Editing Strap It On

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{short description|1990 studio album by Helmet}}
{{for|the song by Anthrax|We've Come for You All}}
{{Infobox album
| name         = Strap It On
| type         = studio
| artist       = [[Helmet (band)|Helmet]]
| cover        = Helmet-StrapItOn.jpg
| alt          = 
| released     = October 1990
| recorded     = 1990
| venue        = 
| studio       = Fun City, New York City
| genre        = {{hlist|[[Post-hardcore]]|[[alternative metal]]|[[noise rock]]|[[groove metal]]}}
| length       = 30:49
| label        = [[Amphetamine Reptile]]
| producer     = [[Wharton Tiers]], Helmet
| prev_title   = 
| prev_year    = 
| next_title   = [[Meantime (album)|Meantime]]
| next_year    = 1992
}}
{{Listen
|filename= Helmet Bad Mood sample.ogg
|title="Bad Mood" (1990)
|description=30 second sample of the ''Strap It On'' track "Bad Mood".
}}

'''''Strap It On''''' is the debut album by American [[alternative metal]] band [[Helmet (band)|Helmet]]. It was released in October 1990 through [[Amphetamine Reptile Records]], and reissued in January 1993 through [[Interscope Records]].

Critics considered the album innovative for its explosive, propulsive, and often [[staccato]] riff style which greatly exploited [[drop D tuning]].  It has since become a cult classic in the post-hardcore genre and even influential on the metal scene.

==Background and recording==
Helmet was formed in 1989 by vocalist/guitarist [[Page Hamilton]] after he left the [[alternative rock]] group [[Band of Susans]]. Hamilton would recruit guitarist [[Peter Mengede]] (originally from Australia), bassist [[Henry Bogdan]], and drummer [[John Stanier (drummer)|John Stanier]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Helmet Biography|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/helmet-mn0000572737}}</ref> Having not settled on a name yet, Mengede's then-wife Reyne Cuccuro suggested the Germanic name of "helmuth".<ref>{{cite web|title=Interview - Rolling Stone|url=http://www.bluecricket.com/helmet/interviews/stone894.html|publisher=bluecricket}}</ref> Having misinterpreted her, Hamilton thought she was referring to the helmet protective gear. Thinking it was "a pretty cool name for a band", Hamilton went with the Anglicized spelling and the band was named Helmet.<ref>{{cite web|title=Interview - Rolling Stone - Helmet|url=http://www.bluecricket.com/helmet/interviews/stone892.html|website=bluecricket}}</ref>

The band was noticed by [[Halo of Flies]] guitarist [[Tom Hazelmyer]], who signed Helmet to his label [[Amphetamine Reptile Records]]; the band would release its debut 7" single, "Born Annoying", later in 1989.

In total, the album cost $2,500 to make.<ref>[https://64.media.tumblr.com/9c463f741c58f56480125b09d468d4f4/3106c8dd8366c29d-eb/s540x810/4f99148f2b1269b79ff8ce985a3a08edae02f44c.pnj 1992 ''Bring The Noise'' magazine Interview]</ref> The album was produced by [[Wharton Tiers]] and the band.

==Release==
''Strap It On'' was released through the independent label [[Amphetamine Reptile Records]] in October 1990.<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine |last=Greer |first=Jim |date=September 1992 |title=Major League |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tAU7_ejzzoYC&pg=PT117 |magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |publisher=SPIN Media, LLC |volume=8 |issue=6 |pages=78, 116}}</ref> In January 1993, it was re-released by their new label [[Interscope Records]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clark |first=Randy |date=January 16, 1993 |title=Music Reviews |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/90s/1993/CB-1993-01-16.pdf |journal=[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]] |volume=57 |issue=19 |via=worldradiohistory.com}}</ref>

