In 1985, Big Black recorded their first full-length, ‘Atomizer’, as well as finishing the ‘Il Duce’ 7”. 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.

Atomizer was originally planned for release sometime in late 1985 – however, the band ran into some legal issues with the album cover, which originally featured Marvin the Martian. Hey it's not Zep but if you're against the Big Black grain then maybe you exist in an airtight, brain-free starless environment. My copy (bought new in '86) has white labels, plain white inner sleeve with a printed insert, so make of that what you will. You should take every opportunity to scratch them, fingerprint them, and eat egg and bacon sandwiches off them.The CD omitted track 9 "Strange Things", as well as the artwork and liner notes from the original records. The song "Kerosene" has been covered by Kerbdog (as a b-side to their single " End of Green" [22]), Pitchshifter (on the "enhanced" version of their album Deviant [23]), Lamb of God (on their album Legion: XX, under their original name Burn the Priest [24]) and St. Reviewing for The Village Voice in September 1986, Robert Christgau wrote that, "Though they don't want you to know it, these hateful little twerps are sensitive souls—they're moved to make this godawful racket by the godawful pain of the world, which they learn about reading everything from textbooks to bondage mags. Additionally, Atomizer and all post-Atomizer releases by the band do not feature the TR-606, instead opting for the E-mu Drumulator.

Instead, Steve Albini expressed his general dislike for the compact disc format in the CD's liner notes, saying, "This compact disc, compiled to exploit those of you gullible enough to own the bastardly first generation digital music system, contains all- analog masters. Vincent (live at the Our Band Could Be Your Life 10th Anniversary Show at New York’s Bowery Ballroom on May 22, 2011. It's also Albini at his most plainspoken and bleak: "Stare at the wall/Stare at each other and wait 'til we die. Steve's guitar is the distance between ice and hoarfrost, the lyrics archetypal of on the edge sociopath, or maybe just a frustrated disc-jockey. Pezzati was replaced by Dave Riley, an audio engineer who worked closely with Parliament/ Funkadelic.One song from the album, "Big Money", was released as a B-side to the " Il Duce" single prior to the release of Atomizer. 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. 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. This is the band’s first recording since bassist Jeff Pezzati left in late 1984 to work more closely with his other group, Naked Raygun.