Blitz (album)

Last updated
Blitz
KMFDM - Blitz.png
Studio album by
KMFDM
ReleasedMarch 24, 2009
Genre Industrial rock, electro-industrial
Length52:26
Label Metropolis Records/KMFDM Records
Producer KMFDM
KMFDM chronology
Tohuvabohu
(2007)		Blitz
(2009)		 WTF?!
(2011)

Blitz is German industrial rock group KMFDM's sixteenth studio album, released on March 24, 2009, on KMFDM Records and Metropolis Records. It also marks the first use of five letter song titles and a five letter album title since WWIII . The album charted after its release, as did the song "People of the Lie". Blitz had songs written in three different languages, and was moderately well received by critics. Most of its songs were remixed for the band's next release, Krieg .

Industrial rock music genre

Industrial rock is an alternative rock genre that fuses industrial music and rock music.

KMFDM German industrial band

KMFDM is a German industrial band from Hamburg led by multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko, who founded the group in 1984 as a performance art project.

Metropolis Records Music label in the USA

Metropolis Records was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1993. The label releases material in the electro-industrial, synthpop, future pop, darkwave, and gothic music genres, although it is open to releasing any genre of dark alternative music, whether electronic-based or post-punk.

Contents

Background

The symbol used for the first track, Up Uranus.svg , is a variation of the astronomical symbol for the planet Uranus, Uranus symbol.svg . Sascha Konietzko, the band's founder, mentions the lyrics "Up Uranus" in his blog, [1] and at the place of the symbol in lyrics, "up Uranus" is sung. "Bait and Switch" contains lyrics from "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". The lyrics for "Davai" are Russian, while the lyrics for "Potz Blitz!" are German. The track "Me & My Gun" is a song loosely about the Columbine shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing Christmas carol

"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is a Christmas carol that first appeared in 1739 in the collection Hymns and Sacred Poems. Its lyrics had been written by Charles Wesley. Wesley had requested and received slow and solemn music for his lyrics, not the joyful tune expected today. Moreover, Wesley's original opening couplet is "Hark! how all the welkin rings / Glory to the King of Kings".

Columbine High School massacre School shooting in Columbine, Colorado, United States

The Columbine High School massacre was a school shooting and attempted bombing that occurred on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, twelfth grade (senior) students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. Ten students were killed in the school library, where the pair subsequently committed suicide. 21 additional people were injured with gunshots and gunfire was also exchanged with the police. Another three people were injured trying to escape the school. At the time, it was the deadliest school shooting in United States history. The crime has inspired several copycats, had an impact on pop culture and "Columbine" has become a byword for mass shootings.

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold 20th century American mass murderers

Eric David Harris and Dylan Bennet Klebold were American mass murderers who killed 13 people and wounded 24 others on April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado. This became known as the Columbine High School massacre. Harris and Klebold were seniors at the school at the time of the shooting. Both perpetrators committed suicide in the library, where they had killed 10 of their victims. The pair have become what the Napa Valley Register have called "cultural icons" for some people. Their shooting spree still remains today as one of the most infamous shootings in history. The shooting would also go on to cause a moral panic in society, leading schools to becoming safer and implementing zero tolerance policies.

Release

Blitz was released on March 24, 2009. It was on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums Chart for four weeks, and peaked at No. 9. [2] It reached No. 1 on the CMJ Loud Rock Select chart [3] and No. 15 on the FMQB Metal Detector chart. "People of the Lie" reached No. 1 for three weeks on CMJ's Loud Rock Select Tracks chart. [3]

<i>Billboard</i> (magazine) American music magazine

Billboard is an American entertainment media brand owned by the Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group, a division of Eldridge Industries. It publishes pieces involving news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style, and is also known for its music charts, including the Hot 100 and Billboard 200, tracking the most popular songs and albums in different genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows.

