Come In and Burn

The lead up to the making of the album was marred by a legal dispute between Henry Rollins and Imago Records, the independent label which had released the band's successful early 1990s output.[5] Rollins Band went on to sign with the newly created label DreamWorks Records.

By late 1996, work for Come in and Burn had begun. Recording on 19 new songs commenced with Steve Thompson in Bearsville, New York.[6] Some of the material had been written during a stressful period for Rollins, following the end of an exhausting tour for Weight and the beginning of the legal battle between him and Imago.[7][6] The album was completed in early 1997.[6]

The Come in and Burn tour lasted from April 1997 to October 1997, covering North America, Europe, Australia and Japan. That year, the band also made appearances on Later... with Jools Holland and Saturday Night Live, where they were introduced by guest host Pamela Anderson. Metal Injection ranked their Later... with Jools Holland performance of "On My Way to the Cage" as one of the "10 Greatest Metal Performances On British Television".[8] Metal Insider included them and their Saturday Night Live performance of "Starve" on a list of the "Heaviest SNL Musical Guests".[9] To further support the album, music videos were made for lead single "Starve" and "The End of Something". The "Starve" video, directed by Modi Frank, includes footage from the recording sessions, as well as live footage.[10]

Following the tour, the lineup dissolved. Rollins would eventually reform the band with a new lineup featuring members of Mother Superior. Guitarist Chris Haskett reflected, "At the end of 1997 we were really burnt out. I figured we would be on a break and then reconvene once everybody had cooled off and had a rest. But then in 1998 I started getting emails from fans telling me how excited they were that RB was coming to Chicago and a few other places. I knew Henry was doing stuff with Mother Superior but I thought that would just be a side project so there you go. So I found out I wasn’t in the band via the internet."[11]

Reviewing for The Village Voice in December 1997, Robert Christgau said "this thrash-and-churn is [Rollins'] metalest metal ever", but regarded its lyrical content as "melodrama" concocted from "an adolescent despair [remembered] via groupies and fan mail".[3] Bill Meredith of AllMusic commented that "not everyone agreed with [Rollins] decision to break up his band after the experimental 1997 Come in and Burn CD" and described the music as a mixture of "rock and funk, jazz/fusion, and metal."[1] Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club mentioned that the album contained a "surprisingly bottom-heavy mix [and] chunky guitars."[12] On Come in and Burn's 20th anniversary in 2017, Diffuser.fm wrote that "From the opening swirl of “Shame,” the music is tighter, darker and more atmospheric than its predecessors."[13]

1. "Shame" – 5:32
2. "Starve" – 4:08
3. "All I Want" – 4:41
4. "The End of Something" – 4:50
5. "On My Way to the Cage" – 3:20
6. "Thursday Afternoon" – 4:04
7. "During a City" – 3:39
8. "Neon" – 4:28
9. "Spilling Over the Side" – 3:44
10. "Inhale Exhale" – 3:39
11. "Saying Goodbye Again" – 3:34
12. "Rejection" – 4:37
13. "Rollins Band Interactive" (1997 enhanced CD bonus)
14. "Disappearing Act" (European and Japanese bonus track) – 3:40
15. "Also Ran" (Japanese bonus track) – 3:42

• Henry Rollins – Vocals
• Sim Cain  – Drums
• Melvin Gibbs  – Bass
• Chris Haskett  – Guitar
• Theo Van Rock  – Rök Juicer, Low End Ranger
• Steve Thompson – Producer
• Clif Norrell – Engineer, Mixing