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Wikipedia.org: Album errors:
Metropolis mislabeled the back cover tracklisting on Civilization releases on at least three different occasions.
The errors included swapping song titles, missing the song "Schicksal," and excluding the "Dissident" page in the booklet.
These numerous errors led to rumors that Metropolis was releasing special edition copies of the album.
All of these rumors were false. While the tracklisting found on the back cover was incorrect,
the linear notes still had all the songs in correct order excluding copies with the missing "Dissident" page.
Amazon.com: Customer Review: *****
As alluded to by their previous album, Epitaph, Bill Leeb has all but jettisoned the oldschool, repetitive, angst ridden formula of
FLA that was the benchmark of the eighties and nineties industrial/electro-EBM scene.
Rhys Fulber is back and together the two have taken FLA into a bold new territory that elevates their familiar sound and
takes it to the next artistic level and into the new millenium.
Civilization has instantly become perhaps my favorite FLA album to date, an honor that, until now, was coveted by Tactical Neural Implant
- the infamous album that most fans would popularly agree as the pinnacle of FLA's masterworks and
it would be unfair to draw any comparisons here between the two albums because they are completely different stylistically and aesthetically,
but both important in their own right in defining the categorical sound of FLA.
There are a lot of oldschool Delerium influnces on this album circa the Morpheus/Euphoric/Spiritual Archives years
that interleaves brilliant layers of surreal ambience with an artistically creative impulse.
The obvious standouts of particular mention on this album include:
Track 1 - Psychosomatic - The album begins with a little mix of D&B rhythm (anybody remember Flavour of the Weak?)
but as soon as Bill Leeb's definitive vocals kick in, we are immediatly comforted and assured that this is indeed the familiar FLA we have come to expect.
Track 2 - Maniacal - probably the most familiar and predictable sounding of FLA's oldschool style.
Leeb's vocals kick up the beat with a literal "Bang!" and the driving guitars give it an edgier feel of something off Millenium or Hard Wired.
Track 3 - Transmitter (Come Together) - This is the one track that spurs the most controversary and people either love it or hate it.
Personally, I think it is absolutely brilliant and a bold move for FLA.
Leeb's harmonious vocals chanting "Let's All Come Together... Let's All Join Hands" may turn off some more aggressive industrial heads with
its "touchy-feely" tone and contradictory optimism but it sounds absolutely beautiful and is undeniably a milestone of this album and
accentuates FLA's artistic maturity to transcend itself above it's own stylistic redundancy.
Track 6 - Civilization - The album's title track begins slowly with lush dark atmosphere brilliantly layered with dialogue samples extracted from
the context of contemporary media and keying on soundbites of "Freedom" and "Civilization" looping endlessly in the background up
until Leeb's politically barking vocals make their presence known.
When the chorus kicks in, it sounds more like a ballad engineered as a single for commercial airplay but
I have no complaints because the engineering here works absolutely brilliantly and
Civilization stands out as one of the most memorable and important songs not only on the entire album, but of FLA's entire catalog.
Track 7 - Fragmented - Harmonious female vocals lifted right from some of Delerium's latter and poppier tracks build gradually into
Leeb's familiar aggressive vocals and accompanied perfectly by the orchestral classical sounds of violins brilliantly mixed into the melody.
This is definitely one of my favorite tracks on the album and defines FLA's new artistic style and presence with profound maturity.
Track 9 - Dissident - Atmospherically reminiscent of something from Delerium's Spiritual Archives with
middle-eastern background vocals chanting amidst the surreal subtext and Leeb's daunting vocals that cry Skinny Puppy, but a brilliant track nonetheless.
Track 10 - Schicksal - Sentimental piano chords contrast against Leeb's accompanying German vocals and pulsing EBM beats.
As always, German vocals compliment just about any well composed industrial song quite well. Schicksal is no exception and FLA can do no wrong here.
Civilization has unquestionably arrived as the best artistic effort from FLA in years and a welcomed surprise.
Rhys Fulber has returned with the FLA formula and has definitely brought back the creative chemistry.
I have been playing this album in my car non-stop for days and love it more with each consecutive listening.
Artist...............: Front Line Assembly
Album................: Civilization
Genre................: Electronic
Style................: Electro, Industrial
Source...............: CD-Original
Year.................: 2004 (January 20)
Label................: ® 2004 Synthetic Symphony
Catalog..............: # SPV 085-63702 CD
Ripper...............: Exact Audio Copy v.1.0b4 (Secure T&C) & Accurate Rip & Plextor DVDR PX-650US
Codec................: Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC)
Version..............: reference libFLAC 1.3.1 20141125
Quality..............: Lossless, (avg. compression: 62 %)
Channels.............: Stereo / 44100 HZ / 16 Bit
Tags.................: VorbisComment + Discogs
1. Front Line Assembly - Psychosomatic [05:35]
2. Front Line Assembly - Maniacal [05:14]
3. Front Line Assembly - Transmitter (Come Together) [05:38]
4. Front Line Assembly - Vanished [06:25]
5. Front Line Assembly - Strategic [01:52]
6. Front Line Assembly - Civilization [06:43]
7. Front Line Assembly - Fragmented [06:22]
8. Front Line Assembly - Parasite [06:13]
9. Front Line Assembly - Dissident [05:26]
10. Front Line Assembly - Schicksal [07:23]
AR....: All tracks accurately ripped (confidence 21)
[ctdb TOCID: IJHAyl2wb03jCs_v.3y9vx_FvQ0-]
All tracks accurately ripped (confidence 36/39)
AccRip: [accuraterip ID: 0014a305-00a5cfd8-a20d570a]
All tracks accurately ripped (confidence 22+21/96)
[ctdb TOCID: IJHAyl2wb03jCs_v.3y9vx_FvQ0-]
All tracks accurately ripped (confidence 37/40)
Playing Time.........: 00:56:55
Total Size...........: 356,89 MB in FLAC
574,56 MB in WAV
http://www.mindphaser.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_Line_Assembly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_%28album%29
http://www.discogs.com/Front-Line-Assembly-Civilization/release/4950289
http://www.amazon.com/Civilization-Front-Line-Assembly/dp/B00015HVL0
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