If then else
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| Studio album from The Gathering | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Century Media | |||
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Title (number) |
11 |
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running time |
52 min 46 s |
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The Gathering |
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Studio (s) |
Koeienverhuurbedrijf Studio, Purmerend |
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if_then_else is the sixth music album by the Dutch progressive rock band The Gathering . The album was released on July 3, 2000 via Century Media . It was the last studio album for Century Media.
Emergence
The songs became the previous album How to Measure a Planet? written. For the first time , The Gathering produced an album on their own. The recordings took place simultaneously in three different studios. First, the drums were recorded in Koeienverhuurbedrijf Studio within twelve days . This was followed by a small tour through the Netherlands before guitar , bass , keyboard and string instruments were recorded in the S&K studio . Most recently the band returned to the Koeienverhuurbedrijf Studio to record the guitar solos and vocals . A total of 17 songs were written, eleven of which were used for the album. The song "Amity" was created during the recording from a jam session .
Mixed and mastered was if_then_else of Attie constr in Bauwhaus in Amsterdam . During this process, Bauw had to contend with technical problems as the various recording formats ( tape , A-DAT and Pro Tools ) were not compatible with each other.
background
Most of the songs deal with the subject of the speed of human development. In an interview, the singer Anneke van Giersbergen explained that at the high pace of this development, everyone needs breaks in order to draw fresh energy. The album cover, which was recorded in the train station in Nijmegen , illustrates this statement. On the front you can see passers-by who are difficult to recognize due to their fast walking. On the back of the cover you can see the band members standing and watching the action. The album title if_then_else refers to the standard branch instruction of many programming languages .
The song "Colorado Incident" refers to an experience the band had on their previous US tour. Due to overbooking, exhaustion and illness, the band had to cancel a concert in Colorado . Between “Analog Park” and “Herbal Movement” you can hear excerpts from the children's book Alice in Wonderland . At the end of “Beautiful War” you can hear football fans cheering for goals. In addition to “Beautiful War” there are two instrumentals on the album with the final “Pathfinder”. "Herbal Movement" is a song about natural drugs. Bad Movie Scene deals with the fact that life is sometimes unfair.
reception
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if_then_else was primarily received positively by the music press. According to the then Metal Hammer editor -in- chief Robert Müller, the album consistently continues the path of the previous album and is "more compact, enriched with more guitar drones, more accessible and warmer". Müller awarded six out of seven points. Boris Kaiser from rock-hard magazine described the album as a qualitatively above-average work, which, however, was more of a link between Nighttime Birds and How to Measure a Planet? would have fit. Thorsten Gürntke from Babyblauen Seiten, on the other hand, was of the opinion that if_then_else “was not in the class of albums like How to Measure a Planet? or Mandylion “and that some songs are“ too lengthy ”. Gürntke rated the album with seven out of 15 points.
In the German album charts, if_then_else reached 76th place, the highest ranking in the band's history in Germany. In the band's home country, the Netherlands, it was enough for 47th place.
Track list
- Rollercoaster - 4:45
- Shot to Pieces - 4:10
- Amity - 5:57
- Bad Movie Scene - 3:49
- Colorado Incident - 4:53
- Beautiful War - 2:32
- Analog Park - 6:05
- Herbal Movement - 4:10
- Saturnine - 5:11
- Morphia's Waltz - 6:37
- Pathfinder - 4:38
Single releases
Roller coaster
The song "Rollercoaster" was released as a single beforehand. In addition to the theme song, the single contains the theme song from the film The Cyclist and a live version of the song "Leaves", which the band recorded in 1996 with the Metropol Orchestra. The music video for "Liberty Bell" can also be seen.
- Rollercoaster (Radio Edit) - 03:58
- Theme From "The Cyclist" - 03:20
- Leaves (Live With The Metropol Orchestra) - 04:10
- Liberty Bell (CD-ROM video clip)
Amity
The song "Amity" was released as the second single. In addition to a radio version, the title song is available in four remix versions and a live version on the single. In addition, there's "Life is What You Make It" a Talk Talk - cover to hear. The cover of the single shows a childhood photo of the brothers Hans and René Rutten, on which the band members were six and three years old, respectively.
- Amity (radio mix) - 04:01
- Life is What You Make It - 04:52
- Amity (TripPopRadio mix) - 03:54
- Amity (TimeCode audio remix) - 07:40
- Amity (extended Trip Remix) - 06:28
- Amity (three People remix) - 04:33
- Amity (live at Isabelle) - 6:12
Web links
- if_then_else at Allmusic (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ laut.de : biography and discography of The Gathering
- ↑ "Quo vadis?" ( Metal Hammer , June 2000, page 20)
- ↑ metal.de: Interview / Story - The Gathering
- ↑ vampster.de: THE GATHERING: Anneke talks about honesty and roller skates
- ↑ "The Wizard of Os" (Metal Hammer, July 2000, p. 26)
- ↑ "Exploding Trumpets" ( Rock Hard , June 2000, page 11)
- ↑ "On roller skates across the rock'n'roll planet" (Rock Hard, August 2000, page 28)
- ↑ a b officialcharts.de: Chart tracking The Gathering
- ↑ a b dutchcharts.nl: if_then_else in the Dutch charts
- ^ Metal Hammer, Jul. 2000, p. 94
- ↑ Rock Hard, July 2000, p. 84
- ^ Babyblaue-seiten.de: The Gathering: if_then_else
- ↑ "Tears and Consolation" ( Rock Hard , May 2006, p. 116)