Customer Reviews

Civilization (Limited Edition)

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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 is 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.

Even with the return of Rys, there probably will not be another Tactical Nueral Implant. But Tech has changed, people change, and doing somethings over and over get old. Change can be good.

With Civilization we come away with something a bit more Rediemable than Epitath. The first three tracks seem to have a taste of what we remember of the primal days of industrial music, something kinda hard and gritty, but after the fifth track, the album slips into an ambience coma. Stuff that should probably have been in a side project perhaps.

I suppose I still miss the days I first got into FLA, and listened to them while playing the original "Quake." Though I would still recommend the album for it is very much worthy of being FLA. It combines the use of the older, gritter tones in the first half, and though the later portion of the album subsides from the initial intensity, it still carries on with an almost alien overtone.

If you like Frontline, its still a must have for the collection.

Also recommended: Tactical Nueral Implant, Implode, and Hardwired.

Having both Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber back together is a great thing in itself, and I find that their new release, Civilization, is a truly great cd. I think that fans of the Epitath and Implode cd's will be pleased. I know that many FLA fans yearn for the days of Tactical Neural Implant, but I also do believe that it is necessary for bands to evolve over time, and this cd is a good continuation of that process. The production is typically flawless, and the music sounds great. I find the music to be uplifting, powerful, inventive and deep at times. I highly recommend this album, you will not be dissappointed. I cannot see how anybody could be bored with music like this!

I'm a huge fan of Delerium but I'm not too familiar with FLA's work. The only other album I own by them is their last release, 'Epitaph', which I was very disappointed in. This, however, is absolutely mind-blowing! Leeb and Fulber must have had some real inspiration while making 'Civilization' because it contains some of the best industrial music I've had the pleasure of hearing. Unlike 'Epitaph' there's not a lot of futuristic sound blips and far less static distortions. The hypnotic rhythms seem to smooth out the unnecessary roughness they've been known to generate in the past. And while some might be chagrined by that fact, I couldn't be more thrilled. This time around they gave the beats a trancier feel with melodic overtones and even some ethereal vocals now and again, yet the overall feel remains somewhat gritty, setting this apart from their Delerium project. This is much more accessible but it's also more experimental... To sum this up in a word, I'd have to say: Brilliant!

I must say that i've had this disc for almost more than a year now and i still love listening to it over and over. Unlike their previous efforts (the bizarre Epitaph and dark spacey Implode) this reminded me of a "modernized" Tactical Neural Implant lushed with ambience darker than Semantic Spaces. This album will probably please more Delerium fans than those who's more into the heavier side of FLA (Hard-wired, Millenium, FLAvourOfTheWeAK). There is an undeniable fact that there lies a certain degree of brilliance and craftsmanship in it's engineering. Probably due to Rhys Fulber's comeback (we've seen him mature over the years with most of his production work: Fear Factory, Conjure One among others). A good blend of light and dark, he manages to bring out a more softer side of FLA that's somewhat similar yet contrast to Chris Petersons "cyber" and grungy approach. Nevertheless, this is "cyber" and forget-about-grunge electronic ebm music at it's finest. Fans of electronica should try this and it's follow-up ep Vanished.

The most consistent band in the Industrial scene come back to release a new album. Generally, FLA are worshipped for "Tactical Neural Implant," an album that is responsible for every cliche in Industrial (specifically, Cyberpunk Post-Apocalypse Mechanical Inhuman Minimalistic New-Wave-With-A-Jackhammer Sample-Overdose Mesmerizing-Decades-Of-Faith) but was still a great CD. Every album after TNI was basically TNI+ (insert influence here). Milennium was TNI+Rock, FLAvor was TNI+Techno, Hard Wired was TNI+Drum'n'Bass (with a lil guitar). Epitaph was kind of a departure, where the cyberpunk dystopia of TNI was blasted with an H-Bomb and all thats left is ruins... Milennium kind of continues on this path, sounding almost like a more angry Epitaph. TNI was mechanical but it was kind of upbeat in a way, Epitaph was bleak and Civilization continues this 'ramshackle/experimental' feel but in a more aggressive way.

The first song, Psychosomatic, sounds like TNI meets Hip-Hop (yes, Hip-Hop) meets a James Bond theme. This song is unhateable. Its catchy and fun, and is followed by the dark, angry, but catchy-as-hell Maniacal. A bit of everything is used here, samples, synths, pianos, guitars, more samples, more synths, weird sounds that keep everything from feeling repetitive, more weird stuff, complex percussion, so experimental yet tied together with catchy, stick-in-your-head melodies... mmmm not so different from TNI after all. Best seen as more 'organic.'

