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Front Line Assembly > Plasticity
| Offbeat SPV056-22423 | CD5 1996 Energy ERCD094 | CD5 1996 Metropolis MET020 |
Tracklist:
01. Plasticity 6.44
02. Replicant 5.11
03. Plasticity "Zero" By Haujobb
Credits:
Electronic Execution: Bill leeb & Rhys Fulber. Engineered and Mixed by Greg Reely. Assistant Engineer: Delwyn Brooks. All Songs written by Bill Leeb & Rhys Fulber. Track 3 Remixed by Haujobb. Design, Photography & Illustration by Dave McKean at Hourglass.
Review
After reading rave reviews on the internet for over a month I finally got hold of the 'Plasticity' single. It had been described amongst other things as "An apocalypse of sound" and "The best thing since TNI" Well I'm not sure if either of those are true but it's certainly very good and already has become one of FLA's most popular releases. The song has a typical long build up that is a little disjointed and heavy on the samples and it soon becomes clear that this is a fast, upbeat track. The vocals come in after about a minute and a half and they're fairly distorted but still audible. Lyrically it's fairly standard Leeb fair but as usual they complement the music well. There are no guitars present with the whole track being more of a hard and fast techno number densely filled with sampled crashes and screams which are probably slightly overdone. Everything builds up layer upon layer until the literally explosive ending.
The second song is 'Replicant' which has a nice creative opening of moody samples and electronics as you would expect. When you hear the lyrics it's obvious that Bladerunner is one of Bills favourite films as they are about the 'Replicants' featured in the Ridley Scott classic. I'm sure I spotted some samples from "Gun" from TNI in this track as well as that heavy breathing sample that was a little overused on the Hard-Wired album. Overall a pretty good b-side track
The final track is a Haujobb remix of 'Plasticity'. It's pretty much in the same style as their remix of circuitry. It's more dancey than the normal version and has more distortion on the vocals along with some extra film samples scattered about. It gets a little stop-start in places though. Haujobb continue to live up to their reputation for doing interesting and impressive remixes though.
Reviewed by unknown
Second Review
Plasticity marks something of a return to top form for Front Line Assembly, in the singles department at least. Both Circuitry and Surface Patterns were somewhat generic,lacking the edge that made the likes of Millennium and Mindphaser so enjoyable. They certainly had the usual FLA ingredients - a hard, noisy verse with heavily distorted vocals alternating with a melodic, often anthemic chorus - but were remarkably generic, as though Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber were running on automatic pilot.
The fact that Plasticity has been rushed out with no accompanying album in sight indicates, I think, just how excited both artist and label must have been by this one. It's got all the usual FLA goodies in bucketloads. There's lots of well-chosen and placed samples, the intro conveys a great impression of barely-restrained energy and the track itself is a real doozy, with a pounding, high-BPM beat and that proven in combat noisy verse/melodic chorus structure. Hell, you can even tell what Bill's saying in the chorus, what more could you want? It's easily the most impressive thing that FLA have put in a long time and I can't recall being quite so taken with a Front Line Assembly track since I first heard Mindphaser.
Plasticity alone would be enough to make this single worth buying. However, the other two tracks are worth a listen too. Replicant is fairly standard FLA B-side material, decent enough but not in the same league as Plasticity. Finally, Haujobb's remix of Plasticity does a variety of interesting things to the track, dragging it in a completely new, techno-oriented direction. It's a far cry from the original version - almost a new song completely - but it's an excellent track nonetheless. Bear in mind that my opinion here is tailored somewhat by my high opinion of Haujobb though, so those not familiar with their particular sound might find this remix less palatable. Overall, this is the most interesting Front Line Assembly single in several years, and it's a must for their fans or those who want to hear the band at their best.
Reviewed by Al Crawford
+3
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Last updated 2005-04-30 03:21:54 by: unknown user.
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