Sonic Jihad (Snake River Conspiracy album)

Last updated

Sonic Jihad
Album Sonic Jihad cover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJuly 11, 2000
Recorded1998–2000
Studio
Genre
Length44:48
Label
Producer
Snake River Conspiracy chronology
Vulcan
(1999)
Sonic Jihad
(2000)
Smells Like Teen Punk Meat
(2000)
Singles from Sonic Jihad
  1. "Vulcan"
    Released: October 5, 1999
  2. "How Soon Is Now?"
    Released: June 5, 2000 [3] [lower-alpha 1]
  3. "Breed"
    Released: November 13, 2000 [5] [lower-alpha 2]

Sonic Jihad is the debut studio album by American industrial rock band Snake River Conspiracy, released in the United States on July 11, 2000, by Reprise Records, and in the UK on November 13, 2000, through Morpheus Records, an imprint label of Reprise.

Contents

Besides six original songs, Sonic Jihad contains five covers; "You and Your Friend" by T-Ride, "Lovesong" by The Cure, the best of all "How Soon is Now?" by The Smiths, and "Act Your Age" and "Oh Well" by Running with Scissors. [7]

Sonic Jihad garnered mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised the album's aggressive and inventive production and Tobey Torres' vocal performances, although some perceived the album as uneven and stylistically unoriginal. Three singles were released from the album: "Vulcan", "How Soon is Now?" and "Breed". "How Soon is Now?" and "Breed" charted in the US.

Commercial performance

Although the album itself was relatively unsuccessful, three singles were released, two of which charted. The first single, "Vulcan", failed to reach any chart. The next single, however, "How Soon Is Now", performed well in the United States, where it reached No. 38 on the Alternative chart and #15 on the Dance Club Songs chart; [8] the song also entered the UK Singles Chart, at number 83. [9] The third single, "Breed", reached No. 37 on the Dance Club Songs chart. [8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Drowned in Sound 9/10 [11]
The Independent Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [12]
Kerrang! Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Metal Hammer 10/10 [14]
NME 5/10 [15]
Outburn (positive) [16]
PopMatters (positive) [17]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [18]
Rock Sound Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [19]

Sonic Jihad received generally positive reviews from music critics.

Eden Miller of PopMatters spoke positively of the album, stating that, "Anger has never been so much fun or so approachable," and praising the group's "strong personality". [20] Drowned in Sound 's review, written by Kate Price, was similarly positive, awarding the album 9 out of 10 and stating that the album, "Is a journey, lyrically and musically, through human emotions and represents... the triumph of passion over technology." [11]

Sonic Jihad was widely praised in the British rock and heavy metal press. [21] Roberto Cannelloni of Metal Hammer praised the album's inventiveness and Tobey Torres' vocal performances, which he labelled "works of genius full of twisted keyboards and buzzsaw guitars layered underneath probably the finest voice in rock today" and awarded the album a perfect score. [14] Dave Everly of Kerrang! hailed the album as "A vitriolic blast of venomous post-techno noise rock". [13] Johnathan Long of Rock Sound stated that while Snake River Conspiracy's initiative of using 1980s music as inspiration was not exactly original, citing the bands Orgy and VAST as other contemporary examples, the band retained a "visceral edge to their music" and called the album a "surprisingly delightful debut". [19]

Other reviewers were less favourable. AllMusic 's William Ruhlmann likened Snake River Conspiracy to the rock group Garbage and Nine Inch Nails, but felt that, "Their sound may be too hard for pop fans and too soft for rock fans," which lead him to giving the album 3 out of 5 stars. [10] NME writer Darren Johns was critical of the album's gothic undertones and "Dark Mood Syndrome", which he felt undermined the album's "shiny, happy chorus hooks", but also praised the songs "Somebody Hates You" and "How Soon Is Now?", which he called "the oddest, and therefore best, moments" on the album. [15]

Accolades

PublicationCountryAccoladeYearRank
Kerrang! United KingdomKerrang! Albums of the Year [22] 20007

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Breed"4:30
2."Casualty"
  • Slater
  • Valentine
  • Porter
  • Slater
  • Valentine
  • Kahne
4:54
3."You and Your Friend" (T-Ride cover)Daniel Arlie
  • Slater
  • Valentine
  • Kahne
3:35
4."Lovesong" (The Cure cover) [23]
  • Slater
  • Valentine
3:56 [lower-alpha 3]
5."Act Your Age" (Running with Scissors cover)
  • Slater
  • Porter
  • Slater
  • Kahne
4:27
6."More Than Love"
  • Slater
  • Valentine
  • Porter
  • Slater
  • Valentine
  • Kahne
3:50
7."Strangled" (featuring Greg Camp [a] )
  • Slater
  • Valentine
  • Kahne
4:43
8."Oh Well" (Running with Scissors cover)
3:46
9."Somebody Hates You"
  • Slater
  • Valentine
  • Kahne
3:57
10."Vulcan"
  • Slater
  • Valentine
  • Slater
  • Valentine
3:59
11."How Soon Is Now?" (The Smiths cover)
  • Slater
  • Kahne
3:23
Total length:44:48

Notes

Sample credits

Personnel

Personnel per liner notes. [24]

Use in media

"Breed" is used in the 2001 film Valentine during the end credits. The "Prince Quick Mix's Cracker Beat Pass Mix" of "How Soon Is Now" was included on the American Eagle Outfitters compilation Summer 9ine. [30] “Lovesong” features in an episode of HBO's The Sopranos .

Charts

Chart performance for Sonic Jihad
Chart (2000)Position
US Heatseekers Albums ( Billboard ) [8] 36

Release history

CountryDateFormatLabelCatalog #Ref.
United StatesJuly 11, 2000 Reprise Records 9 47383-2 [31]
CanadaCDCDW 47383
Europe9362- 47701-2
United KingdomNovember 13, 2000Morpheus RecordsMorph 008 [32]

Notes

  1. Released in the UK on July 2, 2001 [4]
  2. Reissued on March 13, 2001 [6]
  3. Although the 3:56 version of "Lovesong" is included on the album, a full-length version (4:08) also exists.

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References

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