Bricks Are Heavy

2025-08-27T01:36:15Z

2600:1700:1881:9800:9D03:FF46:6E4C:25FA: /* Personnel */

{{For|the Russian band|Kirpichi}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Bricks Are Heavy
| type = studio
| artist = [[L7 (band)|L7]]
| cover = L7 bricks are heavy.jpg
| alt =
| released = {{start date|1992|04|14}}
| recorded = November 1991<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=L7 Time Line |url=http://www.repriserec.com/L7/TimeLine/time.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980123192505/http://www.repriserec.com/L7/TimeLine/time.html |archive-date=1998-01-23 |access-date=2024-08-02 |website=[[Reprise Records|repriserec.com]]}}</ref>
| studio =
* [[Smart Studios|Smart]] (Madison, Wisconsin)
* [[Sound City Studios|Sound City]] (Van Nuys, California)
| genre = {{flatlist|
* [[Grunge]]
* [[alternative metal]]
}}
| length = {{Duration|m=37|s=28}}
| label = [[Slash Records|Slash]]
| producer = {{flatlist|
* L7
* [[Butch Vig]]
}}
| prev_title = [[Smell the Magic]]
| prev_year = 1990
| next_title = [[Hungry for Stink]]
| next_year = 1994
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Bricks Are Heavy
| type = studio
| single1 = [[Pretend We're Dead]]
| single1date = 1992
| single2 = [[Everglade (song)|Everglade]]
| single2date = 1992
| single3 = [[Monster (L7 song)|Monster]]
| single3date = 1992
}}
}}

'''''Bricks Are Heavy''''' is the third studio album by American [[Rock music|rock]] band [[L7 (band)|L7]], released on April 14, 1992, by [[Slash Records]]. The album peaked at number 160 on the [[Billboard 200|US ''Billboard'' 200]]<ref name=billboard200/> and number one on the [[Heatseekers Albums]] chart.<ref name=heatseekers/> As of June 2000, ''Bricks Are Heavy'' has sold 327,000 copies in the United States, according to [[Nielsen SoundScan|Nielsen Soundscan]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rg8EAAAAMBAJ&dq=drain+sth+soundscan&pg=PA38 |title=Billboard |date=2000-06-24 |publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc. |language=en}}</ref>

==Production==
Produced by the band and [[Butch Vig]], musically the album is heavier and dirtier than the band's previous recordings and described as "catchy tunes and mean vocals on top of ugly guitars and a quick-but-thick bottom of cast-iron [[grunge]]" by ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''{{'}}s [[Gina Arnold]].<ref name="Arnold"/>

