''Cracked Brain'' is the fourth full-length studio album by German

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

band

Destruction Destruction may refer to: Concepts * Destruktion, a term from the philosophy of Martin Heidegger * Destructive narcissism, a pathological form of narcissism * Self-destructive behaviour, a widely used phrase that ''conceptualises'' certain kin ...

, released on May 1, 1990. It is the band's only album to feature André Grieder of

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, replacing Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer, who was fired after the initial sessions for the album. Also featured is a cover of

The Knack The Knack was an American power pop band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1978 by Doug Fieger (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Berton Averre (lead guitar, backing vocals), Prescott Niles (bass) and Bruce Gary (drums). Spearheaded by the succes ...

song "

My Sharona "My Sharona" () is the debut single by American power pop band the Knack. The song was written by Berton Averre and Doug Fieger, and it was released in 1979 from their debut album, '' Get the Knack''. It reached number one on the ''Billboard ...

Recording and production

Recording for ''Cracked Brain'' first started in 1989 but came to a halt when Destruction fired their vocalist and bassist Schmier. Guitarist Mike Sifringer recalled, "We recorded the basic tracks – drums and

riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based ...

-guitars – at Union-Studios in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, a very expensive place. But Schmier was not happy with the music anymore, so what to do? We had to stop the recording session and went back home, everybody was pissed. In hindsight I know we made a wrong decision, we didn't talk enough. We did not meet for years after the split." On the album's recording process, Sifringer said, "To save a bit of money we recorded bass and vocals in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

at Sky Track. A funny bloke named Gerdy, that's all I remember, was behind the desk there. Finally, the producer Guy Bidmead, Oli, Harry and I mixed the whole thing back in Munich." Destruction began re-recording ''Cracked Brain'' shortly after hiring André Grieder of

as Schmier's replacement. Drummer Oliver Kaiser recalled, "André had been a long-time friend of ours – and still is. We asked him if he would like to finish ''Cracked Brain'' with us because we liked his melodious approach to thrash, his style was a bit

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-influenced you might say. We knew there would never be another Schmier so we thought it'd be better to go into a different direction with the vocals. André really did a great job on ''Cracked Brain''." He added, "When André flew up to Berlin for the recording sessions, I had everything already laid out for him. I sang the songs to him and he nailed them just like that."

Track listing

All songs by Sifringer, Wilkens and Kaiser, except track 5 written by Doug Fieger and Berton Averre

Personnel

;Destruction *Mike Sifringer – guitar, bass *Harry Wilkens – guitar, bass *Oliver Kaiser – drums *André Grieder – vocals ;Additional musician *Christian Engler – additional bass ;Production *Andreas Marschall – cover art *Guy Bidmead – production

References

{{Authority control 1990 albums Destruction (band) albums Noise Records albums