''Doppelgänger'' is the debut studio album by English

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Curve In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line (geometry), line, but that does not have to be Linearity, straight. Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point (ge ...

. It was released on 9 March 1992 in the United Kingdom by

Anxious Records Anxious Records (sometimes typeset as AnXious) was a record label set up by David A. Stewart of Eurythmics, and overseen by Stewart with Infectious Music's Korda Marshall (when Marshall was at BMG/RCA Records). Originally set up as a BMG label, ...

, and on the following day in the United States by Anxious and

Charisma Records Charisma Records (also known as The Famous Charisma Label) was a British record label founded in 1969 by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith. He had previously acted as manager for rock bands such as The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der ...

. A continuation of the musical idiom established by the group on its three earlier EPs, ''Doppelgänger'' combines elements of

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

and alternative rock with the reverb-laden and distortion-heavy stylings of

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

Critical reception

J. D. Considine J. D. Considine (born 1957) is a music critic who has been writing about music professionally since 1977. Background J. D. Considine's work has been published in numerous newspapers and music magazines, and he has contributed to several books. ...

of ''

Musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

'' said: "Curve's thick,

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

throb crosses the electrobeat aggression of

Front 242 Front 242 is a Belgian electronic music group that came into prominence during the 1980s. Pioneering the style they called electronic body music, they are a profound influence on the electronic and industrial music genres. History Formation Fr ...

with the blurred guitar drone of

Lush Lush may refer to: People Music * Lush (band), a British rock band * ''Lush'' (Mitski album), a 2012 album by Mitski * ''Lush'' (Snail Mail album), a 2018 album by Snail Mail * "Lush", a single by Skepta featuring Jay Sean * ''Lush 3'', a si ...

, an approach that allows the band the advantages of both styles without becoming openly in thrall to either. And it sounds just fine, in part because of the care with which

Dean Garcia Dean Garcia (born 3 May 1958) is an English multi-instrumentalist musician, best known as a member of the alternative rock duo Curve from 1990 to 2005. He also released solo work and collaborated with many other artists. Biography Garcia was ...

tends his soundscapes, and mostly because of the way

Toni Halliday Antoinette "Toni" Halliday (born 5 July 1964) is an English musician best known as the lead vocalist, lyricist, and occasional guitarist of the alternative rock band Curve, along with Dean Garcia. She was also a member of the bands Photofitz, ...

's cool, throaty vocals snake melody through the thick-swirling grooves. A singularly entrancing album." In '' Q'',

David Cavanagh David Cavanagh was an Irish writer and music journalist, best known for his the critically acclaimed 2000 book ''My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry for the Prize'', which detailed the rise and fall of Creation Records, and for his editorship of '' Select'' ...

wrote: In its end-of-year round-up issue, ''Q'' stated that "''Doppelgänger'' delighted with its thrashy guitar sounds, bone-rattling drum tattoos and cool, poised vocal performances."

Legacy

''Q'' featured ''Doppelgänger'' in a 1999 list of the best "gothic" albums: "A thundering, subtly melodic debut drowned out the critics and, though it was all over two years later, the multimillion-selling

Garbage Garbage, trash, rubbish, or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or gaseous wastes, or toxic waste produc ...

had certainly learned something." In 2013, the record was included in ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' list of 10 essential

albums other than My Bloody Valentine's ''

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''. In 2016, ''

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'' ranked ''Doppelgänger'' at number 40 on its list of the 50 best shoegaze albums of all time; in an accompanying essay,

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

wrote:

Track listing

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. Curve *

– bass, guitar, keyboards, drum programming *

– vocals Additional musicians * Alex Mitchell – guitar * Steve Monti – drums *

Alan Moulder Alan Moulder (born 11 June 1959) is an English record producer, mixing engineer, and audio engineer. Early life Moulder was born on 11 June 1959 in Boston, Lincolnshire. He was educated at Boston Grammar School. He had an interest in music from ...

– guitar * Debbie Smith – guitar Production *

Darren Allison Darren Allison (born May 1968, Ashington, Northumberland, England) is an English record producer, musician, and audio engineer, best known for his production work with artists such as Spiritualized,Kempster, Chris "Studio secrets of the stars ...

– mixing (assistant) *

Denis Blackham Denis Blackham (born in 1952) is an English music mastering engineer. He began his audio mastering work in 1969 at IBC Studios in London, and later worked for Polygram, RCA, The Master Room, Nimbus Records, Tape One and George Peckham, Porky's ...

– mastering * Curve –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

Flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

– production, engineering * Alan Moulder – mixing * Charles "Giles" Steel – engineering (assistant) * Ingo Vauk – engineering Design * Flat Earth – design, photography

Charts

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doppelganger (Curve album) 1992 debut albums Curve (band) albums Albums produced by Flood (producer) Charisma Records albums