==Reception and legacy==
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|last=Birchmeier|first=Jason|title=Strap It On - Helmet|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/strap-it-on-mw0000262875|access-date=March 18, 2010|publisher=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Martin Popoff|Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal]]''
| rev2score = 7/10<ref>{{cite book |last1=Popoff |first1=Martin |author-link1=Martin Popoff |title=The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties |publisher=[[Collector's Guide Publishing]] |year=2007 |location=[[Burlington, Ontario]], [[Canada]] |isbn=978-1-894959-62-9 |page=195}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev3score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Popular Music |title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music |publisher=[[MUZE]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-19-531373-4 |editor-last=Larkin |editor-first=Colin |editor-link=Colin Larkin |edition=4th |volume=4 |pages=233–234 |chapter=Helmet}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[MusicHound Rock]]''
| rev4score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="MH">{{cite book |last=Scanlon |first=Christopher |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1999 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |pages=540–541 |chapter=Helmet}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]''
| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>Columnist. "Strap It On". ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]''. May 1995. pg. 125, cited March 18, 2010</ref>
| rev6 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev6score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Helmet|last=Kot|first=Greg|author-link=Greg Kot|title=[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide|The New Rolling Stone Album Guide]]|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|year=2004|edition=4th|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/374 374]}}</ref>
| rev7 = ''[[Select (magazine)|Select]]''
| rev7score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Perry |first=Andrew |date=August 1993 |title=Helmet: Strap It On |magazine=[[Select (magazine)|Select]] |publisher=[[EMAP]] |page=108}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]''
| rev8score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lawton |first=Ian |date=February 9, 1991 |title=Playback |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Sounds/90s/Sounds-1991-02-09-S-OCR.pdf |magazine=[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]] |publisher=[[UBM plc|United Newspapers]] |page=40 |via=worldradiohistory.com}}</ref>
| rev9 = ''[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]]''
| rev9score = 6/10<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Helmet|first=Jim|last=Walsh|title=Spin Alternative Record Guide|title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide|editor1-first=Eric|editor1-last=Weisbard|editor2-first=Craig|editor2-last=Marks|publisher=[[Vintage Books]]|year=1995|isbn=0-679-75574-8|pages=181–182}}</ref>
}}
The album received positive reviews, with critics praising the band's fresh, raw and innovative sound. In September 1992, the original Amphetamine Reptile release was estimated to have sold 10,000 copies.<ref name=":0" /> By February 1995, this figure had increased to 40,000.<ref name="Billboard 1995" /> Amphetamine Reptile Records founder Tom Hazelmyer would later state that ''Strap It On'' kept the label going throughout the 1990s.<ref name="Billboard 1995">{{Citation | last = Clark | first = Rick | title = Give Them One Good Region: Local Labels Congregate In Cities Where Talent Gathers | newspaper = Billboard | pages = 114 | date = February 25, 1995 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4gsEAAAAMBAJ&q=omnium&pg=PA1 | access-date = April 19, 2015 }}</ref>

AllMusic's Jason Birchmeier wrote in his review "The nine-song album is a brief one, clocking in around a half-hour, but even such brevity proves wonderfully exhausting by the time you near the last couple songs. In fact, by the time you make it past 'Sinatra', one of the album's highlights and also the halfway point, slow fatigue threatens as the riffs continue to hammer away unrelentingly and vocalist Page Hamilton's sometimes-tuneful, oftentimes-bellowing shouting grows seemingly further agonized. The overall relentlessness should be a sheer pleasure to those who enjoy the intensity of metal without the clownish clichés yet, at the same time, enjoy the originality of alt-rock without the pansy passivity."<ref name="allmusic"/>  In 1994, ''[[The New York Times]]'' labelled ''Strap It On'' as "relentlessly noisy."<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/24/arts/recordings-view-an-earful-of-noisy-sludge-from-three-new-york-bands.html | title=RECORDINGS VIEW; an Earful of Noisy Sludge from Three New York Bands | newspaper=The New York Times | date=July 24, 1994 | last=Strauss | first=Neil }}</ref> In 2006, ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'' labelled it and ''[[Meantime (album)|Meantime]]'' as one of "the metal band's two triumphs."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/9215-monochrome/ | title=Helmet: Monochrome | website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] }}</ref>
Future guitarist [[Chris Traynor]] was a fan of the album, and considered it to be "one of the most important rock records ever."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PG&p_theme=pg&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EADFC04BAE5B5C2&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |title=Post-Gazette.com |publisher=Nl.newsbank.com |date=August 29, 1997 |access-date=February 21, 2013}} {{subscription required}}</ref>

''[[Kerrang!]]'' ranked the album at No. 19 in their list of "The 50 Best Albums From 1990", and stated that the album is "balanced on the centre-point between [[Alternative metal|alt.metal]], [[noise rock]] and [[post-hardcore]]."<ref>{{cite web|last=Law|first=Sam|date=July 8, 2020|title=The 50 Best Albums From 1990|url=https://www.kerrang.com/features/the-50-best-albums-from-1990/|access-date=November 22, 2020|website=[[Kerrang!]]}}</ref> ''[[Stereogum]]'' named the track "Sinatra" as one of the "30 Essential Noise Rock Tracks", and the album as "rough-hewn post-hardcore" and [[groove metal]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Terich|first=Jeff|date=November 28, 2018|title=30 Essential Noise Rock Tracks|url=https://www.stereogum.com/2023335/best-noise-rock-songs/franchises/ultimate-playlist/|access-date=November 22, 2020|website=[[Stereogum]]}}</ref>