==Critical reception==
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="Rivadavia">{{cite web|last=Rivadavia|first=Eduardo|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/bricks-are-heavy-mw0000610622|title=Bricks Are Heavy – L7|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=March 17, 2010}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''
| rev2score = {{Rating|2.5|4}}<ref name="Kot">{{cite news|last=Kot|first=Greg|author-link=Greg Kot|date=May 7, 1992|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/05/07/l7-bricks-are-heavy-slash-starstar-12heres/|title=L7: Bricks are Heavy (Slash)|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|access-date=February 5, 2017}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s|Christgau's Consumer Guide]]''
| rev3score = A<ref>{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=2000|chapter=L7: Bricks Are Heavy|chapter-url=https://robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=1977|access-date=February 5, 2017|title=Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s|title-link=Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s|publisher=[[St. Martin's Griffin]]|isbn=0-312-24560-2|page=184}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''
| rev4score = A<ref name="Arnold">{{cite magazine|last=Arnold|first=Gina|author-link=Gina Arnold|date=June 19, 1992|url=https://ew.com/article/1992/06/19/bricks-are-heavy/|title=Bricks Are Heavy|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|issue=123|access-date=May 9, 2013|page=71|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601064102/https://ew.com/article/1992/06/19/bricks-are-heavy/|archive-date=June 1, 2024|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[Kerrang!]]''
| rev5score = 5/5<ref name="Chirazi">{{cite magazine|last=Chirazi|first=Steffan|date=April 4, 1992|title=Brick it up!|magazine=[[Kerrang!]]|issue=386|page=25}}</ref>
| rev6 = ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
| rev6score = {{Rating|3|4}}<ref name="Gold">{{cite news|last=Gold|first=Jonathan|author-link=Jonathan Gold|date=May 3, 1992|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-05-03-ca-2063-story.html|title=L7, 'Bricks Are Heavy', Slash|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=February 5, 2017}}</ref>
| rev7 = ''[[NME]]''
| rev7score = 8/10<ref name="Lewis">{{cite magazine|last=Lewis|first=Angela|date=April 11, 1992|title=Kicking Against the Bricks|magazine=[[NME]]|page=32}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev8score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="Berger">{{cite magazine|last=Berger|first=Arion|date=September 17, 1992|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/l7/albums/album/111548/review/5941367/bricks_are_heavy|title=L7: Bricks Are Heavy|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|issue=639|access-date=May 9, 2013|page=94|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112180142/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/l7/albums/album/111548/review/5941367/bricks_are_heavy|archive-date=November 12, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev9 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev9score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Harris|first=Keith|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor1-link=Nathan Brackett|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|editor2-link=Christian Hoard|year=2004|chapter=L7|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|edition=4th|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/500 500]}}</ref>
| rev10 = ''[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]]''
| rev10score = 9/10<ref>{{cite book|last=Stovall|first=Natasha|editor1-last=Weisbard|editor1-first=Eric|editor1-link=Eric Weisbard|editor2-last=Marks|editor2-first=Craig|year=1995|chapter=L7|title=Spin Alternative Record Guide|title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide|publisher=[[Vintage Books]]|isbn=0-679-75574-8|page=231}}</ref>
}}

In a contemporary review for ''[[Playboy]]'', [[Robert Christgau]] regarded ''Bricks Are Heavy'' as an "object lesson in how to advance your music by meeting the marketplace halfway", although he believed it would not sell as much as it deserved. He said Vig helped L7 produce grunge-[[heavy metal music|metal]] featuring "intense admixtures of ditty and [[power chord]]" that "never quite gathers [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]]'s momentum, but it's just as catchy and a touch nastier."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Christgau|first=Robert|authorlink=Robert Christgau|date=June 1992|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/play/1992-06.php|title=L7, Roches, Yo Yo, Rosie Flores|magazine=[[Playboy]]|accessdate=February 5, 2017}}</ref> ''[[NME]]'' critic Angela Lewis called ''Bricks Are Heavy'' a "polished, virile white heat rock" record that "verifies their [[hard rock]] credentials completely" and demonstrates that L7 ought not to be pigeonholed as a grunge act in the vein of "[[Hole (band)|Hole]]–[[Babes in Toyland (band)|Babes]]–[[Calamity Jane (grunge band)|Jane]]".<ref name="Lewis"/> ''[[Kerrang!]]''{{'}}s Steffan Chirazi was most impressed by the album's "relentlessness" in "driving the frustrations of everyday life home",<ref name="Chirazi"/> and Gina Arnold said in ''Entertainment Weekly'' that L7 distinguish themselves from the musically similar Nirvana through the "clarity" of their lyrics. "Although the band's positive-plus stances on liberal issues may not instantly endear it to fuzzy-minded teen America," Arnold wrote, "L7 does manage to be simultaneously fun and furious, an intensely appealing combination."<ref name="Arnold"/>

''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' writer [[Jonathan Gold]], while finding ''Bricks Are Heavy'' "a very good, sometimes brilliant hard-rock album", expressed reservations about Vig's polished production, saying that although it suited "a [[pop music|pop]] band at heart" like Nirvana, "L7 is a ''rock'' band, less like [[the Byrds]] than like the [[MC5]], less about pop craft than about sheer aggression."<ref name="Gold"/> Arion Berger of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' felt that the production's "neatly modulated dynamics" rendered the album "merely raucous where it might have been apocalyptic."<ref name="Berger"/> In the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', [[Greg Kot]] opined that there were not many good songs such as "Slide" and "the performances—while certainly ferocious—aren't sufficiently varied enough to make up the difference."<ref name="Kot"/>

