The More Things Change ...
| The More Things Change ... | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machine Head studio album | ||||
|
Publication |
March 2, 1997 |
|||
| Label (s) | Roadrunner Records | |||
|
Format (s) |
||||
|
Title (number) |
10 |
|||
|
running time |
52 min 50 s (regular version) |
|||
| occupation |
|
|||
|
Studio (s) |
The Plant, Sausalito |
|||
|
||||
The More Things Change ... is the second studio album by the American Metal - band Machine Head . It was released on March 2, 1997 via Roadrunner Records . The album was originally supposed to be released in autumn 1996, but the release was delayed by several months. It is the last Machine Head album with guitarist Logan Mader and the first with drummer Dave McClain .
Emergence
During the touring for the album Burn My Eyes internal tensions grew. Due to health problems of the drummer Chris Kontos , the band had to cancel several concerts. Three days before the Monsters of Rock Festival, Kontos called in sick again and was fired from the band. On the recommendation of then Sepultura drummer Igor Cavalera , Machine Head Dave McClain, who previously played with Sacred Reich , joined the band . After a few concerts with McClain, the band began songwriting . The recording took place in the summer of 1996, but had to be interrupted after McClain and bassist Adam Duce were involved in a car accident. While Duce got away with minor injuries, McClain broke his kneecap . In addition, while recording, someone broke into the studio and stole a guitar. The More Things Change… was again produced and mixed by the British Colin Richardson . The band, however, was dissatisfied with the result and flew to Richardson in Liverpool to re-record all guitar and bass tracks.
“Also, from the $ 20,000 boxes we had in the studio, everything sounded killer. The real test, however, is whether the songs come across well on your cheap system at home or in the car. It just sounded crappy [the album]. "
Since singer Robert Flynn was still dissatisfied, he went a third time in a studio and brought the album to the desired level. In addition to the ten songs on the album, two cover versions and a new version of the song My Misery were recorded. These three songs were used for the digipak version of the album. The cover versions are The Possibility of Life's Destruction by Discharge and Colors by Ice-T . There is no guitar to be heard with Colors, just "a distorted keyboard , a crazy drum loop and a distorted bass". According to Flynn, the song shows what Machine Head would sound like if they were playing hip-hop . My Misery was originally recorded for the soundtrack of the film Demon Knight . However, since Flynn was dissatisfied with this version, the band re-recorded the song. The band shot a music video for the song Ten Ton Hammer . This was deliberately kept simple by the band in order to keep costs down.
background
| Track list |
|---|
|
| 1 bonus track of the digipak version. |
The album title refers to the saying “The more things change, the more they stay the same” (“The more things change, the more they stay the same”). According to Flynn, the title refers to the band themselves, who want to develop further, but always want to play hard metal . The music was composed in equal parts by Flynn and Logan Mader, while the lyrics were written by Flynn alone.
In an interview with German magazine Metal Hammer , Flynn stated that the lyrics to The More Things Change are… more personal. Struck a Nerve is directed against the Pro-Life movement , an organization of militant anti - abortionists who also carry out attacks on clinics and doctors. Flynn said every woman should have the right to have an abortion.
The Frontlines refers to a burrito truck that was frequented by the band a few years before the recordings. To get to this truck, the band members had to walk through one of the most dangerous areas of the city, where shootings were commonplace. According to Flynn, the story is somewhat comical, but also has a serious background, as people were sometimes shot near the truck.
Bay of Pigs attacks the US judicial system , which allows celebrities to buy their way out by paying heavy fines. Blood of the Zodiac deals with racist ideas that, when spread by charismatic individuals, are more easily absorbed by people.
reception
|
Chart positions Explanation of the data |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albums | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Singles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The More Things Change… was well received by the music press. In German Metal Hammer , the album shared the title "Album of the Month" with the album Aftertaste by Helmet (band) . Matthias Weckmann compared The More Things Change ... with a Twister : "Inevitable, thrilling and powerful" He awarded the highest grade of seven points. In German Rock Hard the album took second place in the soundcheck behind A Crimson Cosmos by Lake of Tears . In his review, Thomas Kupfer praised the fact that the band has improved in terms of songwriting and that the new material is more varied.
The More Things Change… entered the US album charts as the first Machine Head album and reached number 138. The album reached number 22 in Germany and number 24 in Austria . The More Things Change… achieved positions among the top 20 in Belgium (11th place), Finland (13th place), Great Britain (16th place) and Sweden .
Web links
- Official homepage of the band
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine: Review of The More Things Change… on Allmusic
- The More Things Change… at Discogs
- The More Things Change… on MusicBrainz
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Holger Stratmann (Ed.): Rock Hard Encyclopedia . Rock Hard, Dortmund 1998, ISBN 3-9805171-0-1 , p. 225 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Matthias Weckmann: Donnerwetter . In: Metal Hammer , April 1997, p. 26 ff.
- ↑ Machine Head in the UK charts. officialcharts.com
- ↑ Machine Head in the German album charts. ( Memento of the original from July 17, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. musicline.de
- ↑ Machine Head in the Austrian charts. austriancharts.at
- ^ Machine Head Album & Song Chart History. billboard.com
- ^ Machine Head - The More Things Change. metal-hammer.de
- ^ Machine Head - The More Things Change ..., CD review. rockhard.de
- ↑ Machine Head in the Belgian album charts. ultratop.be
- ↑ Machine Head in the Finnish album charts. finnishcharts.com
- ↑ Machine Head in the Swedish album charts. swedishcharts.com
