Enter: The Conquering Chicken

Before the Gits' second album, Enter: The Conquering Chicken, could be completed, lead singer Mia Zapata was brutally raped and murdered, lending an atmosphere of solemnity to the proceedings that might not otherwise be so prevalent. The tone of this record is actually lighter than the previous one, although that's due in large part to some of the filler material necessitated by Zapata's absence; most of it is lighthearted, especially given the circumstances, and there are two versions of "Social Love" back to back, one a solo acoustic performance by Zapata. The first half of the record holds much of its substance, including a surprisingly effective cover of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come," and Zapata's fully fleshed-out originals can be positively harrowing. Enter: The Conquering Chicken can't quite be up to the level of Frenching the Bully, since there's no way the album could truly be completed, but parts of it stand as a powerful epitaph, and the informal tone of the filler actually helps paint a more complete picture of Zapata as a human being. ~ Steve Huey