William Goebel Political career When did she start his political career? In 1887, Who did he manage? I don't know. What was his position in politics? seat in the Kentucky Senate Was he liberal or conservative? Democratic party,
what were some things he did in politics?
what were some things William Goebel did in politics?
In 1887, James W. Bryan vacated his seat in the Kentucky Senate to pursue the office of lieutenant governor. Goebel decided to seek election to the vacant seat representing the Covington area. His platform of railroad regulation and championing labor causes, combined with the influence of Stevenson, his former partner, should have given Goebel an easy victory, but this was not to be. A third political party, the Union Labor party, had risen to power in the area with a platform similar to Goebel's. However, while Goebel had to stick close to his allies in the Democratic party, the Union Labor party courted the votes of both Democrats and Republicans, and made the election close - decided in Goebel's favor by a mere fifty-six votes.  With only the two years remaining in former senator Bryan's term to distinguish himself before a re-election bid, Goebel took aim at a large and popular target: the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. A proposal from pro-railroad legislators in the Kentucky House of Representatives to abolish Kentucky's Railroad Commission was passed and sent to the Senate. Senator Cassius M. Clay responded by proposing a committee to investigate lobbying by the railroad industry. Goebel served on the committee, which uncovered significant violations by the railroad lobby. Goebel also helped defeat the bill to abolish the Railroad Commission in the Senate. These actions made him a hero in his district. He ran for a full term as senator unopposed in 1889, and won another term in 1893 by a three-to-one margin over his Republican opponent.  In 1890, Goebel was a delegate to Kentucky's fourth constitutional convention, which produced the current Kentucky Constitution. Despite the high honor of being chosen as a delegate, Goebel showed little interest in participating in the process of creating a new constitution. The convention was in session for 250 days; Goebel was present for just 100 of them. He did, however, successfully secure the inclusion of the Railroad Commission in the new constitution. As a constitutional entity, the Commission could only be abolished by an amendment ratified by popular vote. This would effectively protect the Commission from ever being unilaterally dismantled by the General Assembly. CANNOTANSWER
Goebel took aim at a large and popular target: the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.
William Justus Goebel (January 4, 1856 – February 3, 1900) was an American Democratic politician who served as the 34th governor of Kentucky for four days in 1900, having been sworn in on his deathbed a day after being shot by an assassin. Goebel remains the only state governor in the United States to ever be assassinated while in office.

Goebel was born to Wilhelm and Augusta Goebel (), German immigrants from Hanover. He studied at the Hollingsworth Business College in the mid-1870s and became an apprentice in John W. Stevenson's law firm. While Goebel lacked the social qualities like public speaking, which were common to politicians, various authors referred to him as an intellectual man. He served in the Kentucky Senate, campaigning for populist causes like railroad regulation, which won him many allies and supporters.   

In 1895, Goebel engaged in a duel with John Lawrence Sanford, a former Confederate general staff officer turned cashier. According to the witnesses, both men then drew their pistols, but no one was sure who fired first. Sanford was killed; Goebel pled self-defense and was acquitted.   

During the 1899 Kentucky gubernatorial election, Goebel divided his party with his political tactics to win the nomination for governorship at a time when Kentucky Republicans were gaining strength, having elected the party's first governor four years previously. These dynamics led to a close contest between Goebel and William S. Taylor. In the politically chaotic climate that resulted, Goebel won the election, but was assassinated and died three days in office. Everyone charged in connection with the murder was either acquitted or eventually pardoned, and the identity of his assassin remains unknown.

Early life

Heritage and career 
Wilhelm Justus Goebel was born January 4, 1856, in either Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, or Albany Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, to Wilhelm and Augusta Goebel (), immigrants from Hanover, Germany. The eldest of the four children, he was born two months premature and weighed less than . His father served as a private in Company B, 82nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War, and Goebel's mother raised her children alone, teaching them much about their German heritage. Wilhelm spoke German until the age of six, but he embraced American culture, adopting the English spelling of his name as "William".

After being discharged from the army in 1863, Goebel's father moved his family to Covington, Kentucky. Goebel attended school in Covington and was then apprenticed to a jeweler in Cincinnati, Ohio. After a brief time at Hollingsworth Business College in mid 1870s, he became an apprentice in the law firm of John W. Stevenson, who had served as governor of Kentucky from 1867 to 1871. Goebel eventually became Stevenson's partner and executor of his estate. Goebel graduated from Cincinnati Law School in 1877, and enrolled at the Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, before joining the practice of Kentucky state representative John G. Carlisle. He then rejoined Stevenson in Covington in 1883, after the death of Stevenson's previous partner.

