Customer Reviews

Welcome to Earth

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a different sound for Groth. "7" was pretty aggressive EBM, and "Welcome to Earth", while much better-produced, is more uneven as an album.

It has some truly stellar tracks, like "Starsign" , "Eclipse" and "Paranoia", all of which fall into that hazy land where EBM and synthpop collide. There's the exceptionally poppy yet intruiging "Come Lie Next to Me." The good stuff is really good.

And the mediocre stuff is really mediocre. One track is essentially a dead-ripoff of the theme from Twin Peaks, minus the creepy ambience of the original. "Help Me" overindulges in bizzare effects to the detriment of the song. "Soultaker" is an attempt at a thrashy industrial song that doesn't quite cut it.

If you liked Covenant's "USoM" and "Europa", you may want to pick this up just for the excellent tracks. If you're a synthpop fan loking for something more agressive, this'll be fine. If you're trying to find the next Skinny Puppy, you're looking in the wrong place.

Having started with an EP called the Second Manifesto, and then putting out CD's like Soli Deo Gloria, 7, and Apopcalyptic Manifesto I was pleasantly surprised and happy to hear the singles of Paranoia, and then Eclipse. I knew that the coming CD was going to be as different from the first 4 releases as house is to goth.

I am not saying House is the genre of this CD but it is certainly the most friendly EBM CD that kids who enjoy progressive house will ever want to get a hold of.

Along with a couple tracks which are purely samples from Blair Witch Project, Twin Peaks, and X-Files with weird and eerie music floating in and out some of the most memorable tracks are: Starsign, Paranoia, Fade to Black (Metallica cover) Eclipse, Soultaker, (on the TATCD047 copy the extra remix of Eclipse). these are by far some of the best danceable tracks EBM has to offer for the year 2000. and Songs like Moment of Tranquility reminded me that artists can write good ballads!

And for any who enjoy Metallica, I suggest picking up the Single for Paranoia which has yet another metallica cover "Nothing Else Matters".

Being a DJ, I believe that this CD will be quite hot for the year to come. and anyone who wants to be introduced to this band, This CD is the best one for you. Especially if you have more of a leaning towards Progressive house than industrial. Those who liked "7" and "Soli Deo Gloria" all I can say is Stephen Groth has at least continued to progress instead of staying in one particular field of expertize. THere is a definite talent behind this CD and I urge you to order it and take to the stars!

This is my first purchase from Apoptygma Berzerk. I had no idea what I was in for when I threw caution to the wind and bought this cd. Thankfully I was not disappointed in "Welcome to Earth". I knew I was in for a treat the moment I started hearing the synthesized melodies of "Everything We Know is Wrong". I was surprised to hear more of a techno sound than say goth/industrial sounds based on the name of the one man act. Judging by the reviews I've briefly scanned, this techno influenced album is a departure from previous albums.

Being a huge techno fanatic, I thought I heard everything until I popped in "Welcome to Earth" in my stereo. For some peculiar reason "Welcome to Earth" doesn't sound like anything I have heard before with this unusually refreshing brand of techno/industrial sounds. The first track "Everything We Know is Wrong" is simply one of the best techno songs I have heard in a long time. The vocals just blew me away. I loved the cover of Metallica's "Fade to Black". That just really threw me off in a really good way. Putting a techno beat to a classic heavy metal song is simply brilliant in my book. I loved "Starsign". I just love hearing a man lending vocals to a techno song, not to take anything away from all the great female vocalists who have lent their voices to some choice techno tracks by various artists over the years. The male vocals on songs like "Starsign" and "Everything We Know is Wrong" sounds so refreshing to me.

I already love this album to death. I need to hear more music from Apoptygma Berzerk. I want to hear just how different "Welcome to Earth" stands from the other albums. I am glad to have taken a chance on this cd without listening to it first.

I went to the library in my hometown in Mo I Rana, Norway. I had never heard about APB before. Then I saw the CD. On the front was a cropcircle and the title. "Apoptygma Berzerk - Welcome To Earth". I thought it was some kind of heavy metal-thing and I looked inside the booklet. Then I just thought "WHAT!?" The guy was using synthesizers! I immidiately borrowed it and went home. I inserted the disc into the player and the intro started.

