''Civilization'' is the twelfth full-length studio album by

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

industrial band

Front Line Assembly Front Line Assembly (FLA) is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. FLA has developed its own sound incorporating elements of electronic body music and electro-industrial. The band's members ...

, released on January 20, 2004 through

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big ci ...

. The album was produced by band founder

Bill Leeb Wilhelm Anton "Bill" Leeb (born 21 September 1966, in Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian-Canadian electronic musician and record producer. He is best known for being a founding member of the industrial music group Front Line Assembly. Additional ...

and returning member Rhys Fulber, who had departed in 1996. ''Civilization'' has been described by reviewers as being a more stylistically diverse and relaxed album compared to the band's previous releases.

Release

Copy protection

Promotional copies of the album came with copy protection. Metropolis called it "an experimental run" and emphasized that the sales copies were delivered as regular CDs without protection.

Album errors

Metropolis mislabeled the back cover track listing of ''Civilization'' on at least three separate occasions. The errors included swapped song titles, missing the song "Parasite" and excluding the "Dissident" page in the booklet. These numerous errors led to rumors that Metropolis was releasing special edition copies of the album, all of which were false. While the track listing found on the back cover was incorrect, the liner notes still presented all the songs in the correct order, excluding copies with the missing "Dissident" page.

Singles

''Civilization'' was accompanied by two singles. "Maniacal" was released about three months before the album. It contains the original version and a remix of the title track as well as the B-side "Anti". The follow-up to the album was the single "Vanished". It includes two remixes of the title track and the non-album tracks "Stürm", "Disseminate" and "Uncivilized". "Stürm" is also featured on the soundtrack album from horror film

Saw A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, wire, or chain with a hard toothed edge. It is used to cut through material, very often wood, though sometimes metal or stone. The cut is made by placing the toothed edge against the material and mov ...

. Both singles reached the top of the Deutsche Alternative Charts single chart (see Chart positions).

Track listing

Personnel

Front Line Assembly

– production, vocals * Rhys Fulber – production, programming

Additional musicians

Jamie Muhoberac Benjamin Edward "Jamie" Muhoberac is an American session keyboardist with numerous credits. He is best known for his work with Seal and Was (Not Was). Biography Muhoberac has worked with acts including The All-American Rejects, Fleetwood Mac, B ...

– vocals (6), keyboard (6, 9) * Leah Randi – vocals (1, 3, 4), bass (6) * Sean Ashby – electric guitar (4) *

Christian Olde Wolbers Christian Olde Wolbers (born 5 August 1972) is a Belgian musician, songwriter, and producer who is the bassist and backing vocalist of the heavy metal band Powerflo. He is the former bassist, guitarist and backing vocalist of the heavy metal ...

– electric guitar (6)

Chart positions

Album

Singles

"Maniacal"

"Vanished"

References

{{Authority control 2004 albums Front Line Assembly albums Metropolis Records albums Albums produced by Rhys Fulber