Personal characteristics
According to author James C. Klotter, Goebel was not known as a particularly genial person in public. He belonged to few social organizations and greeted none but his closest friends with a smile or handshake. He was rarely linked romantically with a woman and was the only governor of Kentucky who never married. Journalist Irvin S. Cobb remarked, "I never saw a man who, physically, so closely suggested the reptilian as this man did." Others commented on his "contemptuous" lips, "sharp" nose, and "humorless" eyes. Goebel was not a gifted public speaker, often eschewing flowery imagery and relying on his deep, powerful voice and forceful delivery to drive home his points. Klotter wrote, "When coupled to somewhat demagogic appeals and to an occasional phrase that stirred emotions, this delivery made for an effective speech, but never more than an average one." While lacking in the social qualities common to politicians, one characteristic that served Goebel well in the political arena was his intellect. Goebel was well-read, and supporters and opponents both conceded that his mental prowess was impressive. Cobb concluded that he had never been more impressed with a man's intellect than he had been with Goebel's.

Political career

Kentucky Senate 

In 1887, James William Bryan vacated his seat in the Kentucky Senate to pursue the office of lieutenant governor. Goebel decided to seek election to the vacant seat representing Covington. He campaigned on the platform of railroad regulation and labor causes. Like Stevenson, he insisted on the right of the people to control chartered corporations. The Union Labor Party had risen to power in the area with a platform similar to Goebel's. However, while Goebel had to stick close to his allies in the Democratic Party, the Union Labor Party courted the votes of both Democrats and Republicans and made the election close, which was decided in Goebel's favor by just 56 votes. During his first term as senator, the State Railroad Commission increased to over $3,000,000 tax evaluation on the property of Louisville and Nashville Railroad. A proposal from pro-railroad legislators in the Kentucky House of Representatives to abolish Kentucky's Railroad Commission was passed and sent to the Senate. Cassius Marcellus Clay responded by proposing a committee to investigate lobbying by the railroad industry. Goebel served on the committee, which uncovered significant violations by the railroad lobby. He also helped defeat the bill to abolish the Railroad Commission in the Senate. These actions increased his popularity and he was elected senator unopposed in 1889 for a full term. Goebel was well able to broker deals with fellow lawmakers and was equally able and willing to break the deals if a better deal came along. His tendency to use the state's political machinery to advance his agenda earned him the nickname "William the Conqueror".

Goebel served as a delegate to Kentucky's fourth constitutional convention in 1890, which produced the current Constitution of Kentucky. Despite being a delegate, Goebel showed little interest in participating in the process of creating a new Constitution. The convention was in session for approximately 250 days, but Goebel was present for approximately only 100 days. However, he did secure the inclusion of the Railroad Commission in the new Constitution. As a Constitutional entity, the Commission could only be abolished by an amendment ratified by a popular vote. This effectively protected the Commission from ever being unilaterally dismantled by the General Assembly. Klotter wrote, "Goebel used the constitution as a vehicle to enact laws which he had not been able to pass in the more conservative legislature." Goebel won another term in 1893 by a three-to-one margin over his Republican opponent. By 1894, he had been elected as the President pro tempore of the Kentucky Senate.

Duel with John Sanford

In 1895, Goebel engaged in what many observers considered to be a duel with John Lawrence Sanford. Sanford, a former Confederate general staff officer turned cashier, had clashed with Goebel before. Goebel's successful campaign to remove tolls from some of Kentucky's turnpikes cost Sanford a large amount of money. Many believed that Sanford had blocked Goebel's appointment to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, in retaliation. Incensed, Goebel had written an article in a local newspaper referring to Sanford as "Gonorrhea John." On April 11, 1895, Goebel and two acquaintances went to Covington to cash a check. Goebel suggested they avoid Sanford's bank, but Sanford, standing outside the bank, spoke to the men before they could cross the street to a different bank. Sanford greeted Goebel's friends, offering them his left hand. However, Goebel noticed that Sanford's right hand was on a pistol concealed in his pocket. Having come armed himself, Goebel clutched his revolver in his pocket. Sanford confronted Goebel and said, "I understand that you assume authorship of that article." "I do", replied Goebel.