Top Dance/Electronic Albums, Dance/Electronic Albums is a music chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the top-selling electronic music albums in the United States. The chart debuted on the issue dated June 30, 2001. It originally began as a fifteen-position chart and has since expanded to twenty-five positions. Rankings are compiled by point-of-purchase sales obtained by Nielsen SoundScan data and from legal digital downloads from a variety of internet music stores.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [4]
PopMatters Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
ReGen MagazineStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [6]
Sputnikmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]

Blitz received mixed to positive reviews.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1." Up Uranus.svg (Up Uranus)" Sascha Konietzko 4:04
2."Bait & Switch" Lucia Cifarelli, Konietzko5:56
3."Davai"Konietzko4:30
4."Never Say Never"Cifarelli, Jules Hodgson, Konietzko4:19
5."Potz Blitz!"Hodgson, Konietzko4:23
6."People of the Lie"Cifarelli, Konietzko4:53
7."Being Boiled" (The Human League cover) Martyn Ware, Ian Craig Marsh, Philip Oakey 4:07
8."Strut"Cifarelli, Konietzko, Andy Selway 5:30
9."Bitches"Konietzko4:23
10."Me & My Gun"Cifarelli, Konietzko3:30
11."Take'm Out"Konietzko6:51
Total length:52:26

Personnel

All information from 2009 liner notes. [8]

Musicians

Lucia Cifarelli Industrial metal vocalist; performed with KMFDM

Lucia Cifarelli is an American musician, best known for her work with industrial band KMFDM. She was formerly the vocalist for the band Drill and also performed in KMFDM offshoots MDFMK, KGC, and Schwein.

Singing act of producing musical sounds with the voice

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice and augments regular speech by the use of sustained tonality, rhythm, and a variety of vocal techniques. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music that can be sung with or without accompaniment by musical instruments. Singing is often done in an ensemble of musicians, such as a choir of singers or a band of instrumentalists. Singers may perform as soloists or accompanied by anything from a single instrument up to a symphony orchestra or big band. Different singing styles include art music such as opera and Chinese opera, Indian music and religious music styles such as gospel, traditional music styles, world music, jazz, blues, ghazal and popular music styles such as pop, rock, electronic dance music and filmi.

Jules Hodgson German musician

Jules Hodgson, also credited as Joolz or J. Hogstorm, is an English musician, record producer and former member of KMFDM and The Spittin' Cobras. He is a former member of PIG and Lodestar. In 2006, Hodgson married pin-up model Go-go Amy and divorced in 2008. Jules now resides in Seattle, Washington. In 2007, he formed The Black Lab Studio.

Additional personnel

Andy Selway drummer

Andy Selway is an English musician most well known for his work with KMFDM.

Steve White (guitarist) English guitarist

Steve White is an English musician and former member of the industrial band KMFDM, first joining the band in 2002 for the Sturm & Drang Tour, and later appearing on several live albums/DVDs and the studio albums Hau Ruck, Tohuvabohu and Blitz. Previously he was a member of PIG, the project of fellow KMFDM contributor Raymond Watts. He worked on Sick together with other members of KMFDM. He is also known for his work remixing for other artists, such as Mindless Self Indulgence, Nude, and Pig. White resides in Seattle, Washington along with other members of the band. White played guitars for SMP in 2007 on Chemlab's Detonation Days Tour. In 2008, White joined 16 Volt as their live guitarist for the Denial Highway North American tour.

Cheryl Wilson is a session singer who has had multiple No. 1 dance songs on the UK Billboard chart and has performed with many notable artists including Celine Dion, R. Kelly, Alice Peacock, Mavis Staples, The Smashing Pumpkins, Bertie Higgins, Michael Bolton, Bill Withers, Peabo Bryson, David Foster, Josh Grobin, Enrique Iglesias, Nick Carter, KMFDM, Cameo, Rod Stewart, Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Mel Torme, Spike Lee, Tony Bennett, Peter Cetera, and Martha Wash. She has also sung in commercials for companies such as McDonald's and is a member of the Jazz & Contemporary Studies Faculty at Roosevelt University in Chicago. She contributes vocals to Jim Warner's Chicago musical project, Akalibrio. Her performance on the KMFDM song "Power" was described as "soul-mama vamping".

Production

Aidan Hughes is a commercial artist. He was born in 1956 in Merseyside, England, and was trained as an artist by his father, himself a landscape painter.

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References

  1. ↑ "Kaptain's Korner". Archived from the original on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  2. ↑ "KMFDM Dance/Electronic Albums Chart". Billboard . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
  3. 1 2 Madison, Tjames (June 22, 2009). "KMFDM Prepares to 'Blitz' US Stages". SoundSpike . Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  4. ↑ Jeffries, David (March 24, 2009). "Blitz Review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation . Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  5. ↑ Schiller, Mike. "KMFDM: Blitz". PopMatters . Popmatters.com. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  6. ↑ Archived February 16, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ Spencer, Trey (March 25, 2009). "KMFDM - Blitz (staff review)". Sputnukmusic . Sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  8. ↑ Blitz (CD booklet). KMFDM. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Metropolis Records. 2009.CS1 maint: others (link)
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