Under the Influence

Under the Influence, the third album, came out on Megaforce Worldwide and Atlantic on 5 July 1988, as 7 81865-2 on CD. It was recorded at Pyramid Sound in Ithaca, New York, in March and April that year, produced by Alex Perialas with the band and mixed by Michael Wagener. It is the first album with Sid Falck, who had replaced Rat Skates on drums the year before. The video for "Hello From the Gutter" was played on MTV's Headbangers Ball and drew a large response from fans. Ellsworth remembers Bobby Gustafson recording the acoustic guitar on "Drunken Wisdom" in a bathroom, sitting on the toilet with a microphone in the sink, and calls it the band's first try at that acoustic approach. In a 2012 interview, though, he named this album among those he has regrets about: the songs were fair, he said, but the sound did not come out as he wanted. On the cover the band's mascot Chaly, the winged skull, fires lasers from his eyes. It entered the Billboard 200 on the chart dated 30 July 1988, peaked at number 142 and stayed thirteen weeks. The closing "Overkill III (Under the Influence)" follows "Overkill" on the debut and "Overkill II (The Nightmare Continues)" on Taking Over. Spotify titles it "Overkill II (Under the Influence)", but the original prints "Overkill III". Warner-Pioneer issued the Japanese edition (25P2-2157) on 25 September 1988. The running order here is the original's as printed.