The shooting took place at 1:30 p.m. According to the witnesses, both men then drew their pistols, but no one was sure which had fired first. One of the witnesses – W. J. Hendricks, the attorney general of Kentucky, said "I don't know who shot first, the shots were so close together." Another witness, Frank P. Helm, said "I was right up against them and really thought at first that I had, myself, been shot." Sanford's bullet passed through Goebel's coat and ripped his trousers, but left him uninjured. Goebel's shot fatally struck Sanford in the head; Sanford died five hours later. Goebel pled self-defense and was acquitted. The acquittal was significant because the Kentucky constitution prohibited dueling. If Goebel had been convicted of dueling, he would have been ineligible to hold any public office. The shooting made Goebel unpopular among Kentucky's Confederate veterans, who also noted his non-southern background and his father's service in the Union army.

Goebel Election Law
Kentucky Democrats, who controlled the General Assembly believed that county election commissioners had been unfair in selecting local election officials, and had contributed to the election of Republican governor William O. Bradley in 1895. Goebel proposed a bill, known as the "Goebel Election Law", which passed along strict party lines and over Governor Bradley's veto, created a three-member state election commission, appointed by the General Assembly, to choose the county election commissioners. It allowed the Democratic-controlled General Assembly to appoint only Democrats to the election commission. Many voters decried the bill as a self-serving attempt by Goebel to increase his political power, and the election board remained a controversial issue until its abolition in a special session of the legislature in 1900. Goebel became the subject of much opposition from constituencies of both parties in Kentucky after the passage of the law.

Gubernatorial election of 1899

In 1896, when William Jennings Bryan electrified the Democratic National Convention with his Cross of Gold speech and won the nomination for president, many delegates from Kentucky bolted the convention. Various Kentuckian politicians believed that free silver was a populist idea, and it did not belong to the Democratic Party. Subsequently, Republican William McKinley won the 1896 presidential election, carrying Kentucky. Author Nicholas C. Burckel believed that this set the stage for "horripilating gubernatorial election of 1899". Three men sought the Democratic nomination for governor at the 1899 party convention in Louisville – Goebel, Parker Watkins Hardin, and William Johnson Stone. When Hardin appeared to be the front-runner for the nomination, Stone and Goebel agreed to work together against him. They concluded that Stone's supporters would endorse whomever Goebel picked to preside over the convention. In exchange, half the delegates from Louisville, who were pledged to Goebel, would vote to nominate Stone. Goebel would then drop out of the race, but would name many of the other officials on the ticket. Both men agreed that, should one of them be defeated or withdraw from the race, they would encourage their delegates to vote for the other rather than support Hardin. As word of the plan spread, Hardin dropped out of the race, believing he would be beaten by the Stone–Goebel alliance. When the convention convened on June 24, several chaotic ballots resulted in no clear majority for anyone, and Goebel's hand-picked chairman announced the man with the lowest vote total in the next canvass would be dropped, which turned out to be Stone. This put Stone's supporters in a difficult position, and were forced to choose between Hardin, who was seen as a pawn of the railroads, or Goebel. Enough of them sided with Goebel to give him the nomination. Goebel's tactics, while not illegal, were unpopular and divided the party. A disgruntled faction calling themselves the "Honest Election Democrats" held a separate convention in Lexington and nominated John Y. Brown as their gubernatorial candidate. 

Republican William S. Taylor defeated both Democratic candidates in the general election, but his margin over Goebel was only 2,383 votes. Democrats in the General Assembly began making accusations of voting irregularities in some counties, but in a surprise decision, the Board of Elections created by the Goebel Election Law, manned by three hand-picked pro-Goebel Democrats, ruled 2–1 that the disputed ballots should count, saying the law gave them no legal power to reverse the official county results and that under the Kentucky Constitution the power to review the election lay in the General Assembly. The Assembly then invalidated enough Republican ballots to give the election to Goebel. The Assembly's Republican minority was incensed, as were voters in traditionally Republican districts. For several days, the state hovered on the brink of a possible civil war.

