One Minute Silence: All Albums Ranked
For a few years around the turn of the century, One Minute Silence were one of the greatest live bands in the world. Their show was like a powder keg exploding, combining Rage Against The Machine’s political charge, Korn’s rhythmic stomp, Pantera’s groove and Bad Brains’ raw passion. We have ranked their studio albums below, and made this playlist of fan favourites. What do you think? Have your say in the comments, create your own ranking below, and check out some other bands!
In the early 2000s, One Minute Silence felt destined to become huge. Having supported Slipknot twice (on the UK legs of both the ‘Slipknot’ and ‘Iowa’ tours), and having sold out numerous headline shows on the strength of minor underground hits ‘Fish Out of Water’ and ‘Holy Man’, it seemed that they could achieve the status of Rage Against The Machine if they had the right backing, and if they could produce another record of the same quality as ‘Buy Now….Saved Later’.
Early indications were promising, when a demo version of a new song ‘We Bounce’ was released in 2002. With a quirky time signature and a similar crunch to the debut record, it signalled great things ahead. Unfortunately, when the third record ‘One Lie Fits All’ finally arrived the following year, something felt a little off. Comparing the album version of ‘We Bounce’ to the demo, it was immediately clear that the studio polish had dulled its impact; and the same can be said of the whole record.
The songs and performances on ‘One Lie Fits All’ are generally strong, imbued with anger and bleakness aimed at authority and the general establishment, leaning into a proggier atmosphere than their more singular previous attack. However, the songs are let down enormously by the leaden, overly compressed production that leaves the drums strangely muted (not a million miles away from ‘St. Anger’) and the guitars curiously distant-sounding. There was a clear attempt here to experiment with new textures and sounds, taking ideas from ‘Aenima’-era Tool at times (which works really well in ‘Price of the King’s Ticket’), but it stripped One Minute Silence of their vibrancy and led to a collection of songs that were frustratingly sterile, even though the live performances at the time were still utterly ferocious.
There was a noticeable shift here in Yap’s vocal stylings too, with less rapping and more focus on singing, which he had only hinted at briefly in songs such as ‘Words’ and ‘Holy Man’ on the previous record. It means that there are several melodic choruses here, which are sometimes stellar (‘Into Our Own’) and other times less powerful (‘Fistful of Nothing’). There are some absolute bangers, particularly the lead single ‘I Wear My Skin’ which is one of One Minute Silence’s best ever songs and a guaranteed riot-starter; but unfortunately there are two many songs with a similar formula (‘You So Much As Move’, ‘Representing The Poor Man’, ‘The Way Back’, ‘The Hill Is A Hole’) and the record can be a slog at 51 minutes.
Standout Tracks: ‘Into Our Own’, ‘I Wear My Skin’, ‘We Bounce’
OK, so ‘The Vault’ isn’t a studio record in its own right, but an entertaining compilation of rare tracks and B-sides from throughout One Minute Silence’s career, with a chronological tracklisting. Considering that these songs didn’t make it onto their respective albums, there is still a lot of fun to be had in listening to them - and some of the off-cuts from the ‘One Lie Fits All’ era were actually better than a few of the album tracks.
The opening 4 songs (‘Going, Going, Gone’, ‘Half Empty’, ‘And Counting’ and ‘Yank My Doodle Dandy’) were recorded in the ‘Available in All Colours’ sessions, and are immediately familiar sonically, with the uniquely punchy production that was so cool in 1998. ‘Half Empty’ treads similar territory to ‘Stuck Between a Rock and a White Face’, and the bouncy rap-metal of ‘Yank My Doodle Dandy’ introduces a rare moment of light-heartedness into the OMS catalogue, while still tearing your face off with its power. There are a few too many moments of unpleasant vocal distortion in these songs, but otherwise they stack up well against their ‘Available in All Colours’ counterparts.
Next we have ‘I Feel Nothing’ and ‘14 Years’, two songs left over from the ‘Buy Now…Saved Later’ sessions. It is immediately interesting to hear the change in production and from the first 4 tracks, highlighting the difference that Massimo Fiocco made when he joined on guitar for the second record, leading to a slicker, more groove metal-influenced sound. These songs are both decent, yet it is clear that they fell slightly short of the high standard set by the 14 stellar songs on the ‘Buy Now…Saved Later’ album.
These are followed by a whopping 8 off-cuts from the ‘One Lie Fits All’ sessions, which are packed full of interesting ideas, even if some aren’t quite fully formed. ‘A-Z Revolution’ (which is built on a menacing 7/8 groove) and ‘In The Boat’ are the standouts, and both were B-sides on the ‘I Wear My Skin’ single. Interestingly, ‘In The Boat’ originated from a moment of enlightenment on a boat trip that the band took with Shaun ‘Clown’ Crahan from Slipknot. Both of these tracks, and perhaps the melodic ‘Bob Hope’, would have fitted well on ‘One Lie Fits All’, with more of a sense of urgency than some of the album tracks.
Towards the end of ‘The Vault’ there are One Minute Silence’s final songs, from the 2013 ‘Fragmented Armageddon’ EP which was crowd-funded following the reformation of the band in 2011. ‘Pandemic Schizophrenia’ is a bit of a mess, but ‘Fruit From The Lie’ is tremendous, harking back to the ‘Buy Now…Saved Later’ days but with some of the atmosphere of their more progressive third record. Sounding fresh and revitalised, ‘Fruit From The Lie’ gave the impression that One Minute Silence were back, firing on all cylinders and ready to reclaim their throne as one of the UK’s premier metal bands. Sadly, the reunion was short-lived and they disappeared (permanently now, it seems) shortly after.
