One of the most amazing, yet criminally underrated rock albums of all time was released 20 years ago today. ❤ Happy 20th anniversary of Failure releasing the masterpiece that is Fantastic Planet. This incredible album was released this day in 1996 with little to no support from their record label. the album never charted, however has attained a large cult following bringing them back together as of 2013.
Failure, definitely one of the most left of center bands that emerged from the “grunge” scene, set themselves apart for their creative use of space, melody, chord progressions, signal processing, emphasis on massive bass guitar tones, angsty, yet calm vocal delivery, and playing all the wrong notes at all the right times. Fantastic Planet was where failure morphed these to create their magnum opus.
Fantastic planet was recorded mainly in the bedroom and bathroom(?) of a house the band rented from Lita Ford, amidst the chaos of their record label defaulting. Therefore the band received little assistance in making the album, as well as each band members personal (drug related) issues. These problems are all reflected in the music.
The band therefore had full musical and production related control over the album, and therefore were not bound by any standards. Each song has art rock inspired, subtle nuances, from breakdown sections of acoustic guitars, masses of cymbal wash, amongst the excellently produced lo-fi environment. Distorted keyboards, cello, and some sort of odd jack in the box (i think its a celesta?) intro and theme that appears throughout the album add a certain sense of foreboding. Each song leads into the next fluidly, assisted by the albums numerous segues (theres three of them) that help piece the album together. These segues are ambient, ambient instrumental sections and collections of various sound effects.
What Failure managed to make, was a piece of rock music and art, that is indescribably unique, managing to bring a pastiche of space rock, metal, new wave, art rock, post progressive and classical music and applying it within the confines of 90’s alt rock, in a way no band before has or ever will for that matter.
If you’ve read this far, please stop and listen to the album.Thanks to Greg Edwards, Ken Andrews and Kelli Scott for changing my perspective of music forever. Its that album I wish i could have written myself but never could, and direct the music I write on its basis.
awesomeness 