| Symbols | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 23 September 1997 [1] [2] | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 56:34 | |||
| Label | Wax Trax!/TVT | |||
| Producer |
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| KMFDM chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Symbols | ||||
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The ninth studio album by German industrial band KMFDM, titled with a set of five unpronounceable, non-alphabetic symbols and commonly known as Symbols, [1] [3] was released on 23 September 1997 by Wax Trax! Records. Officially referred to as simply self-titled 'KMFDM' in some media markets.
Recorded in Seattle, Symbols marked the introduction of Tim Skold. While his contribution to this album was as a guest, he would become a full-fledged member for Adios and Attak . Sascha Konietzko, the frontman of KMFDM, said the title had no special meaning, and was just an idea for a title the group had very early on, before a single album had been released. [4] En Esch said the idea for the album title came from the symbols used for curses in comic books. [5] The symbols appear in the printed lyrics of "Down and Out"; the corresponding point in the song is covered with a censor-like beep in the song, and is replaced with "(SYMBOLS)" on the official KMFDM lyrics archive. [6] Several song files had been purportedly wiped clean during a computer malfunction late in the recording stage, essentially leading to most of the songs having to be re-done basically from scratch.
Symbols was released on 23 September 1997. [1] "Megalomaniac", "Anarchy", and "Leid und Elend" were included on the soundtrack of the video game Test Drive 5 . "Megalomaniac" was also featured in the film Mortal Kombat Annihilation , and was the first single from its soundtrack. [7] "Anarchy" appeared on the European version of the soundtrack to the 1998 film Lost in Space .
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Chicago Sun-Times | positive [8] |
| CMJ New Music Monthly | no score [9] |
Andy Hinds of AllMusic gave a mixed review, calling some of the band's ideas repetitive while praising the programming. [1] He also commented that the band keeps its sound fresh by bringing in new contributing artists for each new album, and noted the presence of Tim Skold and Nivek Ogre. He called the production top quality and the album "a fine place for newcomers to start," but said that Symbols offers people that have been following the band few surprises. [1] Kevin Williams of the Chicago Sun-Times called "Megalomaniac" an "incredible, irresistible opener" and said the album "could result in a KMFDM takeover of electronica." [8]
"Stray Bullet" received significant media attention after the Columbine High School Massacre due to the song's lyrics being posted on the website of one of the shooters, Eric Harris, before the massacre. [10] The song was also played in the background of the final video posted by Pekka-Eric Auvinen on YouTube before the Jokela school shooting in Finland. [10]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Megalomaniac" |
| 6:07 | |
| 2. | "Stray Bullet" |
|
| 5:32 |
| 3. | "Leid und Elend" |
|
| 6:10 |
| 4. | "Mercy" |
|
| 5:00 |
| 5. | "Torture" | Nivek Ogre | Konietzko | 7:04 |
| 6. | "Spit Sperm" | Raymond Watts |
| 4:46 |
| 7. | "Anarchy" | Tim Skold |
| 5:35 |
| 8. | "Down and Out" |
|
| 6:40 |
| 9. | "Unfit" | Watts |
| 6:01 |
| 10. | "Waste" |
|
| 3:39 |
| Total length: | 56:34 | |||
Tim Skold is a Swedish musician and record producer who produces solo work and has also collaborated with multiple musical groups including Shotgun Messiah, KMFDM, Marilyn Manson and Motionless in White.
KMFDM is a multinational industrial band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project.
Nihil is the seventh studio album by German industrial band KMFDM, released on April 4, 1995, by Wax Trax! Records. The album marked the return of former band member Raymond Watts and the first appearance of session drummer Bill Rieflin, and was mostly written by frontman Sascha Konietzko.
"Money" is a song by industrial rock group KMFDM from their 1992 album of the same name. It was released as a single in 1992, and released as a 7" in 2008, as the ninth release of KMFDM's 24/7 series. The song charted at No. 36 in July 1992 on Billboard's Dance/Club Play Songs Chart. The tracks on the single are included on the singles compilation album, Extra, Vol. 1.
Money is the fifth studio album by German industrial band KMFDM, released in February 1992 by Wax Trax! Records. It was originally intended to be titled Apart, with each of the two core members, Sascha Konietzko and En Esch, recording half an album and combining their work. The album ended up using only Konietzko's half, along with additional songs. It received mixed reviews, but spawned a number of club hits. It went out of print in the late 1990s and was re-released in 2006.
What Do You Know, Deutschland? is the debut studio album by German industrial band KMFDM, released in December 1986 by Z and Skysaw Records.
Attak is the eleventh studio album by German industrial band KMFDM, released on March 19, 2002 by Metropolis Records. The band's first album following a three-year hiatus, it was the first to feature member Lucia Cifarelli and the last to feature member Tim Sköld.
Adios is the tenth studio album released by German industrial band KMFDM. The album was originally conceived as the group's parting shot to its longtime record label, Wax Trax! Records, but it ended up also signaling the break-up of KMFDM itself until the band reformed in 2002. Recorded in Seattle, Washington, this was the last album to feature En Esch and Günter Schulz, who both went on to form Slick Idiot. Following the break-up, founding member Sascha Konietzko created the band MDFMK, before reforming KMFDM in 2002 without Esch or Schulz.
Angst is the sixth studio album by German industrial band KMFDM, released on 12 October 1993 by Wax Trax! Records.
Xtort is the eighth studio album by German industrial band KMFDM, released on June 25, 1996, by Wax Trax! Records. It was recorded from the end of 1995 through early 1996, shortly after the death of Wax Trax! co-founder and band friend Jim Nash. Xtort features a variety of guest artists from the industrial music scene and studio musicians from other genres, but includes limited participation from core member En Esch.
UAIOE is the third studio album by the German industrial band KMFDM. It was released on 7 October 1989 by Cash Beat Records. Several 1970's "rock" bands are referenced: The album's title track borrows heavily from the lyrical tropes of Frank Zappa, whereas the song "En Esch" is, instrumentally, a cover version of Deep Purple's "Demon's Eye".
MDFMK is an album released by industrial rock band MDFMK on March 28, 2000. It was the only studio album released by the band before it was discontinued and reformed once again as KMFDM. In a 2003 interview, band leader Sascha Konietzko said the album had sold around 120,000 copies.
Cheesy is a solo album by En Esch of KMFDM and Slick Idiot. It was released on August 31, 1993, on Wax Trax!/TVT.
"Juke Joint Jezebel" is a song by industrial rock group KMFDM from their 1995 album Nihil. It is KMFDM's most widely known song to date, with around three million copies of the song sold across various releases.
"Godlike" is a song by industrial rock band KMFDM.
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.
Beat by Beat by Beat is a video released by German industrial rock band KMFDM originally released on VHS by the name Beat by Beat in 1997 and on DVD with its final, longer name in 2001. It features live performances and backstage tour footage from the band's 1995 Beat by Beat tour as well as all seven of the band's videos produced at the time.
"Krank" is a song by industrial rock group KMFDM, the first single from their seventeenth studio album, WTF?!. It was released in North America on 8 March 2011 on the KMFDM and Metropolis record labels, and in Europe on 11 March 2011 on the Dependent label. None of the tracks on the Krank release are on the album, as the album features a different version of Krank, and does not feature any version of Day Of Light. The single features remixes by band leader Sascha Konietzko, former band members Tim Skold and Bill Rieflin, and Sebastian Komor of Icon of Coil.
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