The Richest Man in Babylon (album)

Last updated
The Richest Man in Babylon
The Richest Man in Babylon Album cover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 30, 2002
RecordedDecember 2000 – August 2002
Genre
Length56:58
Label ESL
Producer
  • Rob Garza
  • Eric Hilton
Thievery Corporation chronology
The Mirror Conspiracy
(2000)
The Richest Man in Babylon
(2002)
The Cosmic Game
(2005)

The Richest Man in Babylon is the third studio album by American electronic music duo Thievery Corporation. It was first released on September 30, 2002 in Belgium and on October 1, 2002 in the United States by ESL Music. The album features contributions from Emiliana Torrini, LouLou, Pam Bricker, and Notch, and features both electronic and live instrumentation. [1] The album combines influences such as dub, jazz, dance music, rap, reggae, and Indian music, and incorporates protest music into the group's sound. A remix/dub version of the album was released in 2004 titled Babylon Rewound featuring the unreleased track "Truth And Rights".

Contents

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Pitchfork 3.8/10 [3]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]

The critical reception was mixed. BBC's Collective magazine said that "This, their third 'proper' album, is certainly their most complete work to date, and arguably the first to be presented as one complete, cohesive whole. … this ranks as Thievery Corporation's finest yet." [5] Allmusic's John Bush said that the album "doesn't have the hooks or the production finesse to compete with The Mirror Conspiracy " but that "a few tracks on the backside do plow new ground, thanks in part to new guests..." [2] Among fans the album is popular, peaking at number 9 on Billboard's Independent Albums list on October 19, 2002 [6] and number 2 on the Dance/Electronic Albums list on October 26, 2002. [6] A month after the album was released, The Richest Man in Babylon had 25,000 sales in the United States. [7]

Track listing

No.TitleFeaturingLength
1."Heaven's Gonna Burn Your Eyes" Emilíana Torrini (vocals)4:10
2."Facing East" Pam Bricker (vocals)3:43
3."The Outernationalist"Ras Pidow (vocals)3:30
4."Interlude" 1:21
5."Omid (Hope)"LouLou Ghelichkhani (vocals)3:48
6."All That We Perceive"Pam Bricker (vocals)3:46
7."Un Simple Histoire (A Simple Story)"LouLou Ghelichkhani (vocals)3:45
8."Meu Destino (My Destiny)"Patrick dos Santos (vocals)3:29
9."Exilio (Exile)"Verny Varela (vocals & flute)3:03
10."From Creation" 4:19
11."The Richest Man in Babylon" Notch 3:50
12."Liberation Front" 5:04
13."The State of the Union"Sleepy Wonder and Shinehead (vocals)4:28
14."Until the Morning"Emilíana Torrini (vocals)3:56
15."Resolution" 4:46

Release History

RegionRelease Date
BelgiumSeptember 30, 2002
United StatesOctober 1, 2002
Australia2002
France2002
Russia2002

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References

  1. The Richest Man In Babylon. Amazon.com. 2002. Last accessed 14 Dec 2011.
  2. 1 2 The Richest Man in Babylon:Thievery Corporation. Allmusic. 2002. Last accessed 14 Dec 2011.
  3. Cooper, Paul (October 10, 2002). "Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork . Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  4. Lechner, Ernesto (September 19, 2002). "The Richest Man in Babylon (Music release)". Rolling Stone. No. 905. p. 98.
  5. thievery corporation - the richest man in babylon. Collective (BBC). 10 April 2003. Last accessed 14 Dec 2011.
  6. 1 2 The Richest Man in Babylon - Thievery...: 2002. Billboard. 2002. Last accessed 14 Dec 2011.
  7. K., M. (December 12, 2002). "Thievery Corporation". Rolling Stone. No. 911. p. 32.