In 1972, were near the point of collapse when 's management team, MainMan, took a chance on the band at 's behest. By this point, guitarist and bassist had been edged out of the picture, and had signed on as 's new guitar mangler; rejoined the band shortly before recording commenced on , but was forced to play second fiddle to as bassist. By most accounts, tensions were high during the recording of , and the album sounds like the work of a band on its last legs -- though rather than grinding to a halt, appeared ready to explode like an ammunition dump. From a technical standpoint, was a more gifted guitar player than (not that that was ever the point), but his sheets of metallic fuzz were still more basic (and punishing) than what anyone was used to in 1973, while played his bass like a weapon of revenge, and his brother remained a powerhouse behind the drums. But the most remarkable change came from the singer; revealed as a howling, smirking, lunatic genius. Whether quietly brooding ( ) or inviting the apocalypse ( ), had never sounded quite so focused as he did here, and his lyrics displayed an intensity that was more than a bit disquieting. In many ways, almost all has in common with the two albums that preceded it is its primal sound, but while once sounded like the wildest (and weirdest) gang in town, found them heavily armed and ready to destroy the world -- that is, if they didn't destroy themselves first. [After its release, was known to complain that 's mix neutered the ferocity of the original recordings. In time it became conventional wisdom that 's mix spoiled a potential masterpiece, so much so that in 1997, when made plans to issue a new edition of , they brought in to remix the original tapes and (at least in theory) give us the "real" version we'd been denied all these years. Then the world heard 's painfully harsh and distorted version of , and suddenly 's tamer but more dynamic mix didn't sound so bad, after all. In 2010, the saga came full-circle when released a two-disc "Legacy Edition" of the album that featured 's original mix in remastered form] ~ Mark Deming