| Corpse Flower | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 13, 2019 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 43:11 | |||
| Label | Ipecac | |||
| Producer | Mike Patton | |||
| Mike Patton and Jean-Claude Vannier chronology | ||||
| ||||
Corpse Flower is a collaborative album by American singer Mike Patton and French composer Jean-Claude Vannier, released on September 13, 2019, through Ipecac Recordings. [3] The album consists of Patton singing a selection of Vannier's songs, with Patton backed by a band in Los Angeles and Vannier by an orchestra in Paris. [4]
Patton and Vannier met in 2011 while working on a Serge Gainsbourg tribute event at the Hollywood Bowl, with Patton saying they "bonded immediately". Vannier described Patton as a "formidable vocalist" and stated that they "created a strong, beautiful and sincere collection of music, as well as a friendship". [3]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 79/100 [4] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Exclaim! | 8/10 [2] |
| Loud and Quiet | 8/10 [5] |
| Record Collector | [6] |
Corpse Flower received a score of 79 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on six critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception. [4] Kerrang! called it "an album for completists", while Uncut felt that Patton "rises to the occasion throughout" and the "swooping strings and Escher-like melodic structures of "Camion" and "Yard Bull" are reassuringly familiar to Vannier enthusiasts". [4] Alun Hamnett of Record Collector wrote, "That Mike Patton and Jean-Claude Vannier should get together to make an album was not necessarily implausible, but neither was it expected. The results are likely to delight fans of either artist. For fans of both, Corpse Flower is, quite simply, exquisite". [6]
Thom Jurek of AllMusic stated that the "set crisscrosses many genres" and "is ultimately rooted in exploration and adventure yet grounded in sleazy chanson, lounge tropes, blues, cinema music, and sound library tropes", remarking that it is "a dark jewel from two remarkable musical iconoclasts" and "a high-water mark for both men, albeit one born from the belly of hell itself". [1] Reviewing the album for Exclaim! , Joe Smith-Engelhardt wrote that it "dives into western-styled lounge music with a wide range of instruments and weirdness to keep listeners on their toes for each and every track" and that as "the record carries on, the intensity of the songs seemingly increases with every passing track", concluding that it contains a "dynamic sound that is interesting for anyone". [2]
Jeremy Allen, reviewing the album for The Quietus , selected it as "Album of the Week" and wrote that "the power struggle between American and European sensibilities feels a little inevitable", although Patton "has wisely taken a step back, allowing Vannier to present ideas and arrangements and then bend them towards his will as producer". Allen also found that the "surrealism is also manifest in the title track" and the album as a whole "presents a very strong case for working together alone". [7] Dafydd Jenkins of Loud and Quiet called it both "questionable tripe from creepy old men raging against the dying of the light" as well as "a pornographic text of premeditated, nothing-left-to-lose hideousness, openly goading the listener to hate it. To listen feels somehow masochistic, which is to say, gratifying on some deep, primal level", summarizing that it is not "the worst album of all time; it just delights in seeming that way". [5]
All lyrics are written by Mike Patton, except where noted; all music is composed by Jean-Claude Vannier
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ballade C.3.3." (lyrics by Oscar Wilde) | 3:21 |
| 2. | "Camion" | 3:23 |
| 3. | "Chansons d'amour" | 4:22 |
| 4. | "Cold Sun Warm Beer" | 3:40 |
| 5. | "Browning" | 3:14 |
| 6. | "Hungry Ghost" | 3:48 |
| 7. | "Corpse Flower" | 2:53 |
| 8. | "Insolubles" (lyrics by Ariane Bomsel and Vannier) | 4:08 |
| 9. | "On Top of the World" | 3:20 |
| 10. | "Yard Bull" | 4:21 |
| 11. | "A Schoolgirl's Day" | 3:27 |
| 12. | "Pink and Bleue" | 3:14 |
| Total length: | 43:11 | |
| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [8] | 163 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [9] | 110 |
| French Albums (SNEP) [10] | 180 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [11] | 99 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) [12] | 79 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC) [13] | 29 |
To the Faithful Departed is the third studio album by Irish alternative rock band the Cranberries, released on 22 April 1996. The album was made in memory of Denny Cordell who signed the band to Island Records and Joe O'Riordan, who had both died that year. The album reached number one in four countries and became the band's highest-charting album on the US Billboard 200, where it peaked at number four.
Corpse flower can refer to:
Histoire de Melody Nelson is a 1971 concept album by French songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. Produced by Jean-Claude Desmarty, the album was released on March 24, 1971 through Philips Records. Its narrative follows an illicit romance which develops between the middle-aged narrator and 15-year-old girl Melody Nelson.
Peeping Tom were an American rock band led by Mike Patton. To date, they have released one eponymous album and two singles on Ipecac Recordings. The band has featured a wide variety of well-known artists such as Amon Tobin, Massive Attack, Norah Jones and Kool Keith.
