''Challenge for a Civilized Society'' is the sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by the American

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...

band

Unwound Unwound () is an American post-hardcore band formed in 1988 in Tumwater and Olympia, Washington. It presently consists of vocalist-guitarist Justin Trosper, bassist Jared Warren, drummer Sara Lund, and guitarist Scott Seckington. Originally ...

, released on January 13, 1998 by

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in February 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but it was orig ...

. It was produced by

Steve Fisk Steve Fisk is an American, Washington-based audio engineer, record producer and musician. As a musician, he has been in bands such as the instrumental alternative/indie rock band Pell Mell and the electronic band Pigeonhed. He has long been a ...

and recorded from August 1, 1997, to August 15, 1997, at John and Stu's in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. The album received positive reviews from critics.

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. The album was produced by the band's long-time collaborator,

, and recorded from August 1, 1997, to August 15, 1997, at John and Stu's in

. According to singer and guitarist

Justin Trosper Justin Trosper is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, born in Olympia, Washington. He fronted the post-hardcore band Unwound from 1991 to 2002 and again since the band’s reunion in 2022. He has also been a member of bands su ...

, "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.

'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?" An early title for the album was ''Empire.'', which would later be used by

The Numero Group The Numero Group is an archival record label that creates compilations of previously released music, reissues original albums, and creates album reconstructions from a variety of musical genres. The label, known as Numero, was founded in 2003 ...

as the title of a compilation album containing both ''Challenge'' as well as Unwound's next and final album ''

Leaves Turn Inside You ''Leaves Turn Inside You'' is the seventh and final studio album by the American post-hardcore band Unwound, released on April 17, 2001 by Kill Rock Stars. The album received critical acclaim from several music publications, both contemporarily ...

''. The album was released on January 13, 1998 by the

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

, which also released the band's previous four albums. The

album cover An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released album, studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to: * the printed paperboard covers typically used to package: ** sets of a ...

features a photo of Boston's stained-glass

Mapparium The Mapparium is a three-story-tall globe made of stained glass that is viewed from a bridge through its interior. As of August 2021, it is part of the "How Do You See the World?" exhibit of the Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston, ...

. The album spent a total of 16 weeks on the

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

Radio 200 Chart for 1998, peaking at No. 4. The band toured extensively in support of the album.

Critical reception

''Challenge for a Civilized Society'' received positive reviews from music critics.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

reviewer Jason Ankeny stated that the album "is a study in extremes, as the group's noise assault reaches new pinnacles of raw abrasion." Similarly, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' 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 Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

, but, crucially, never lose their basic vicious power." Richard Martin, writing for ''

CMJ New Music Monthly CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

'', 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."

Track listing

Personnel

;Unwound *

– lead vocals, guitar, saxophone, univox beatbox, synthesizer *

Vern Rumsey Vernon Emmry Aldo Rumsey (January 24, 1973 – August 6, 2020) was an American musician. He is best known for his work as the bassist of the post-hardcore band Unwound, in which he was a co-founding member. He was also in the bands Long Hind Leg ...

– bass guitar, lead vocals on "Side Effects of Being Tired/Untitled 3", EPS *

Sara Lund Sara Lund (born 1973) is an American musician. She is best known as the drummer for the post-hardcore Olympia, Washington band Unwound for a decade until their break up in 2002. Lund was playing for Witchypoo when she joined Unwound in 1992 repla ...

– drums, percussion ;Additional musicians *

– Ensoniq EPS, Harmonium, Hammond M-3 *Dave Carter – trumpet ;Technical personnel * Steve Fisk – production *Kip Beelman – engineer *Kevin Suggs – engineer *Virginia Benson – photography *Roger Seibel – mastering

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1998 albums Albums produced by Steve Fisk Kill Rock Stars albums Unwound albums