Millennium (Front Line Assembly album)
Millennium | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 11, 1994 | |||
Recorded | January–February 1994, The Armoury Studios, Vancouver, Canada | |||
Genre | Industrial metal | |||
Length | 62:53 48:33 (2007 re-issue disc 2) | |||
Label | Roadrunner, Apollon International, Metal Mind | |||
Producer | Bill Leeb, Rhys Fulber | |||
Front Line Assembly chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Millennium | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
All Music Guide to Electronica | [2] |
Industrial Nation | Favorable[3] |
Infectious Substance | Unfavorable[4] |
Melody Maker | Unfavorable[5] |
Select | [6] |
Millennium is the seventh full-length studio album by
Background
Following Tactical Neural Implant, Front Line Assembly's record label Third Mind was acquired by Roadrunner Records.[7] At the time, according to Rhys Fulber, the band was working on a more melodic, synth-pop-orientated follow-up.[8] "We wrote a whole album", explained singer Bill Leeb, "and then we scrapped it. We finished twelve songs which took about eight months, then sat back for three weeks, listened to them, and thought we don't like this."[9] The direction changed when Roadrunner sent the band a box of promotional CDs from metal bands, and Leeb suggested sampling some riffs off those CDs for a more harsher sound; "This Faith" and "Search and Destroy" were songs that were carried over from those sessions, with the latter having some guitars added to gel better with the rest of the record.[8] The band cited American industrial metal group Fear Factory, for which the duo had created remixes, as a strong influence on Millennium: "Fear Factory had a huge effect on it.", said Fulber, "I was into the band and we got to do the remixes and I thought it was really cool. That had a lot to do with Millennium because we thought what we had done with [the remixes] was create this futuristic sounding cyber-metal."[10]
Musical style
Shifting from the
Instrumental samples
Millennium created samples from several metal songs:
- "Millennium", "Division of Mind" : "A New Level" (Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power)
- "Surface Patterns" : "Walk" (Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power),[13] "Don't Tread on Me" (Metallica - Metallica)[14]
- "Victim of a Criminal" : "Dead Embryonic Cells" (Sepultura - Arise).
There are also samples from songs of other bands:[15]
- "Vigilante" : "Esperanto" (Elektric Music - Esperanto)
- "Millennium" : "Get Right With Me" (Depeche Mode - Songs of Faith and Devotion)
- "Search and Destroy" : "Nasa Arab), "Religion (Pussy Whipped Mix)" (Front 242 - 06:21:03:11 Up Evil)
- "Sex Offender" : "Shout (US Remix)" (Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair)[16]
Release
The album was re-released on July 30, 2007, by Polish record label
The track "Surface Patterns" is featured on the soundtrack album of 1995 American horror film Hideaway.[18]
In October 2019, Canadian label Artoffact started a crowdfunding campaign in order to obtain the album licenses and to re-release the album on vinyl on May 4, 2020.[19][20]
Singles
The release of the "Millennium" single preceded the release of the album. The single contains three remixes of the title song. Non-album track "Transtime" uses a sample from the song "Home Computer" which was released by German electronic music band Kraftwerk on their 1981 album Computer World.[21] "Transtime" is also featured on the compilation album Monument.[22] The video clip that was shot for the track "Millennium" was filmed in Seattle and Chicago.[23]
The second single, "Surface Patterns", features three remixes of the title track and non-album track "Internal Combustion". The cardboard case is mislabeled "Suface Patterns" on the spine.
