| This Station Is Non-Operational | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | May 24, 2005 | |||
| Recorded | 1997–2001 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 72:09 | |||
| Label | Fearless | |||
| Producer | Ross Robinson, Mike Major, Simon Askew | |||
| At the Drive-In chronology | ||||
| ||||
This Station Is Non-Operational is acompilation album byEl Paso, Texas-basedpost-hardcore bandAt the Drive-In, released May 24, 2005 byFearless Records, four years after the band went on indefinite hiatus. Its tracks span the band's career from 1997 to 2000, with selections fromEl Gran Orgo (1997),In/Casino/Out (1998),Vaya (1999), andRelationship of Command (2000), as well as several rare tracks taken fromsingles and a previously unreleasedcover version ofThe Smiths' "This Night Has Opened My Eyes". The album also includes aDVD with themusic videos for "Metronome Arthritis", "One Armed Scissor", and "Invalid Litter Dept.", anelectronic press kit, adiscography, andmultimedia content. It became the band's highest-charting release in the United States. Its title comes from a lyric in the song "One Armed Scissor".[1]
The compilation does not contain any material from the band's releases prior to 1997, omitting theEPsHell Paso (1994) and¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo! (1995) as well as their 1996 debut albumAcrobatic Tenement. GuitaristJim Ward addressed these omissions in a 2006 interview:
I was just adamant about certain things staying off it. There was just some stuff I wanted to stay special, like those early seven-inches. If you have them, then you have them because you were in a certain place at a certain time. I wanted to keep it special for those people if it makes sense. It's not that they’re embarrassing to me, it's because I wanted them to remain intimate with those people who were there when we slept on their floors. We were putting out 500 seven-inches even though people sell them oneBay for more than I had to put them out with. I still prefer it that way. I like that culture; I’m part of that culture. I didn’t want everything homogenized into one album. I'm not a big [fan] of "greatest hits" or whatever, but I understand that's part of what labels do. I wasn't really a big part of it to be honest with you.[2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Drowned in Sound | 10/10[3] |
| Pitchfork Media | 8.3/10[4] |
| Rolling Stone |  [5] |
This Station Is Non-Operational became At the Drive-In's highest-charting release in the United States, reaching #95 on theBillboard 200 and #3 on the Top Independent Albums chart.[6][7][8] Critical reaction to the compilation was very positive. Johnny Loftus ofAllmusic stated that it "really makes you miss the focused intensity of the band's salad days", and that because of the stylistic improvisations of the band members' post-At the Drive-In projectsThe Mars Volta andSparta "it's easy to forget about At the Drive-In's capacity for convention. Their spectacular live show was a big part of their success. But asThis Station Is Non-Operational continually points out, At the Drive-In wrote incredible songs, too."[1] Mike Diver ofDrowned in Sound gave the album a perfect score of 10 out of 10, remarking that it "must be listened to with an absolutely open mind. Yes, those earliest efforts fromEl Gran Orgo are scratchy, gutterside punk at best and, well, utterly underwhelming in absolute fairness. But that's not what ATD-I will be remembered for - it's the tracks fromIn/Casino/Out and the straw that ultimately broke their collective back,Relationship of Command, that today's fashioncore 'punks' have plumbed almost endlessly for inspiration. And you know what? They still sound amazingly fresh and vital."[3] He noted that the rare tracks make the release attractive to existing fans, but "To the newcomer, though, this record just about transcends essential; really, if you like contemporarypunk rock, even theMTV-sanitised version, then you've no excuse whatsoever for not owning this."[3]
Jason Crock ofPitchfork Media noted that the release "aims to be a retrospective in the true sense of the word", ignoring some of the band's strongest songs and singles such as "Invalid Litter Dept." in favor of offering "a snapshot of the band's artistic growth, from class-actemo to muscular modern rock."[4] He criticized theB-side tracks as "unrewarding" and "mildly compelling curios", but accepted them as "simply footnotes to the story told by the first 11 tracks"[4] Remarking on the press' interpretation of the band members' post-At the Drive-In projects Sparta as "accessible" and The Mars Volta as "difficult", he noted that "the push/pull between the two extremes within the songs onThis Station Is Non-Operational is seamless."[4] Christian Hoard ofRolling Stone was more critical of the compilation, stating that "Where ATDI's later albums were art-punk cherry bombs packed with cascading shouts and tricky rhythms, most of these singles, rarities, B sides and live cuts sound unfocused -- long on arty twists and youthful bloodletting but short on explosiveness."[5]
All tracks are written byCedric Bixler-Zavala,Jim Ward,Omar Rodríguez-López,Paul Hinojos, andTony Hajjar, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fahrenheit" (fromEl Gran Orgo EP, 1997) | Bixler-Zavala, Rodríguez-López, Hinojos, Hajjar | 2:27 | |
| 2. | "Picket Fence Cartel" (fromEl Gran Orgo EP, 1997) | Bixler-Zavala, Rodríguez-López, Hinojos, Hajjar | 2:29 | |
| 3. | "Chanbara" (fromIn/Casino/Out, 1998) | 2:57 | ||
| 4. | "Lopsided" (fromIn/Casino/Out, 1998) | 4:41 | ||
| 5. | "Napoleon Solo" (fromIn/Casino/Out, 1998) | 4:44 | ||
| 6. | "Pickpocket" (fromIn/Casino/Out, 1998) | 2:35 | ||
| 7. | "Metronome Arthritis" (fromVaya EP, 1999) | 3:58 | ||
| 8. | "198d" (fromVaya EP, 1999) | 4:03 | ||
| 9. | "One Armed Scissor" (fromRelationship of Command, 2000) | Ross Robinson | 3:44 | |
| 10. | "Enfilade" (fromRelationship of Command, 2000) | Robinson | 5:03 | |
| 11. | "Non-Zero Possibility" (fromRelationship of Command, 2000) | Robinson | 5:33 | |
| 12. | "Incetardis" (from "One Armed Scissor" single, 2000) | Robinson | 3:26 | |
| 13. | "Doorman's Placebo" (from At the Drive-In / The Aasee Lake split single, 1998) | 5:32 | ||
| 14. | "Autorelocator" (fromSunshine / At the Drive-In split single, 2000) | Mike Major, At the Drive-In | 4:59 | |
| 15. | "Rascuache" (Latch Bros. remix; from At the Drive-In / Murder City Devils split single, 2000) | 3:24 | ||
| 16. | "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" (originally performed byThe Smiths, recorded July 1998) | Morrissey,Johnny Marr | 3:58 | |
| 17. | "Initiation" (BBC session; from "Invalid Litter Dept." single, 2001) | Bixler-Zavala, Ward, Adam Amparan, Rodríguez-López, Ryan Sawyer | Simon Askew | 3:33 |
| 18. | "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" (BBC session, originally performed byPink Floyd; from "Invalid Litter Dept." single, 2001) | Roger Waters | Askew | 5:03 |
| Total length: | 72:09 | |||
[9]Band
Additional musicians
Production
Artwork
| Year | Country | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Billboard 200 (U.S.) | 95[10] |
| 2005 | Australian Albums Chart | 34[11] |
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)