''NME'' listed ''Bricks Are Heavy'' as the 39th-best album of 1992.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.nme.com/features/1992-2-1045374|title=1992 – The Loved Albums|magazine=[[NME]]|date=December 19–26, 1992|access-date=January 15, 2018|pages=56–57}}</ref> It placed at number 32 in ''[[The Village Voice]]''{{'}}s [[Pazz & Jop]] critics' poll,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres92.php|title=The 1992 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|date=March 2, 1993|access-date=January 15, 2018}}</ref> with the poll's creator Robert Christgau ranking the album fourth on his ballot.<ref>{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=March 2, 1993|url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/deans92.php|title=Pazz & Jop 1992: Dean's List|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|access-date=January 15, 2018}}</ref>

===Legacy===
Reviewing ''Bricks Are Heavy'' for [[AllMusic]], Eduardo Rivadavia said that Vig helped L7 "obtain a tight, compact sound" and sharpen their songwriting on what would be their "crowning achievement" and "an impossible act to follow".<ref name="Rivadavia"/>

''Bricks Are Heavy'' is now regarded as one of grunge music's best albums. ''Treble''{{'}}s Brian Roesler credited L7 with helping to define "the very best of early grunge" through the album's fusion of pop and metal musical elements.<ref name="TrebleList16"/>

In 2015, ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'' placed ''Bricks Are Heavy'' at number 249 on its list of the "300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2015/05/the-300-best-albums-of-the-past-30-years-1985-2014/|title=The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985–2014)|website=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|date=May 11, 2015|access-date=January 15, 2018|page=1}}</ref>

===Accolades===
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Critical rankings for ''Bricks Are Heavy''
! Publication
! Country
! Type
! List
! Year
! Rank
! class="unsortable"|{{abbr|Ref.|Reference}}
|-
| ''Treble''
| scope="rowspan" rowspan=3|United States
| scope="rowspan" rowspan=4|All-time
| The 30 Best Grunge Albums
| 2016
| scope="rowspan" rowspan=2|15
| <ref name="TrebleList16">{{Cite web|url=https://www.treblezine.com/32089-the-30-best-grunge-albums/|author=''Treble'' staff|date=October 6, 2016|title=The 30 Best Grunge Albums {{!}} Treble|work=Treble|access-date=May 20, 2023}}</ref>
|-
| ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| 50 Greatest Grunge Albums
| 2019
| <ref name="RSList19">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/50-greatest-grunge-albums-798851/|date=April 1, 2019|title=Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden: 50 Best Grunge Albums|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=May 20, 2023}}</ref>
|-
| ''[[Loudwire]]''
| The 30 Best Grunge Albums of All Time
| 2023
| 16
| <ref name="LoudwireList23">{{Cite web|url=https://loudwire.com/top-grunge-albums-all-time/|author=''Loudwire'' staff|date=January 10, 2023|title=The 30 Best Grunge Albums of All Time - Loudwire|work=[[Loudwire]]|access-date=May 20, 2023}}</ref>
|}