Lyrics
"Millennium" is the first album of the band that includes the lyrics. Singer Bill Leeb admitted to being shy about printing the lyrics originally: "They're kind of personal, and I always felt like I never wanted to see my lyrics in print because I thought maybe out of context they'd just not have the same impact." Having had the vocals "put back in the mix" in past releases, Leeb said, "this time I felt pretty confident about them as far as being really representative of what my head space was at, of where we were at with the band, of our approach and outlook."[24]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber, except where noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Vigilante" | 6:28 | |
2. | "Millennium" | 6:10 | |
3. | "Liquid Separation" | 5:05 | |
4. | "Search and Destroy" | 6:30 | |
5. | "Surface Patterns" | 5:36 | |
6. | "Victim of a Criminal" (feat. Che the Minister of Defense) | Leeb, Fulber, David Hansen | 6:32 |
7. | "Division of Mind" | 5:47 | |
8. | "This Faith" | 6:12 | |
9. | "Plasma Springs" | 6:20 | |
10. | "Sex Offender" | 8:13 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Surface Patterns (Surveillance Remix)" | 5:53 |
2. | "Surface Patterns (Chemical Cauldron Remix)" | 7:38 |
3. | "Internal Combustion" | 5:37 |
4. | "Surface Patterns (Scarification Remix)" | 4:35 |
5. | "Millennium (1000 Years of Decay Remix)" | 6:19 |
6. | "Millennium (Left in Ruins Remix)" | 7:50 |
7. | "Transtime" | 5:58 |
8. | "Millennium (Until Death Remix)" | 4:43 |
Total length: | 48:33 |
Personnel
Front Line Assembly
- Bill Leeb – keyboards, vocals
- Rhys Fulber – keyboards, programming
Additional musicians
- Devin Townsend – guitar (1, 7, 10)
- Don Harrison – guitar (4, 9)
- Che the Minister of Defense – vocals (6)
Technical personnel
- Greg Reely – engineering, mixing
- Delwyn Brooks – assistant engineering
- Brian Gardner – mastering
- Dave McKean – design, illustration, photography
Chart positions and awards
Chart positions
Chart (1994) | Peak position |
---|---|
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[25] | 31 |
Awards
Millennium was nominated for the Juno Awards of 1995 in the category Best Hard Rock Album.[26]
References
- AllMusic. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
- ISBN 9780879306281. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
- OCLC 25623835. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
- ^ Maynard, Mark (1995). "Front Line Assembly - Millennium". Infectious Substance. Vol. 1, no. 2. Herndon, Virginia. p. 16. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
- IPC Media.
- Emap International Limited. p. 100. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
- OCLC 186387134. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ a b Ryan Rainbro (October 28, 2020). "Front Line Assembly - Millennium (1994) [w/ Rhys Fulber of Front Line Assembly]". Meep Meep Podcast (Podcast). Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- OCLC 1057117763.
- OCLC 25623835.
- ^ a b "Front Line Assembly". Chaos Control Digizine. 1994. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
- OCLC 771487482. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ^ "Front Line Assembly's Surface Patterns sample of Pantera's Walk". WhoSampled. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
- ^ "Front Line Assembly's Surface Patterns sample of Metallica's Don't Tread on Me". WhoSampled. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
- ^ "Front Line Assembly samples". mindphaser.com. Retrieved August 18, 2013.
- ^ "Front Line Assembly's Sex Offender sample of Tears for Fears's Shout (US Remix)". WhoSampled. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
- ^ "Front Line Assembly - re-release of 3 albums". Metal Mind Productions. July 5, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
- ^ Carlsson, Johan (October 29, 2019). "Do you love Front Line Assembly and have $325 to spare?". Release Magazine. Gothenburg: Release Musik & Media. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
- ^ Yücel, Ilker (October 28, 2019). "Front Line Assembly announces new box set collecting iconic albums". ReGen Magazine. Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
- ^ "Front Line Assembly's Transtime sample of Kraftwerk's Home Computer". WhoSampled. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
- ^ "Frontline Assembly – Monument". Discogs. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
- ^ Jester (February 29, 1996). "Interview: Front Line Assembly - 2/29/96". Sonic Boom Magazine. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
- OCLC 1081138685.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Front Line Assembly – Millennium". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
- ^ "About – Rhys Fulber". Rhys Fulber website. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2014.