Carcass’ Bill Steer Ranks the Band’s Discography from Worst to Best

Noisey recently got Carcass’ Bill Steer to rank the band’s discography from worst to best. Jeff Walker is the grumpy one in Carcass, so it might have been funnier to hear his ranking of the band’s discography — or at least his explanation for that ranking. Still, Steer’s list will likely surprise most fans, for reasons which will be readily apparent the moment you glance at it.

I’ll put his list a little lower down to give you a chance to make your own list, untainted by Steer’s opinions, before we discuss. Y’know, so you can compare.

Okay. Here comes the list.

Really.

I’m gonna post it now.

No turning back.

Okay I warned you.

06. Reek of Putrefaction (1988)
05. Swansong (1996)
04. Symphonies of Sickness (1989)
03. Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious (1991)
02. Heartwork (1996)
01. Surgical Steel (2013)

I KNOW! Crazy, right? I’d bet 98% of Carcass fans would put Necroticism first and Heartwork second, and 99.9% would put Swansong last. Am I not reading the room correctly? Has the popular opinion shifted radically? Do people younger or older than myself have a wildly different view of things than my social circle does? Does my liberal bubble extend to the appreciation of death metal records???

But here’s the thing: even if my guess as to how most Carcass fans would rank the band’s discography is mostly correct, Steer obviously has a way different perspective on things from those of us who have never been in Carcass. And from the mindset of a creative person, Steer’s list is perfectly logical.

He puts Reek last because, in his own words, the record was a “case of… a very young, naive band going to a studio and not getting what they wanted.” He puts Swansong next because it was made as the band was falling apart and released after they’d already broken-up. Otherwise, he lists the album in reverse chronological order.

In other words, Steer thinks Carcass have mostly improved which each successive release. Which makes sense! Beyond just the whole “practice makes perfect” thing, an artist who really puts his heart and soul into his work is probably going to feel the most strongly connected to the work he created most recently.

So, I guess what I’m saying is, I get where Steer is coming from.

I encourage you to read all of Steer’s explanations for his list at Noisey, ’cause it’s all really interesting. Then come back and go about arguing in the comments section, as per uje.

[via The PRP]