In 2004, the songs "Repetition", "FBLA", "Bad Mood" and "Sinatra" appeared on the compilation album ''Unsung: The Best of Helmet 1991–1997''.<ref>{{cite web|title=''Unsung: The Best of Helmet'' > Review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r677373|pure_url=yes}} |publisher=[[Allmusic]] |last=Kellman |first=Andy |access-date=May 14, 2022}}</ref> The track listing for the compilation was chosen by Page Hamilton.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.punknews.org/article/7946/helmet-best-of-to-be-released-in-january|title=Helmet best-of to be released in January|website=www.punknews.org|date=December 27, 2003 }}</ref> The Sacramento-based alternative metal group [[Deftones]] covered the song "Sinatra", with it appearing on their 2005 compilation album ''[[B-Sides & Rarities (Deftones album)|B-Sides & Rarities]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.deftones.com/albums |title=Discography |publisher=Deftones |access-date=February 21, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100507080704/http://www.deftones.com/albums |archive-date=May 7, 2010 }}</ref> The song was also covered by the band Livver on the 2016 Helmet tribute album ''Meantime (Redux)''. The album further included covers of "Bad Mood" by Blackwolfgoat and "Blacktop" by Heads.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ghostcultmag.com/album-review-various-artists-meantime-redux-helmet/ | title=Various Artists – Meantime Redux | date=October 4, 2016 }}</ref>

==Track listing==
All music and lyrics by [[Page Hamilton]].
{{tracklisting
| title1       = Repetition
| length1      = 3:00
| title2       = Rude
| length2      = 4:13
| title3       = Bad Mood
| length3      = 2:15
| title4       = Sinatra
| length4      = 4:31
| title5       = FBLA
| length5      = 2:40
| title6       = Blacktop
| length6      = 3:20
| title7       = Distracted
| length7      = 3:12
| title8       = Make Room
| length8      = 3:28
| title9       = Murder
| length9      = 4:03
| total_length = 30:49
}}
{{tracklist
| headline = Japanese bonus track
| title10 = Impressionable
| length10 = 2:04
| total_length = 32:53
}}

==Accolades==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:0 1em 1em 0;"
|-
!Year
!Publication
!Country
!Accolade
!Rank
!class=unsortable|
|-
|align=center|1995    ||''[[Alternative Press (music magazine)|Alternative Press]]''    ||United States
| "Top 99 of '85 to '95"    ||align=center|25    ||<ref>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/apress.html#Alternative%20Press%20%2810th%20Anniversary%20Issue%29%20July%2095| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060215065355/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/apress.html#Alternative%20Press%20%2810th%20Anniversary%20Issue%29%20July%2095| url-status=usurped| archive-date=February 15, 2006| title=Alternative Press - Top 99 Of '85 to '95| access-date=December 3, 2009 | magazine=[[Alternative Press (music magazine)|Alternative Press]]}}</ref>
|-
|align=center|1998    ||''Alternative Press''    ||United States
| "The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s"    ||align=center|12    ||<ref>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/apress.html#The%2090%20Greatest%20Albums%20of%20the%2090s| archive-url=https://archive.today/20120909153325/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/apress.html#The%2090%20Greatest%20Albums%20of%20the%2090s| url-status=usurped| archive-date=September 9, 2012| title=Alternative Press - The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s  | access-date=December 3, 2009 | magazine=[[Alternative Press (music magazine)|Alternative Press]]}}</ref>
|- class="sortbottom"
| colspan="6"  style="font-size:8pt; text-align:center;"|"'''*'''" denotes an unordered list.
|}

==Personnel==

'''Band'''
* [[Page Hamilton]] – vocals, guitar
* [[Henry Bogdan]] – bass
* [[Peter Mengede]] – guitar
* [[John Stanier (drummer)|John Stanier]] – drums
'''Technical'''
* [[Wharton Tiers]] – mixing, engineering, production

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Helmet}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1990 debut albums]]
[[Category:Helmet (band) albums]]
[[Category:Amphetamine Reptile Records albums]]
[[Category:Interscope Records albums]]
[[Category:Groove metal albums]]