This CD changed my life! I just loved the dark lyrics and the catchy beats and melodies.

Welcome To Earth is the CD that got me hooked on APB and made me into an APB-fan. I still listen to the CD a lot of times, especially in the morning, and it still sounds good. Stephan Groth is one of the greatest artists in the world. But it's just too bad he isn't so well known back here in Norway. I have asked a lot of persons, but no one has ever heard of him!

Welcome to Earth is one of APB's finest albums and it's no doubt that he has layed a lot of work in his album.

I make a lot of synth-music myself and Stephan Groth is my idol.

i use to be a pretty big fan of apop about the time "7" came out. this cd is pretty much [terrible], with the exception of starsign, this cd is a waste. his music use to be ever-changing throughout the song, beautiful strings, beautiful pads, and lush beats, now it's just mainstream garbage. it is filled with repetitve beats and unintelligent lead lines.

if for some reason you do like the new direction of apop, check out the new covenent. . . . they're going in the same direction that apop has.

his music isn't progressing by any means. . . .

Just when we thought synth-pop was dead and buried, the grizzled top end of Gen X decides it can't let go and nominates this Norwegian guy to rescue everything that was good about syth-eighties-dance (the romantic lyricism and desparing sense of "death tomorrow") and lose everything that was bad (the overly-romantic lyricism and androgynous tweek of casios "on the metro"). Apoptygma Berzerk gets better with each album, artfully programming a solid pop sensibility with cutting edge danceteria and gothadustrial seasonings. *Welcome to Earth* is a no holes barred pop dance explosion of the romantic strain (more akin to camoflage, depeche mode, and alphaville than moby, prodigy or ministry), but offers up no limp wrists. Almost every track is amazing and of the sort which one wishes went on for another five minutes. A good corrective for Covenant fans who won't let go of the casios. Groth's use of female vocals and KORGs works much, much better. Need to dance and sing too? This album is it for 2000!

Can music that moves your body also move your soul and make you think/wonder? Yes. And Apoptygma Berzerk proves this again. I admired the last album ("7") fully. But, this album -- while meeting my high expectations -- didn't manage to exceed them. All the same, the majority of tracks on "Welcome to Earth" are awe-inspiring with their beautiful melodies, solid beats, artistically used samples, and intelligent lyrics. A few though mar the overall style of the album simply because they don't seem to fit. Consider "Untitled 3" -- it bleeds in after a stunning track and never seems to go anywhere. With some odd samples -- cackling laughter and creepy "Blair Witch Project" audio clips -- it just seems like an aggravating delay between far better songs. One cut like that can easily be ignored however in favor of the other definitely more admirable tracks. This album successfully showcases a talent for using techno-influenced dance music and adding elements that are more familiar to rock fans -- growling guitar lines and deep, burbling synth fills. And although there are a couple other tracks toward the end which are mild disappointments, the overall result is interesting without being overly dark and brooding. This is fine music.

What an interesting change of direction! Fans of traditional industrial-influenced EBM (including Apoptygma Berzerk's earlier albums) might be a little surprised by this album, which plays to me a lot more like an infusion of Depeche Mode-style pop and Underworld-style techno than an industrial album.

If you like the new style, the songs on this album are extremely good! Very catchy hooks for all of the main tracks, with excellent voices; heavy, pulsating basses and danceable beats. Not for those wanting total darkness but for those who like industrial-and-electropop influenced dance its a killer album.

Let's face it, in the world of good electronic music, Apop stands out. Stephan Groth provides very catchy vocals over a well-mixed background of synthesizers and drums. I had the pleasure of seeing them in concert a while ago, and I must say that while I prefer them live, any album is well worth it. Welcome to Earth could have made a little more music, but it is an outstanding album nonetheless. Songs like "Starsign" and "Kathy's Song (Come Lie Next to Me)" are what make Apop really great.

THis is a truly wonderful example of synth-pop gone gothic. Good beats, good words, thought provoking, occasionally depressing, but always good.