The label sent the promo 12" to radio stations, then sold extra copies outside of Big Black's native Chicago, hoping the band would never find out. The CD omitted track 9 "Strange Things", as well as the artwork and liner notes from the original records. Big Black always credited Roland along with the band's members, though Roland is a brand of drum machine and not an actual person. Don't worry about their longevity, as Philips will pronounce them obsolete when the next phase of the market-squeezing technology bonanza begins. He played everything on the EP himself, except the sax bleating courtesy of pal John Bohnen and the drums courtesy of Roland.

That same year Atomizer was compiled onto compact disc along with the Headache EP and the band's "Heartbeat" single under the name, The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape.

You should take every opportunity to scratch them, fingerprint them, and eat egg and bacon sandwiches off them. But needless to say this is a great album, really an example of the Great Lakes underground sound of the 80s, where you can really feel the failing cities and abandoned industrial dystopia of that time and place. Instrumentally, Atomizer is a wailing behemoth of assaultive Roland beats, Steve Albini and Santiago Durango's clanging and whirring guitars, and new member Dave Riley's lumberjack bass. By 1984, the band haddone some touring and recorded the ‘Racer X’ EP andthe start of the ‘Il Duce’ 7”.

That same year, the band recorded and released the 7” of ‘The Model’ / ‘He’s A Whore’ as well as their second full-length album, ‘Songs About Fucking’. One song from the album, "Big Money", was released as a B-side to the " Il Duce" single prior to the release of Atomizer. In 1985, Big Black recorded their first full-length, ‘Atomizer’, as well as finishing the ‘Il Duce’ 7”. It's also Albini at his most plainspoken and bleak: "Stare at the wall/Stare at each other and wait 'til we die.The album gained immediate notoriety due to its stark lyrics discussing the seedier, more disturbing aspects of human life – child sex abuse, corrupt cops, domestic abuse, volunteering at a slaughterhouse to kill cows for fun, or just growing up in a rural town and finding your only joy or entertainent in setting things on fire and fucking – so you get the bright idea to combine the two and see what happens. In the year after Atomizer's release, Big Black recorded their 4-song Headache EP and released it with a sticker that bore the words, "Warning!