Jean-Claude Vannier is a French musician, composer and arranger. Vannier has composed music, written lyrics, and produced albums for many singers.
Téo & Téa is the sixteenth studio album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released in 2007 on Aero Productions and Warner Music labels. Two singles were released, the first, "Téo & Téa", as a promotional for clubs and radio stations and then as a general release. The second, "Vintage", was released in digital download format only, on July 16, 2007, and included two remixes by ATB.
Mike Patton is an American singer, best known for providing lead vocals for Faith No More along with Mr. Bungle, Fantômas, Peeping Tom, Tomahawk, Lovage and more. In addition to recording and working with these bands, he has also been involved in many side projects and collaborations. Patton is most frequently known as a vocalist, but has also produced, played various musical instruments, has composed soundtracks, done voice over work and has done some acting.
Grinderman 2 is the second and final studio album by alternative rock band Grinderman, a side project of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 13 September 2010 on Mute Records in the United Kingdom and ANTI- in the United States.
King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime is the fifth studio album by American rock band Faith No More, released on March 13, 1995, by Slash and Reprise Records. It was their first album recorded without longtime guitarist Jim Martin. The album showcased a variety of musical genres, with Rolling Stone calling the result a "genre shuffle". King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime spawned three singles: "Digging the Grave", "Ricochet" and "Evidence".
Apocalypse is a studio album by Bill Callahan, released on April 5, 2011. It is the third studio album released under his own name, and fourteenth overall when including LPs released as Smog.
Director's Cut is the ninth studio album by English singer-songwriter Kate Bush, released on 16 May 2011. It contains no new material, consisting of songs from her earlier albums The Sensual World (1989) and The Red Shoes (1993) which have been remixed and restructured, three of which were re-recorded completely. It was Bush's first album release since 2005's Aerial and the first on her own record label, Fish People.
The Hunter is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Mastodon. Released through Roadrunner Records on September 26, 2011, in the UK and one day later in the US via Reprise Records, The Hunter is their first release with producer Mike Elizondo. In its first week of release in the UK, the album reached number 19 on the UK Albums Chart and position number 10 on the Billboard 200 chart selling over 39,000 copies in the first week. As of December 2011, The Hunter has sold over 75,133 copies in the United States.
The Glowing Man is the fourteenth studio album by American experimental rock band Swans, released on June 17, 2016 on Young God and Mute. It is considered the third and final part of a three-album "trilogy", the other two parts being The Seer and To Be Kind.
Transcendence is the seventeenth studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend. It is the seventh and final album in the Devin Townsend Project series. It was released on September 9, 2016, via HevyDevy Records.
Return to Ommadawn is the twenty-sixth and final studio album by English musician and songwriter Mike Oldfield. It was released on 20 January 2017 on Virgin EMI Records and is the sequel to his 1975 album Ommadawn. The CD/DVD-Audio set contains a 5.1 surround sound mix of the album. Return to Ommadawn is the last studio album Oldfield released before the announcement of his retirement in 2023.
Gargoyle is the tenth studio album by American singer Mark Lanegan. It was released in April 2017 on Heavenly Recordings. It was produced by Lanegan's long-time collaborator Alain Johannes. Roughly half of the music on the record was written by UK-based Rob Marshall through e-mail exchanges with Lanegan, who would write lyrics subsequently.
All Nerve is the fifth full-length studio album by American alternative rock band the Breeders, released on March 2, 2018, 10 years after their previous album Mountain Battles (2008). A Stereogum article in June 2016 reported that the band was recording new material at their Ohio studio and in October 2017 they released the first single from the album titled "Wait in the Car". 4AD announced on January 9, 2018, that the new album would be made available on March 2, 2018, and released the album's second single, All Nerve on the same day. The album also marks the band's first in 25 years with their Last Splash lineup. Courtney Barnett guests on one song on the album; "Howl at the Summit".
Prequelle is the fourth studio album by the Swedish rock band Ghost. It was released on 1 June 2018 and produced by Tom Dalgety. The album's first single, "Rats", was released ahead of the album on 13 April, and as of 28 July, had peaked at number one for seven weeks on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart. The second single, "Dance Macabre", later topped the same chart for two weeks as well. The album marked the band's strongest selling debut to date, landing at number 3 on the Billboard 200, selling 66,000 copies in its first week, with 61,000 of those being "traditional" album sales. The album's themes include medieval times and the Black Death, along with more contemporary subject matter.
Signs is the fourth studio album by American blues rock group Tedeschi Trucks Band. The album was released on February 15, 2019, by Fantasy Records, on the same day that Kofi Burbridge, the band keyboardist, died.
In Cauda Venenum is the thirteenth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth, released on 27 September 2019 through Moderbolaget and Nuclear Blast. It was released in two versions: a Swedish-language version and an English-language version. The band toured in support of the album throughout 2019 and into 2020. At 67 minutes and 57 seconds, it is the band's longest studio album. It is also the band's last album to feature drummer Martin Axenrot before his departure in 2021.