I feel like this is something that should have been posted a while ago. This album is hands down one of my top 3 records. Perfect, from start to finish. To be honest, I don't really care for any other album by this band. It was apparently at a time where the band was getting along the least, and addictions (originally the two main writers experimented with heroin for a source of strange inspiration and experimentations turned into addiction) was making for a very hostile situation with the band, and an extremely creative and positive place for music.
Now I know this album wasn't the only album to have the slower, space rock sound. Been done decades before this. Trust me, I've had albums you'll try and tell me this sounds like for longer than your parents regretted having you. But something purely magically was captured with this album. Something i know Failure themselves didn't even see coming. From the tones, to the lyrics, to the fade out of music into atmospheric space clicks and buzzes... yes!
I can honestly say, even though it's a bit embarrassing.. this album was the reason for a lot of disconnection to women and love for a good chunk of a year. Lyrics that most people would connect to a "love song" or almost cute in a way, were songs written about heroin and pushing away human emotion. I love me some isolation, and when I would- this would be the soundtrack.
For live shows, they recruited Troy Van Leeuwen (A Perfect Circle, Queens of the Stone Age, etc..) specifically to pull off a lot of this albums material live. It's always weird when a band who operates or writes with less members than played live. Sometimes it works, sometimes it almost seems like they're over doing it. In my opinion, Troy should've been in it from the start. He's been in a number of projects I have a lot of respect for, and he's also a hell of a nice guy. Drinks more than any friend of mine, which says a lot.
The band dissolved after this album, which was a shame.. sort of. If they would've continued in this vein, the chemistry within this lineup was flawless. There were several projects that started up after. I could easily extend this post into 60 paragraphs for the different collaborations and bands formed with different members of this band, but I'm going to keep this post to be about this album specifically.
Enough of my opinion. Go out and buy it.
-Matt