FLA are consistent and always deliver CDs with at least 3 or 4 good songs. They continue their record here.

I must say that upon first couple of hearings I wasn't sure what to think. It definitely sounded quite different. Still very much Bill Leeb but as far as FLA goes much calmer, less in your face than any of their previous albums. Not a bad thing, just not what I was used to. However, the CD left me wanting to hear it again, and then again, and with each time I played it, it made more sense. It is great! It is the most mature work Leeb (and Fulber for that matter) has ever done, including all his side projects.

I must say I miss Peterson's more complex drum programming but Fulber's more straight forward work fits rather well into the arrangement. Bill's singing is the best I have ever heard it. And he's not afraid to mix in some female singing as well, albeit backup vocals, that really broaden the palette. I was really impressed by the use of guitars on a few occasions, not the usual distorted chug, but a much less obvious and more fitting melody. As usual, the production is superb.

I hope people give this album a chance as it's really worth the effort. As long as you go into it with an open mind and just enjoy it for what it is, I am certain you will love the experience.

I just got finished listening to this CD for the first time today and I must say overall I'm very, very impressed. Bill Leeb & Rhys Fulber are back with a vengence creating a wonderful & mature industrial album. Its exactly the kind of album I was wishing they would make(mostly slow & moody). If your a fan of dark electronic music you should be on your way to purchasing this right now without hesitation. This cd wont be leaving my player anytime soon.

I was somewhat disappointed with the collaboration of Leeb and Fulber on Delerium's last album but they more than made up for it on this album. After seeing numerous interviews with Bill Leeb over the years, it's apparent that Delerium is nothing more than a way to waste time and make money for Front Line Assembly is where their hearts are.

I was so impressed by this album in light of all of the "bad" electronic artists out there. The genre that used to be called Industrial is just saturated with second-rate swill that make your ears hurt and wish that someone had some sense of melody. I'm happy to see that through maturity FLA have decided what's important and are putting out something good.

This album definitely have some elements of FLA that we've all come to love and I was quite surprised by the re-visiting sounds of the Caustic Grip-era with a little Hard Wired thrown in for good measure. I think this release takes the best sounds from all of the Leeb/Fulber repertoire and seemless melds them into what is now know as Civilization.

Bravo! Bravo!

Civilization is probably FLA's most diverse and experimental studio release to date and very tame compared to all other FLA. When I first heard Civilization in 2004, I was taken off guard and honestly, a little dissapointed, because at the time it didn't level up to my expectations. Despite my cynicism at the time, it surely started to grow on me and still is to this day. I threw it on just the other day and was completely blown away with what I heard, again...it really is an amazing collection of diverse, well-crafted and well-engineered FLA tracks.

When listening to Civiliztion, it is pretty evident that there are some Delerium influences weaved in an out here and there. Transmitter, for example, starts out very atmospheric and very early Delerium-like with a kind of chanting monk choir. But then soon, you'll hear the very mechanical and robotic tones of FLA...and soon to blend in comes the Delerium-like angelic chorus.

To really appreciate the three distinct FLAvours (pun intended) of FLA, you need to listen to the following albums:

- Hard Wired (heavy guitar/industrial)

- Implode (mechanical/robotic synth/ebm/industrial)

- Civilization (atmospheric/synth/ebm)

FLAvour Of the Weak, Epitaph and Artificial Soldier are great too.

But really, in my opinion, anything after, and including TNI is all good. I strongly recommend Civilization to any synth fan!

By the way, the track listing on your copy of Civilization may not be correct. From what I hear, there are 3 or 4 different mis-prints...mine sure is. The correct track listing is as follows:

01. Psychosomatic - 5:35

02. Maniacal - 5:14

03. Transmitter (accidentally listed as "Fragmented") - 5:38

04. Vanished - 6:25

05. Strategic - 1:52

06. Civilization - 6:43

07. Fragmented (accidentally listed as "Transmitted [Come Together]") - 6:22

08. Parasite (accidentally listed as "Dissident") - 6:13

09. Dissident (accidentally listed as "Schicksal") - 5:29

10. Schicksal (tracklist contains only 9 tracks) - 7:19

Enjoy Civilization!!