| The Argument | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 16, 2001 | |||
| Recorded | January–April 2001 | |||
| Studio | Inner Ear, Dischord House,Arlington, Virginia | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 44:53 | |||
| Label | Dischord | |||
| Producer |
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| Fugazi chronology | ||||
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The Argument is the sixth and final studio album by Americanpost-hardcore bandFugazi, released on October 16, 2001, byDischord Records. It was recorded atDon Zientara'sInner Ear Studios inArlington, Virginia, and the Dischord House between January and April 2001. It was the band's last release (simultaneously withFurniture) before going on hiatus in 2003, until the release ofFirst Demo over thirteen years later.
Upon release,The Argument was met with critical and commercial success. Many critics have called it the band's best album as well as one of the most important releases in thepost-hardcore genre.
The Argument saw Fugazi continue to expand upon the more experimentalart punk leanings ofRed Medicine andEnd Hits while also heavily incorporating other instruments, such aspiano andcello into their sound.[3] The album also featured the first extensive contributions from outside musicians, most notably longtime stage-techJerry Busher, who added percussion on a second drum set to several of the album's songs as well asKathi Wilcox ofBikini Kill and Bridget Cross ofUnrest who provided additional backing vocals.[5]
When asked about the meaning of the album's title byGuitar World in a 2001 interview, singer/guitaristIan MacKaye described it (and the song title from which the album name comes), as "an anti-war manifesto." MacKaye expanded upon this by stating, "A main point of the song is that I will not agree with war across the board. It also talks about a greater argument: that these giant airplanes are dropping tons of homicidal weaponry, blowing the shit out of everybody, and guys are running around with guns. And that is an argument of colossal scale."[6]
The band began work onThe Argument in 1999, after touring in support ofEnd Hits. This process saw the group taking more time than usual to write and demo material. Each member brought their own individual riffs and ideas to the band, jam on them, and then begin piecing the songs together into various configurations before deciding on what became the final versions.[7]
In some cases, the group picked apart songs that were already written to form completely new works. When asked about this process, and the track "Epic Problem" in particular, singer/guitaristGuy Picciotto explained toPitchfork Media in 2002 "This time, for some reason, we just came up with a new idea for it. The whole verse for that song is different from what we had before, and then suddenly, the chorus. It's likeLego's. I mean, that's really the way that we work. We assemble stockpiles of parts and ideas and then we just kind of just keep clicking them together until something works. There's a song, "Full Disclosure," and there's a song, "Strangelight"; for a long time, they were the same song. But if you listen to the record, they don't sound anything alike. It's hard to imagine that they could ever have been linked, but for a long time they were."[7] Other tracks, such as "The Kill" were arranged entirely in the studio.[8]
The album's recording sessions took place between January and April 2001 atInner Ear Studios and Dischord House inArlington, Virginia, west ofWashington D.C. The band once again worked with producer/engineerDon Zientara. During the recording process a considerable amount of time was spent finalizing each song's production, in particular the album's drum tracks, in an effort to give the album a unique feel.[5] DrummerBrendan Canty explained toModern Drummer that "We recorded them all very differently in terms of the drum sounds. We used a lot of different drum kits, cymbals, snares, and miking techniques.[5]
The album's cover features a photographic illustration composed of two tightly cropped images of what appears to be a bronze relief plaque: two arms of justice extended in opposite directions, one with a torch in-hand and the other empty. The CD insert has two silver folds that open to reveal a booklet which includes a picture of a plaque memorializingKent State shooting victimSandra Lee Scheuer, with her name and the date of her death; May 4, 1970 engraved upon it.[9] When asked about the meaning of the cover in a 2001 interview, Picciotto offered the following; "You'll understand the meaning in time. It's like a chemical—you put it out there and the reaction that it creates is what art is."[8]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 87/100[10] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Alternative Press | 8/10[11] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B[12] |
