This Station Is Non-Operational is a compilation album by El Paso, Texas-based post-hardcore band At the Drive-In, released May 24, 2005 by Fearless Records, four years after the band went on indefinite hiatus. Its tracks span the band's career from 1997 to 2000, with selections from El Gran Orgo (1997), In/Casino/Out (1998), Vaya (1999), and Relationship of Command (2000), as well as several rare tracks taken from singles and a previously unreleased cover version of The Smiths' "This Night Has Opened My Eyes". The album also includes a DVD with the music videos for "Metronome Arthritis", "One Armed Scissor", and "Invalid Litter Dept.", an electronic press kit, a discography, and multimedia content. It became the band's highest-charting release in the United States. Its title comes from a lyric in the song "One Armed Scissor". Background The compilation does not contain any material from the band's releases prior to 1997, omitting the EPs Hell Paso (1994) and ¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo! (1995) as well as their 1996 debut album Acrobatic Tenement. Guitarist Jim Ward addressed these omissions in a 2006 interview: I was just adamant about certain things staying off it. There was just some stuff I wanted to stay special, like those early seven-inches. If you have them, then you have them because you were in a certain place at a certain time. I wanted to keep it special for those people if it makes sense. It's not that they’re embarrassing to me, it's because I wanted them to remain intimate with those people who were there when we slept on their floors. We were putting out 500 seven-inches even though people sell them on eBay for more than I had to put them out with. I still prefer it that way. I like that culture; I’m part of that culture. I didn’t want everything homogenized into one album. I'm not a big [fan] of "greatest hits" or whatever, but I understand that's part of what labels do. I wasn't really a big part of it to be honest with you. Reception This Station Is Non-Operational became At the Drive-In's highest-charting release in the United States, reaching #95 on the Billboard 200 and #3 on the Top Independent Albums chart. Critical reaction to the compilation was very positive. Johnny Loftus of Allmusic stated that it "really makes you miss the focused intensity of the band's salad days", and that because of