Assassination and legacy

Shooting and death 
While the election results remained in dispute, Goebel, despite being warned of a rumored assassination plot against him, walked flanked by two bodyguards to the Old State Capitol on the morning of January 30, 1900. Reports conflict about what happened, but some five or six shots were fired from the nearby State Building, one striking Goebel in the chest and wounding him seriously. Taylor, serving as governor pending a final decision on the election, called out the militia and ordered the General Assembly into a special session in London, Kentucky – a Republican area. The Republican minority obeyed the call and went to London. Democrats resisted the move, many going instead to Louisville. Both groups claimed authority, but the Republicans were too few to muster a quorum. That evening, the day after being shot, Goebel was sworn in as governor. In his only act, Goebel signed a proclamation to dissolve the militia called up by Taylor, which was ignored by the militia's Republican commander. Despite the care of 18 physicians, Goebel died the afternoon of February 3, 1900. Journalists recalled his last words as "Tell my friends to be brave, fearless, and loyal to the common people." Skeptic Irvin S. Cobb uncovered another story from some in the room at the time. On having eaten his last meal, the governor supposedly remarked "Doc, that was a damned bad oyster." Goebel remains the only American governor ever assassinated while in office. In respect of Goebel's displeasure with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, his body was transported not by the L&N direct line, but circuitously from his hometown of Covington north across the Ohio River to Cincinnati, and then south to Frankfort on the Queen and Crescent Railroad.

After Goebel's death, amid controversy, the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled that the General Assembly had acted legally in declaring Goebel the winner of the election. That decision was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. Arguments were presented in the case Taylor v. Beckham on April 30, 1900, but on May 21, the justices decided 8–1 not to hear the case, allowing the Court of Appeals' decision to stand. Goebel's lieutenant governor J. C. W. Beckham ascended to the governorship.

Trials, investigations, and legacy 
During the ensuing assassination investigation, suspicion naturally focused on deposed governor Taylor, who fled to Indianapolis, under the looming threat of indictment. The governor of Indiana refused to extradite Taylor, and he was thus never questioned about his knowledge of the plot to kill Goebel. Taylor was later pardoned in 1909 by Beckham's successor, Republican governor Augustus E. Willson. Sixteen people, including Taylor, were eventually indicted in Goebel's assassination. Three accepted immunity from prosecution in exchange for testimony. Only five ever went to trial, two of those being acquitted. Convictions were handed down against Taylor's Secretary of State Caleb Powers, Henry Youtsey, and Jim Howard. The prosecution charged that Powers was the mastermind, having a political opponent killed so that Taylor could stay in office. Youtsey was an alleged intermediary, and Howard, who was said to have been in Frankfort to seek a pardon from Taylor for the killing of a man in a family feud, was accused of being the actual assassin. Republican appeal courts overturned Powers' and Howard's convictions, though Powers was tried three more times, resulting in two convictions and a hung jury, and Howard was tried and convicted twice more. Both men were pardoned in 1908 by Willson. Youtsey, who received a life imprisonment, did not appeal, but after two years in prison, he turned state's evidence. In Howard's second trial, Youtsey claimed that Taylor had discussed an assassination plot with Youtsey and Howard. He backed the prosecution's claims that Taylor and Powers worked out the details, he acted as an intermediary, and Howard fired the shot. On cross-examination, the defense pointed out contradictions in the details of Youtsey's story, but Howard was still convicted. Youtsey was paroled in 1916 and was pardoned in 1919 by Democratic governor James D. Black. Of those allegedly involved in the killing: Taylor died in 1928; Powers died in 1932; Youtsey died in 1942. Most historians agree that the identity of the assassin of Goebel is unclear. Goebel Avenue in Elkton, Kentucky, and Goebel Park in Covington, Kentucky are named in Goebel's honor.

See also 

 History of Kentucky
 List of assassinated American politicians
 List of unsolved murders

Notes

References

Works cited

Further reading

 

1856 births
1900 deaths
1900 murders in the United States
19th-century American politicians
American people of German descent
Assassinated American politicians
Burials at Frankfort Cemetery
Deaths by firearm in Kentucky
Democratic Party state governors of the United States
American duellists
Governors of Kentucky
Kentucky Democrats
Kentucky state senators
Kenyon College alumni
Male murder victims
People from Carbondale, Pennsylvania
People murdered in Kentucky
Populism in the United States
University of Cincinnati alumni
Unsolved murders in the United States
Robert Waller (born September 1955) is a British election expert, author, teacher, and former opinion pollster. His best known published work is The Almanac of British Politics (8 editions, 1983–2007), a guide to the voting patterns of all United Kingdom parliamentary constituencies.

Education and career

Waller was born in Stoke-on-Trent, and educated first at Buxton College in Derbyshire, and then at the University of Oxford. In 1977, he earned a BA in History from Balliol College, and in 1981, graduated from Merton College with an MA and D.Phil. in History. His doctoral thesis, a historical study of the Dukeries district of Nottinghamshire, was published by Oxford University Press in 1983 under the title The Dukeries Transformed. He was a Fellow of Magdalen College from 1980 to 1984.