| NME | 8/10[13] |
| Pitchfork | 8.5/10[14] |
| Q |  [15] |
| Rolling Stone | [16] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [17] |
| Spin | 9/10[18] |
| The Village Voice | B+[19] |
In April 2001, the band toured the US.[20]The Argument was released byDischord Records on October 16, 2001, along with their EP,Furniture, almost four years after the release ofEnd Hits. Arion Berger ofRolling Stone called it "bracing" and "intellectual",[16] while Chris True ofAllMusic referred to the album as "ear-shattering and spine-tingling at once" and stated that "the band has raised the bar for themselves and others once again." He also noted that the album had "touched on strange new territory."[3] Overall critical response toThe Argument was very positive. AtMetacritic, which assigns anormalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received anaverage score of 87, based on 20 reviews.[10]
The Argument continued to receive acclaim, appearing on a number of year-end lists including those ofPitchfork,[21]Kerrang!,[22]NME,[23]The A.V. Club,[24] and many others.[citation needed] The following year,Spin wrote that with the album, "Fugazi accomplished the rare feat of producing their best album almost 15 years into their career."[25] In 2008,Turner Prize-nominated artistMark Titchner ranked "The Kill" #1 on his list of the top 10 songs about liberty.[26] The end of the decade saw many (predominantly US) publications including the album on their lists of the best albums of the decade.[citation needed]
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pitchfork | US | Top 200 Albums of the 2000s | 45[27] |
| Cokemachineglow | Canada | Top 100 Albums of the 2000s | 29[28] |
| Decibel | US | Top 100 Greatest Metal Albums Of The Decade | 23[citation needed] |
| Michigan Daily | US | Top 50 Albums of the New Millennium | 40[citation needed] |
| One Thirty BPM | US | Top 100 Albums of the 2000s | 80[29] |
| PopMatters | US | The 100 Best Albums of the 2000s | 66[30] |
| The A.V. Club | US | The best music of the decade | 32[31] |
| eMusic | US | eMusic's 100 albums of the decade | 12[32] |
In 2012,Stereogum ranked it the band's best album, writing: "If "post-punk" were a descriptive term rather than a genre invented by journalists,The Argument might be one of the only albums worthy of such a distinction. [...] Only after repeat listens does the album emerge as a definitive statement alongsideDaydream Nation,Zen Arcade, orKid A. Weird, wonky and wonderful,The Argument is Fugazi's masterpiece."[4] The album was positively re-evaluated by many sources prior to the release ofFirst Demo in 2014. The band was included onConsequence of Sound's list of "10 Artists Who Went Out on Their Best Album", with the website writing thatThe Argument "opens up and reveals itself as a blossoming of the band’s entire career output, shot through with piano, cello, and (yes) acoustic guitar driving some of the fiercest songs Guy Picciotto or MacKaye have wrought together or apart."[33] In an op-ed on the band,Alternative Press wrote that "[t]heir last (not final; remember they’re on hiatus) album [...] found Fugazi as vital, relevant and tuneful than ever. And then that was it: The screen went blank, without build-up or forewarning, as quiet as that album’s title track."[34] "[I]f theirfirst two EPs andRepeater were propaganda to some — releases that commanded the listener to do or not do certain things —" observedTiny Mix Tapes, "thenThe Argument was a question mark to all, inviting listeners to hear the band’s point of view and get them to think for themselves."[35]
In 2020,Brooklyn Vegan included it on their list of "15 albums that defined the 2000s post-hardcore boom", writing that the album "didn't sound likeRepeater or "Waiting Room" or like any of the new post-hardcore in 2001, but it sounded fresh and it fit right in with the younger bands who owed their careers to Fugazi."[2]Las Vegas Weekly ranked the album as one of their favorites from the past 20 years.[36]
All songs written by Fugazi.
| No. | Title | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Untitled (intro) | 0:52 | |
| 2. | "Cashout" | MacKaye | 4:24 |
| 3. | "Full Disclosure" | Picciotto | 3:53 |
| 4. | "Epic Problem" | MacKaye | 3:59 |
| 5. | "Life and Limb" | Picciotto | 3:09 |
| 6. | "The Kill" | Lally | 5:27 |
| 7. | "Strangelight" | Picciotto | 5:53 |
| 8. | "Oh" | Picciotto | 4:29 |
| 9. | "Ex-Spectator" | MacKaye | 4:18 |
| 10. | "Nightshop" | Picciotto | 4:02 |
| 11. | "Argument" | MacKaye | 4:27 |
| Total length: | 44:53 | ||
Fugazi
Additional musicians
Production
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Billboard 200 | 151[37] |
| 2001 | Independent Albums | 1[37] |
| 2001 | UK Albums Chart | 63[38] |
The Argument won theA2IM (American Association of Independent Music) award for Best Rock Album.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | "The Argument" | Best Rock Album | Won |
