Replay: At the Drive-In, Relationship of Command, 2000

There's rarely a mention of At the Drive-In's final album, Relationship of Command, without the theory that, had the El Paso act not disbanded just months after the release date, it would have crossed over to the mainstream. It's amazing how writers can be so certain of themselves. At the time, playing Coldplay was seen as adventurous. What makes anyone think that this spastic, screeching, progressive and lyrically abstract quintet would have broken through on the radio and sales charts?

For one, it was already starting to happen. Before the band broke up in 2001, the album's first single, "One Armed Scissor," was garnering significant radio and MTV play. It had planned a massive spring tour that would have enticed mainstream radio listeners endeared by "Scissor." Relationship was one of the most praised rock records of 2000, earning ATDI heaps of media exposure. Also, the band was inadvertently associated with the emo/indie scene, which at the time was exploding in popularity.

Most bands would kill for that level of good fortune, but Relationship didn't need luck. At the Drive-In and producer Ross Robinson (Limp Bizkit, Slipknot) were able to synthesize all the necessary elements of a great rock recording and create something that transcended punk and indie classifications.

What made Relationship such an anomaly at the time was how it balanced its edgy, multi-genre, almost anarchic sound with such a sense of focus and drive. There are maelstroms of guitar riffs in cuts like "Arcarsenal" and "Mannequin Republic" that border on discordance and threaten to derail each composition. But with a remarkably tight rhythm section--as well as a stridently confident singer in Cedric Bixler--offering direction, none of the songs ever jump the track. In one of the album's best songs, the adrenaline-fueled "Cosmonaut," the aggression and fury of punk is skillfully combined with prog-like noodling and taut, pop-like song structure.

Relationship is considered such a seminal post-punk album, it was recently re-released with two additional tracks: the less polished but stylistically similar "Extracurricular" and "Catacombs." Neither really add to the record, but any excuse to re-introduce this would-be sleeper to new audiences is worthwhile.--Mike Prevatt