Leitmotif (album)

Last updated
Leitmotif
Dredgleitmotifold.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 30, 1999
RecordedSummer 1998
StudioBrilliant Studios, San Francisco, California
Genre
Length54:28
Label Woven Recordings
Interscope (re-release)
Producer
  • Travis Crenshaw
  • dredg
Dredg chronology
Orph
(1997)
Leitmotif
(1999)
Extended Play for the Eastern Hemisphere
(2001)
Alternative covers
Dredgleitmotifnew.jpg
2001 reissue cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
ThePRP Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [2]
SputnikmusicStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [3]

Leitmotif is the debut studio album by American rock band Dredg. The album was originally self-released on May 30, 1999, [4] [5] through the band's own label, Woven Recordings, before being nationally re-released in the United States by Interscope Records, with different artwork, on September 11, 2001. A "leitmotif" is also a recurring musical theme associated within a particular piece of music with a particular person, place or idea. The album is currently out of print.

Contents

Content

Leitmotif was recorded in ten days.[ citation needed ]

Interscope Records re-released Leitmotif unchanged from its original version, both in the recording and in the booklet's text, essentially duplicating the band's original, independently released demo.

The newer case features the uniform brown paper package with white text as pictured, to the lower right, with only the phrase "We live like penguins in the desert. Why can't we live like tribes?" printed on the inner sleeve; a phrase used in the lyrics to Triangle on Dredg's next album, El Cielo . The older case features the cover pictured, to the upper right, as well as more brown and blue topographical photos on the case and the booklet which are similar to the cover. Aside from the difference in artwork, the two versions of Leitmotif remain nearly identical.

Most of the lyrics can be found at Traversing Archived 2018-04-19 at the Wayback Machine ; the lyrics to parts of several verses (and most of one whole song) are unknown outside the band. All of the music on this album is created by Dredg, there are no samples. As claimed in the booklet "all instruments and sounds are real. No samples."

Leitmotif was produced and engineered by Dredg and Travis Crenshaw, and was recorded at Brilliant Studios in San Francisco, CA.

In May 2010, to celebrate the album's 11th birthday, the band re-released a limited edition of the album on vinyl, with only 500 copies produced. [5] In addition, the band performed the album in its entirety during the tour dates surrounding the anniversary. During the live performance of the album, Gus Lyndon Farwell, who sang the operatic parts on track 6, "Movement III: Lyndon", on the original recording, made a guest appearance on the song.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Dredg

No.TitleLength
1."易" (Symbol Song)4:24
2."Movement I: @45°N, 180°W"1:02
3."Lechium"6:24
4."Movement II: Crosswind Minuet"1:32
5."Traversing Through the Arctic Cold We Search for the Spirit of Yuta" (+ intermission)6:38
6."Movement III: Lyndon"3:07
7."Penguins in the Desert"4:13
8."Movement IV: RR"2:59
9."Yatahaze"3:44
10."Movement V: 90 Hour Sleep" (+ hidden track)20:23

Release history

RegionDateLabelFormat
United States May 30, 1999Woven Recordings HDCD
September 11, 2001 Interscope Records CD
May 11, 2010Ohlone Recordings Vinyl LP

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References

  1. Allmusic review
  2. ThePRP review Archived 2008-04-30 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Sputnikmusic review
  4. Inc, CMJ Network (2002-11-18). CMJ New Music Report. CMJ Network, Inc.{{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  5. 1 2 "Note from the band". dredg. Archived from the original on 15 February 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2010.