Standout Tracks: ‘In The Boat’, ‘Yank My Doodle Dandy’, ‘Half Empty’, ‘A-Z Revolution’
Listen to the opening minute of ‘Stuck Between a Rock and a White Face’ and you will hear an incredibly unique, elastic slap bass sound, following by tight, funky drumming, then stabs of abrasive guitar, and finally an urgent rap from Barry ‘Yap’ Barry that leads into a chorus of gang vocals. It is utterly exhilarating, and one of the standout moments in a debut record that is stacked full of them.
There was so much excitement around One Minute Silence when they first emerged in the mid-1990s. One Minute Silence came together when Irish vocalist Brian ‘Yap’ Barry got together with guitarist Chris Ignatiou from London, under the original name ‘Near Death Experience’. After working with various rhythm sections, they settled with Gibraltarian Glen Diani on bass guitar and Englishman Eddie Stratton on drums and renamed themselves One Minute Silence. Touted by Kerrang and Metal Hammer magazine as the UK’s answer to Rage Against The Machine (even though they were more of an international band than just ‘UK’, especially when Italian guitarist Massimo Fiocco replaced Chris Ignatiou in 1999), they ruled every stage they played, even before a note of ‘Available in All Colours’ was released.
Frustratingly, a lot of people lumped One Minute Silence in with nu-metal, comparing them (often disparagingly) with Korn, when in reality there was a lot more to them than downtuned riffs and adolescent rage. Their sound was a unique, urgent blend of rap, rock, metal, hip hop and funk, sometimes played at breakneck speed (‘South Central’ ‘Norfuckingmality’) and other times leaning into a more danceable funky groove (‘A Waste of Things to Come’, ‘And Some Ya Lose’). Yap also had a LOT to say, and his lyrics are spat out with rage and bile, from a man who sounded like he had been wrongly imprisoned for 5 years and had finally been released and given a microphone.
The album’s presentation and flow are excellent too, with multiple samples between tracks that are almost as memorable as the songs themselves. Nasty pig squeals in ‘Pig Until Proven Cop’, a fake news broadcast leading into the excellent ‘Brainspiller’, Yap’s tannoy annoucements at the start of the apocalyptic ‘Remain Calm’ (which was often the set-closer at live shows), and the ticking bomb that kicks of ‘New Dogs New Tricks’. At 52 minutes, this debut could have been trimmed slightly (‘A More Violent Approach’ and ‘I Think Therefore I’m Damned’ are less vital) but is otherwise a stellar record that deserves way more recognition and praise for its ingenuity than it gets.
Standout tracks: ‘For Want Of A Better World’, ‘South Central’, ‘Stuck Between A Rock And A White Face’, ‘Remain Calm’
“My God, it’s good to see ya”
Having established themselves as a formidable live act around the release of their debut, One Minute Silence returned in 2000 with a sophomore album that built on ‘Available in All Colours’ in every area, while embracing a darker, more hostile tone (illustrated well by the largely monochrome album art). In some ways, they could be compared to Rage Against The Machine, but with an added metallic ferocity reminiscent of Pantera and Helmet, and Yap’s distinctive Irish accent meant that no-one could mistake them for being American.
Though Yap has always had a relatively melodic rapping voice, he didn’t really sing on ‘Available in All Colours’. ‘Buy Now…Saved Later’ expanded his repertoire considerably, with some genuinely powerful, emotive singing weaved around his rapping throughout the record, from opener ‘Rise and Shine’ onwards, and really leaning into melody in the epic closer ‘Words’. This didn’t mean that any ounce of his bile was lost though. Far from it. Listen to the riot-starter that is ‘1845’, or the menacing mid-section of ‘210 Dog Years’, and it feels like you are going to be pulled into the moshpit, whilst also being educated and preached to…whether you like it or not.
One Minute Silence’s songwriting stepped up enormously on this record too. ‘Holy Man’ and ‘Fish Out of Water’, both of which were released as singles, are extremely well-written songs, and ‘Roof of the World’ has a grandeur that is aided by the subtle use of violins in the chorus. Imagine if they had had access to an orchestra, the way that Parkway Drive did in their ‘Home’ live record 26 years later! It could have been remarkable - and, in fact, remembering that ‘Buy Now…Saved Later’ came out in 2000, we can now see how important this record was in paving the way for other metal bands in the 21 century to expand their songwriting flavours . Elsewhere, we have some masterful sloganeering (“They say he struggled, they say he fell; I say he found himself back in a pig cell” - ‘16 Stone Pig’ / “If I can change one, I change two. If I can change two, I can change four. If I can change four, I can change eight. And if I can change eight, I can change” - ‘If I Can Change’) and moments of huge dynamic shifts and tension-and-release, from serenity to absolute carnage and chaos. The musical performances throughout the record are top-notch, especially Eddie Stratton’s inventive drumming and Glen Diani’s distinctive bass (‘A Spoonful of Sugar’ being a great example).
Best of all is the magnificent ‘Food For The Brain’, which was debuted live before the album’s release, when One Minute Silence opened for Slipknot on their first UK tour. Starting with an urgent riff from new guitarist Massimo Fiocco, ‘Food For The Brain’ captures every essence of One Minute Silence: urgency, passion, melody, energy, and an absolutely pummelling groove. Legendary.
Standout Tracks: ‘Food For The Brain’, ‘Roof Of The World’, ‘A Day In The Light Of’, ‘1845’