From 1984 to 1986 Waller was a lecturer and tutor in Politics and History at the University of Oxford, as well as an assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame. In 1986, he became the research director of the Harris Research Centre, responsible for national opinion polling. He remained in this position until 1998, when he took up secondary school teaching. He has since taught at Brighton College, Dame Alice Harpur School in Bedford, and Haileybury in Hertford. In 2001 he was made head of History and Politics at the Greenacre School for Girls in Banstead, Surrey. In 2017 he moved to teach at Dunottar School, Reigate.

From 2008 until the 2010 general election, Waller contributed a monthly column to Total Politics magazine.

Bibliography

The Dukeries Transformed. 1983. Oxford University Press. .
The Almanac of British Politics.
April 1983 (Croom Helm) 
October 1983 (Croom Helm) 
1987 (Croom Helm) 
1991 (Routledge) 
1995 (Routledge) 
1999 (Routledge) 
2002 (Routledge) 
2007 (Routledge) 
 The Atlas of British Politics (1985). Croom Helm. .
Moulding Political Opinion (with Ken Livingstone and Sir Geoffrey Finsberg 1988). Croom Helm. .
What if the SDP-Liberal Alliance had finished second in the 1983 general election in Duncan Brack and Iain Dale (eds) Prime Minister Portillo and other things that never happened. (2003, paperback 2004). Politico's Publishing. 
What if the 1903 Gladstone – MacDonald Pact had never happened in Duncan Brack (ed) President Gore ... and other things that never happened (2006). Politico's Publishing. 
What if proportional representation had been introduced in 1918 in Duncan Brack and Iain Dale eds. Prime Minister Boris  .. and other things that never happened (2011). Biteback Publishing.   
2015 General Election (with Iain Dale, Greg Callus and Daniel Hamilton) (2014). Biteback Publishing. .
The Politico's Guide to the New House of Commons 2015 (with Tim Carr and Iain Dale 2015). Biteback Publishing. .
What if Lyndon Johnson had been shot down in 1942 in Duncan Brack and Iain Dale eds. Prime Minister Corbyn ... and other things that never happened (2016). Biteback Publishing. 
The Politico's Guide to the New House of Commons 2017 (with Tim Carr and Iain Dale 2017). Biteback Publishing. .
Ramsay MacDonald in Iain Dale ed. The Prime Ministers (2020). Hodder & Stoughton. 
What if Franklin D.Roosevelt had died of polio in 1921 in Duncan Brack and Iain Dale eds. Prime Minister Priti ... and other things that never happened (2021). Biteback Publishing. 
Rutherford Hayes in Iain Dale ed. The Presidents (2021). Hodder & Stoughton.

References

External links 
 Full text of doctoral thesis, "The social and political development of a new coalfield" via Oxford Research Archive

Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
1955 births
Living people
People educated at Buxton College
Pollsters Breaking Things is the fifth studio album by the American punk rock band All, released August 16, 1993 through Cruz Records. It was the band's first album with singer Chad Price and their last released through Cruz. The songs "Shreen" and "Guilty" were both released as singles from the album, the former supported by a music video.

Background 

Singer Scott Reynolds had left All following their 1992 album Percolater. As their new singer they recruited Chad Price, a friend and fan of the band who had sung backing vocals on Percolater. "Chad had been sort of a fan that we just got to be friends with", said guitarist Stephen Egerton. "I'd say there are few people with more of a lucky, natural gift for singing than Chad." Bassist Karl Alvarez remarked that "Chad was really good to have come into play at that time, because he was very laid back. Chad's very laconic, to the point of speechlessness. We didn't really know he was that good of a singer." Drummer Bill Stevenson contacted Milo Aukerman, singer of All's precursor band the Descendents, for his opinion of Price's singing: "Bill said 'Hey, we're trying this guy out for All, what do you think?' and I heard his voice and was like 'Yeah! Get that guy! "It was killer", remembered Price. "I was a huge All fan, I grew up with Descendents and stuff."

Writing 
As with their prior records, all four band members contributed to the songwriting of Breaking Things. "When Chad joined, we had kind of a backlog," recalled Egerton, "and we all learned each other's songs to get ready for what became Breaking Things. Price wrote "Original Me" and "Stick", as well as lyrics to "Crucified" and "Politics". Alvarez wrote five of the album's songs, more than he had on any previous All album. Egerton wrote the nine-second "Strip Bar" as well as the music for "Rosco" and "Crucified". Rob Williamson of the Tacoma, Washington band My Name, who had opened for All on tour the previous year, wrote the lyrics for "Rosco".