==Track listing==
{{Track listing
| total_length = 37:28
| title1 = Wargasm
| length1 = 2:40
| writer1 = [[Donita Sparks]]
| title2 = Scrap
| length2 = 2:53
| writer2 = Sparks, [[Brett Gurewitz]]
| title3 = [[Pretend We're Dead]]
| length3 = 3:53
| writer3 = Sparks
| title4 = Diet Pill
| length4 = 4:21
| writer4 = Sparks
| title5 = [[Everglade (song)|Everglade]]
| length5 = 3:18
| writer5 = [[Jennifer Finch]], [[Daniel Rey]]
| title6 = Slide
| length6 = 3:37
| writer6 = [[Suzi Gardner]], Sparks
| title7 = One More Thing
| length7 = 4:07
| writer7 = Finch
| title8 = Mr. Integrity
| length8 = 4:06
| writer8 = Sparks
| title9 = [[Monster (L7 song)|Monster]]
| length9 = 2:56
| writer9 = Gardner
| title10 = Shitlist
| length10 = 2:55
| writer10 = Sparks
| title11 = This Ain't Pleasure
| writer11 = Gardner, Phil Caivano
| length11 = 2:42
}}

==Personnel==
Credits adapted from liner notes.

;L7
* [[Donita Sparks]] – guitar, lead vocals (tracks 1–4, 8 and 10)
* [[Suzi Gardner]] – guitar, lead vocals (tracks 6, 9 and 11)
* [[Jennifer Finch]] – bass, lead vocals (tracks 5 and 7)
* [[Demetra Plakas]] – drums, backing vocals (track 3)

;Additional musician
* Paul Ryan – bongos

;Production
* [[Butch Vig]] – production, engineering, mixing
* [[Howie Weinberg]] – mastering
* [[Steve Marker]] – engineering
* Mr. Colson – engineering
* Elizabeth Hale – art direction
* Jeff Price – art direction
* Randall Martin – artwork
* Vicki Berndt – photography
* Arlan E. Helm – photography
* Damion Romero – photography

==Charts==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}

===Album===
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
!scope="col"| Chart (1992)
!scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
{{album chart|Australia|47|artist=L7|album=Bricks Are Heavy|rowheader=true|access-date=August 18, 2022}}
|-
!scope="row"| UK Albums ([[Official Charts Company|OCC]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/27454/l7/|title=L7|work=[[Official Charts Company]]|accessdate=January 15, 2018}}</ref>
| 24
|-
!scope="row"| US [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]]<ref name=billboard200>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/l7/chart-history/tlp/|title=L7 - Billboard 200|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|accessdate=January 15, 2018}}</ref>
| 160
|-
!scope="row"| US [[Heatseekers Albums]] (''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'')<ref name=heatseekers>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/l7/chart-history/tln/|title=L7 - Heatseekers Albums|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|accessdate=January 15, 2018}}</ref>
| 1
|}

{{col-2}}

===Singles===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!rowspan="2"|Year
!rowspan="2"|Title
!colspan="3"|Peak Chart positions
|-
!width=25px|{{small|[[Hot Modern Rock Tracks|US]]}}<br /><sup>[[Hot Modern Rock Tracks|Mod]]</sup>
!width=25px|{{small|[[ARIA Charts|AUS]]}} <ref name="aust">{{cite web |url=http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=L7&titel=Pretend+We%27re+Dead&cat=s |title=L7 Discography |accessdate=2009-12-02 |website=australian-charts.com}}
* "Everglade": {{cite Ryan|page=159}}</ref>
!width=25px|{{small|[[UK Albums Chart|UK]]}} <ref name="ukchart">{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artists/ |title=L7|accessdate=2009-01-31 |publisher=[[Official Charts Company]] |date= }}</ref>
|-
|rowspan="3" align="left"|1992
|align="left"| "[[Pretend We're Dead]]"
|| 8 || 50 || 21
|-
|align="left"| "[[Everglade (song)|Everglade]]"
|| — || 85 || 27
|-
|align="left"| "[[Monster (L7 song)|Monster]]"
|| — || — || 33
|-
|colspan="5" style="font-size:85%"|"—" denotes singles that were released but did not chart.
|}
{{col-end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Discogs master|31939|Bricks Are Heavy}}

{{L7}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1992 albums]]
[[Category:L7 (band) albums]]
[[Category:Slash Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Butch Vig]]
[[Category:Albums recorded at Smart Studios]]
[[Category:Albums recorded at Sound City Studios]]

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Bricks Are Heavy