''Be Careful What You Wish For'' is the ninth studio album by British

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

group

Ramleh Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations. The city was f ...

. It was released on 20 November 1995 through American

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

Sympathy for the Record Industry Sympathy for the Record Industry (also known as Sympathy Records or Sympathy 4 the R.I.) is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by Long Gone John. The first Sympathy release was the Lazy Cowgirls' ''Radio Cowgirl'' LP ...

. Akin to their other releases in 1990s, ''Be Careful What You Wish For'' experiments with traditional

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

structures, in contrast to their early 1980s recordings in

power electronics Power electronics is the application of electronics to the control and conversion of electric power. The first high-power electronic devices were made using mercury-arc valves. In modern systems, the conversion is performed with semiconducto ...

genre. It is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

and is widely regarded as the band's "highest-profile release."

Critical reception

Stewart Mason of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

described the album as "a remarkable slice of abstract drones by guitarist Gary Mundy, occasionally colored by

Philip Best Philip Neil Best (born 15 June 1968) is an English industrial musician, visual artist, and author. A pioneer of power electronics, he formed the band Consumer Electronics in 1982 at age 14. Best joined the group Whitehouse, in 1983. After a nine ...

's barely audible, mantra-like vocals and Stuart Dennison's extremely minimal (often beat-free) drumming." He also stated that "Those who think

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

are the ultimate sonic terrorists will be scared silly." Everett Jang Perdue of

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

criticized the album for "leaning too hard in a rock direction" and described it as "the band's blandest."

Track listing

# "The New York Conning Tower" - 7:17 # "Chicago Balloon Riders" - 9:00 # "Boston Concept" - 5:46 # "Philadelphia Mountain Lion" - 1:45 # "Seattle Nun Trailer" - 7:51 # "Buffalo Comeback" - 7:03 # "Alice in the Cities" - 7:49 # "Ohio Impromptu" - 4:12 # "Houston Water Angel" - 10:20 # "Maryland Sheriff Factory" - 3:16 # "Michigan Showgirl" - 6:17 # "Blues for Herb Mullin" - 2:48

Personnel

;Ramleh * Gary Mundy – guitar, electronics *

– vocals, electronics * Anthony di Franco – bass * Stuart Dennison – drums, percussion

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1995 albums Ramleh (band) albums Sympathy for the Record Industry albums