Bloodline

Recoil | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 14, 1992)
• Original Release Date: April 14, 1992
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sire / London/Rhino
• ASIN: B000005JBD
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,542 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

RECOIL Bloodline (Deleted 1992 US 7-track CD album including Faith Healer complete with picture sleeve)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars DM's True Musician Finds His Voice, December 9, 2004

By 

Erik R. Olson (Dublin, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bloodline (Audio CD)

Alan Wilder must have been a frustrated man while he worked in the background for Depeche Mode. Dave Gahan received most of the attention as the lead vocalist who was routinely festooned with women's underwear, like some gyrating Christmas tree for the screamers. Martin L. Gore was the band's songwriter, lyricist, and overall creative voice -- all decisions about the band's sound eventually had to receive his blessing. Andrew Fletcher didn't help much, sticking around mainly just to maintain his friendship with Gore.

Meanwhile, Wilder was the true virtuoso of the band, mastering the piano, synthesizers, sequencers, drums, all while largely receiving little or none of the limelight for his seemingly limitless talent. Gore himself even admitted that Wilder was the real musician of the band, so it was no surprise that the albums released following Wilder's departure (Ultra and Exciter) relied heavily on production and backing musicians. It was Gore's insistence on a pop-oriented sound -- and Wilder's craving for something much more creatively fulfilling -- that led to Wilder's exit from Depeche Mode.

It is that experimental, decidedly non-pop sound which showed up on many excellent DM B-sides ("Memphisto," "Sibeling," "St. Jarna," "Agent Orange," and "Pimpf," to name a few). Listen to "A Question of Lust" and then "Christmas Island," for example. Gore favored the music heading in a more mainstream direction, while Wilder opted for something darker and more sinister. Guess who came out on top.

If you are a big fan of those creepy, moody B-sides I mentioned, you will be very happy with Recoil in general and more specifically Bloodline. The only two tracks without any vocals at all are "The Defector" (intriguing title -- how soon did it occur to Wilder that he might leave DM?) and "Freeze." "Defector" is cool, but "Freeze" is positively spellbinding. The layered, cyclical, ascending, hypnotizing effects of "Memphisto" and "Pimpf" are abundantly evident in "Freeze," and it plays out like the rightful heir to those overlooked masterpieces of the DM oeuvre.

The tracks which do use vocals are a little more spotty. Douglas McCarthy is suitably creepy in "Faith Healer," and the song effectively straddles the line between accessibility and experimentalism. Moby does not fare as well in "The Curse," in which he raps with an edge of social awareness. It's a little strange. On the other hand, Toni Halliday's contributions on "Edge to Life" and "Bloodline" are the perfect sultry touch on some already slick electronic music.

This is excellent mood music, better suited to the bedroom than to the radio. Of course, it is not Depeche Mode. If it were, it would have showed up on Violator, but evidently this was not the path Martin Gore wanted to take. Recoil is not for every DM fan, but if you appreciate those amazing B-sides I listed (most probably the work of Wilder himself), then you will find much to like here on Bloodline.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Album Shows how Sequencers were meant to be used., October 9, 2000

By 

Marginal Success (Fort Worth, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bloodline (Audio CD)

This album is so technically profiecient and clean, it's incredible. I am a Depeche Mode fan and this ranks well with any of their work. I was not particularly fund of his release following this one. (Unsound Methods) Along those lines, I am also a Nitzer Ebb Fan but the problem with Unsound Methods was it didn't even come close to technical proficiency of this earlier album. To me, it's easy to tell that a lot less work went into it. The Bloodline album showcases synthesizers and sequencers at their best and that's what makes it a phenomenal album to recon with. To me this older effort of Alan Wilder rivaled even Depeche Modes latest release, Ultra. It's too bad that it seems he will never improve upon this formula, but one group that is still continuing down this path is Heaven 17. If you enjoyed this album, Check out Heaven 17's Bigger Than America.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant and timeless!, November 6, 2005

By 

ebmAddikt (Portland Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bloodline (Audio CD)

Alan Wilder is one of the music industry's most overlooked and under-appreciated musical artists. Not only does he possess great talent to write captivating music, he is also a master at the ar of engineering, mixing and producing. This combination of talents makes for some truely unique and mind-blowing recordings.

While Bloodline may not be the most recent or the most innovative of Alan's recordings, it is personally my favorite, not only because of it's great songs and diverse list of collaborators (such as Douglas McCarthy from Nitzer Ebb, Moby, and Toni Halliday from Curve), but also because of epic sentiment. Bloodline was released around the same time of Depeche Mode's Violator - of which Alan was still a member at the time - so you can find little elements of Violator in Bloodline too.

Alan has been busy lately, overseeing and re-mastering all of Depeche Mode's backlog CD's into 5.1 surround (yay!). He also has a new album coming out in July 2007 named 'subHuman'. Looking forward to it!!

At any rate, this review is about Recoil's Bloodline. If you've never heard it, and you like good electronic music...then you must own it! If you have the Bloodline recordings, and do not have a hard copy....why not buy *a new* one and show your support for one of the greatest recording artists of our time?