn reported this on his blog, which is posted on Machinehead1.com
"To the best of our knowledge, the BME re-release that was supposed to have coincided with the 25th anniversary of Roadrunner Records back in 2005 and was then re-scheduled to be released in Oct 2006, has been back-burnered. And as far as we're concerned, that's a good thing. This is the year of The Blackening, and the time frame to re-release it has passed, not to mention that the idea of re-releasing a 13-year old album that we already celebrated with 2 anniversary shows (3 years ago) makes zero sense to us. We were never excited about re-issuing it to begin with, as it was just gonna have a bunch of b-sides, and wouldn't have been nearly as cool some of the other re-issues that had DVDs and all sorts of cool shit... so, as much as some of you may be bummed, know that it's better this way."
