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Millennium (Front Line Assembly album)

(Redirected from Surface Patterns)

Millennium is the seventh full-length studio album by industrial band Front Line Assembly, released in 1994 by Roadrunner Records on both compact disc and LP formats. The album is also being planned for an LP release in 2020, by the Canadian label Artoffact. The album marks the first major use of metal guitars, shifting in musical direction from their typical electro-industrial sound. The riffs were obtained from samples and the musicianship of the then unknown Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad, who would also contribute and perform on the next album.

Millennium
Studio album by
Front Line Assembly
ReleasedOctober 11, 1994
RecordedJanuary–February 1994, The Armoury Studios, Vancouver, Canada
GenreIndustrial metal
Length62:53
48:33 (2007 re-issue disc 2)
LabelRoadrunner, Apollon International, Metal Mind
ProducerBill Leeb, Rhys Fulber
Front Line Assembly chronology
Tactical Neural Implant
(1992) 		Millennium
(1994) 		Hard Wired
(1995)
Singles from Millennium
  1. "Millennium"
    Released: August 23, 1994
  2. "Surface Patterns"
    Released: November 1994
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
All Music Guide to Electronica[2]
Industrial NationFavorable[3]
Infectious SubstanceUnfavorable[4]
Melody MakerUnfavorable[5]
Select[6]

Background

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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 for their Fear Is the Mindkiller EP, 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

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Shifting from the electronic music dominated style of Front Line Assembly's former works, Millennium makes heavy use of metal guitars. "[W]e just wanted to like do a different kind of record and just basically broadened our sound and our appeal", Bill Leeb said in an interview with Chaos Control about the change in sound, adding, "we also wanted to challenge the fans that we have, the listeners, because I’ve always been a die-hard purist in electronic music. I mean, if I could change I thought anybody else could, too."[11] Some of the guitar sounds are used as looped samples, some are played live in the studio.[11] A further addition to Front Line Assembly's sound on Millennium is rap on "Victim of a Criminal".[12] The only typical electro-industrial track on the album is "This Faith", which is devoid of metal guitars.

Instrumental samples

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Millennium created samples from several metal songs:

There are also samples from songs of other bands:[15]

Release

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The album was re-released on July 30, 2007, by Polish record label Metal Mind Productions as a limited two disc remastered edition.[17] The second disc of which contains all of the remixes and B-sides from the "Millennium" and "Surface Patterns" singles. The re-release was issued on golden discs and was limited to 2000 copies and numbered.

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

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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

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"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

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All tracks are written by Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(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 Hansen6:32
7."Division of Mind" 5:47
8."This Faith" 6:12
9."Plasma Springs" 6:20
10."Sex Offender" 8:13
2007 re-issue disc two
No.TitleLength
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

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Front Line Assembly

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Additional musicians

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  • Devin Townsend – guitar (1, 7, 10)
  • Don Harrison – guitar (4, 9)
  • Che the Minister of Defense – vocals (6)

Technical personnel

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Chart positions and awards

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Chart positions

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Chart (1994) Peak
position
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[25] 31

Awards

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Millennium was nominated for the Juno Awards of 1995 in the category Best Hard Rock Album.[26]

References

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  1. ^ Bush, John. Front Line Assembly: Millennium > Overview at AllMusic. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  2. ^ Bogdanov, Vladimir (May 14, 2001). All Music Guide to Electronica: The Definitive Guide to Electronic Music. Backbeat Books. p. 198. ISBN 9780879306281. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  3. ^ Walczak, Rene (1995). "Front Line Assembly - Millennium (Roadrunner)". Industrial Nation. No. 10. Iowa City, Iowa: Moon Mystique. p. 65. ISSN 1062-449X. OCLC 25623835. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  4. ^ Maynard, Mark (1995). "Front Line Assembly - Millennium". Infectious Substance. Vol. 1, no. 2. Herndon, Virginia. p. 16. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  5. ^ The Stud Brothers. "Front Line Assembly - Millennium". Melody Maker. London: IPC Media.
  6. ^ M., D. (November 1994). "Front Line Assembly: Millennium" (JPG). Select. London: Emap International Limited. p. 100. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
  7. ^ Leeb, Bill; Fulber, Rhys; Levermore, Gary (December 18, 2015). "Front Line Assembly 'Caustic Grip' Retrospective" (Interview). Interviewed by Johan Carlsson. Release Musik & Media. ISSN 1104-9340. OCLC 186387134. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Neville, Leigh (March 1995). "Front Line Assembly Bill Leeb". Music From The Empty Quarter. No. 11. Ilford: The Empty Quarter. p. 18. ISSN 0964-542X. OCLC 1057117763.
  10. ^ Fulber, Rhys (1995). "Front Line Assembly". Industrial Nation (Interview). No. 10. Interviewed by Josh Finney. Iowa City, Iowa: Moon Mystique. p. 49. ISSN 1062-449X. OCLC 25623835.
  11. ^ a b "Front Line Assembly". Chaos Control Digizine. 1994. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
  12. ^ Leeb, Bill (January 1995). "Bill Leeb: Front Line Assembly". Sound on Sound (Interview). Interviewed by Nigel Humberstone. Cambridge, England: SOS Publications. ISSN 0951-6816. OCLC 771487482. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  13. ^ "Front Line Assembly's Surface Patterns sample of Pantera's Walk". WhoSampled. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  14. ^ "Front Line Assembly's Surface Patterns sample of Metallica's Don't Tread on Me". WhoSampled. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  15. ^ "Front Line Assembly samples". mindphaser.com. Retrieved August 18, 2013.
  16. ^ "Front Line Assembly's Sex Offender sample of Tears for Fears's Shout (US Remix)". WhoSampled. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  17. ^ "Front Line Assembly - re-release of 3 albums". Metal Mind Productions. July 5, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  18. ^ "Hideaway - Das Böse (1995) Soundtracks". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ Yücel, Ilker (October 28, 2019). "Front Line Assembly announces new box set collecting iconic albums". ReGen Magazine. Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  21. ^ "Front Line Assembly's Transtime sample of Kraftwerk's Home Computer". WhoSampled. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  22. ^ "Frontline Assembly – Monument". Discogs. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  23. ^ Jester (February 29, 1996). "Interview: Front Line Assembly - 2/29/96". Sonic Boom Magazine. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  24. ^ Garrison, Stephanie (December 1, 1994). "Futureshock". The Charlatan. Vol. 24, no. 16. Ottawa: Charlatan Publications. p. 29. ISSN 0315-1859. OCLC 1081138685.
  25. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Front Line Assembly – Millennium". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  26. ^ "About – Rhys Fulber". Rhys Fulber website. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
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