In addition to the album's two singles, "Shreen" and "Guilty", Stevenson penned "Birthday I.O.U." which described his feelings after Sarina Matteucci, his girlfriend of several years, had an abortion: "There really wasn't a choice / Seventeen was just too young [...] I know you could have been a girl, baby / Now you can't be anything / We needed you to prove our love / We used you, then we killed you". "I remember Sarina got real mad about that song", he said in 1996. "That song is about abortion, and she and I went through this thing where she had an abortion, and that's just my feelings about it. She wasn't too stoked, because she kind of thought I was being right wing about it. It's like, 'Dude, it's not politics; it's just my feelings about it.' I don't give a fuck about politics."

Stevenson and Price's lyrics to "Politics" demand "Keep your politics out of my life / Your politics out of my face / Your politics out of my music". Alvarez described the intent of the song:

I think maybe one of the purposes of music is to transcend politics, and I think when you're judging music with a political criteria, you're ignoring a lot, because music is not political. Music is notes and things swirling around in the air. I think that the bulk of the critical establishment favorably reviews music because of a political slant, not because of the music at all, and it kind of misrepresents what the thing is about. Also, I feel like any time a magazine favorably reviews a left-wing band, à la maybe The Mekons or The Clash, that just opens up the door to the right-leaning bands, "Oh, it's cool to be political in a rock band? Cool, we'll start Skrewdriver.” It gets so asinine, and it was only our statement to keep your politics out of our music and my music.

Musically, Breaking Things leaned toward a more aggressive sound than the band's previous efforts. Alvarez later said "In the '90s, the bands The Lemons and Zeke came into our orbit. It definitely was a much-needed bitch slap in the face to our band musically, because it was very cool to hear bands addressing the stuff with the right amount of aggression." "We fused that really well on Breaking Things with some interesting melodies", said Stevenson. "Breaking Things was an accomplishment for us. I think I was harboring some yearning for that kind of Black Flag power in the guitars, but I don't think it has the intrigue of musical diversity that Allroy Saves (1990) or Allroy's Revenge (1989) has. You're comparing and contrasting these things, but it doesn't work that way, because ultimately it's just us expressing our ideas in our bedroom and then playing them in a garage together, and there's no direction for that."

Recording and release 
Breaking Things was recorded in March and April 1993 at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee with record producer and recording engineer John Hampton. Stevenson and Egerton also produced the album, and Skidd Mills and Jeffrey Reed served as assistant engineers. Milo Aukerman, who was living in Madison, Wisconsin at the time, joined the band in the studio to sing backing vocals on the album. Breaking Things was mastered by John Golden at K-Disc in Hollywood, and released August 16, 1993 through Cruz Records in LP, cassette, and CD formats. "Shreen" and "Guilty" were released as the album's singles, and a music video was released for "Shreen". Breaking Things was All's last album for Cruz; they would sign to Interscope Records for their next release, 1995's Pummel.

Reception 
The album received mixed reception. Mike Daly of The Aquarian Weekly called the album "Loud, fast, rough, serious, funny, [and] beautiful [,,,] Not since Bad Religion's Recipe for Hate have I heard a record that kicked such major ass, yet had such sweet melodies." Suburban Voice called it "a return to form after the somewhat disappointing Percolator." Mike DaRonco of Allmusic gave Breaking Things three stars out of five, saying "With Chad Price handling the microphone in a deeper, more powerful tone in comparison to previous singer Scott Reynolds, the music has a bit more of a backbone to it. Not to say that All have gone heavy metal (although they do come pretty close with 'Guilty' and 'Crucified'), they're still the same playful, heartbroken teenagers (in the bodies of middle-aged men by now) who continue to share their love for food and fishing. The only significant difference is that the tone isn't as wimpy while they sing about their latest girl trauma." Julie River from Punk News gave the album three out of five stars, saying, "Breaking Things doesn’t hold up to a lot of the best albums in the Descendents/All catalogue, but it has some really great moments and really did churn out a number of All’s greatest classic hits."

Track listing

Personnel 
Band
Karl Alvarez – bass guitar
Stephen Egerton – guitar, producer
Chad Price – vocals
Bill Stevenson – drums, producer

Additional performers
Milo Aukerman – backing vocals

Production
John Golden – mastering
John Hampton – producer, recording engineer
Skidd Mills – assistant engineer
Jeffery Reed – assistant engineer

References

External links

Breaking Things at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)

All (band) albums
1993 albums
Cruz Records albums
Albums produced by Bill Stevenson (musician)