''Engine'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Die Warzau Die Warzau (originally Die Warzau Synfony) was an American industrial music band formed in 1987 by Jim Marcus and Van Christie. History In the late 80s, Jim Marcus and Van Christie were working individually as performance artists. Christie ha ...

, released on February 28, 1995 by TVT and Wax Trax! Records. It was the band's first album in over two years and upon release was considered a masterpiece of

industrial music Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initiall ...

Reception

William Cooper 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 ...

championed ''Engine'' as one of the greatest industrial albums of all times and a marked improvement over the band's previous output in both sonic and stylistic variety. He calling the album "a major leap forward for Die Warzau, as it contains some of its most hard-hitting (and surprisingly pop-friendly) material" and that "the mixture of moods and musical approach shows astonishing artistic depth." '' Alternative Press'' praised the Die Warzau's musical craftmanship and careful attention to details, saying "with ''Engine'' they've achieved true mastery of the electronic craft" and "the skilled mixings of genres and styles is mere child's play for them." ''

Option Option or Options may refer to: Computing *Option key, a key on Apple computer keyboards *Option type, a polymorphic data type in programming languages *Command-line option, an optional parameter to a command *OPTIONS, an HTTP request method ...

'' lauded the band for complex configuration of

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

and world music in complex configurations but decried the shallowness of the band's message, saying "''Engine'' may be loaded with advanced

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

ideals and sharp commentary on such horrid sins as materialism and oppression, but the only people who are going to stand up and listen are the already

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

-converted."

Tony Fletcher Tony Fletcher (born 27 April 1964) is a British music journalist best known for his biographies of drummer Keith Moon and the band R.E.M., and also as a show director for the Rock Academy in Woodstock. ''Jamming!'' Born in Yorkshire, England, ...

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 ...

'' said the album "gets busy with crashing beats, distorted vocals and disorienting sonic effects" and "what holds the disparate pieces together is invention and an overriding sense of fun. Even with the air is heavy, the mood stays upbeat."

Track listing

Accolades

Personnel

Adapted from the ''Engine'' liner notes. Die Warzau *

Van Christie Die Warzau (originally Die Warzau Synfony) was an American industrial music band formed in 1987 by Jim Marcus and Van Christie. History In the late 80s, Jim Marcus and Van Christie were working individually as performance artists. Christie ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

noises Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

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 ...

Jim Marcus Die Warzau (originally Die Warzau Synfony) was an American industrial music band formed in 1987 by Jim Marcus and Van Christie. History In the late 80s, Jim Marcus and Van Christie were working individually as performance artists. Christie ...

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, production *

Jason McNinch Die Warzau (originally Die Warzau Synfony) was an American industrial music band formed in 1987 by Jim Marcus and Van Christie. History In the late 80s, Jim Marcus and Van Christie were working individually as performance artists. Christie ...

–

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

, guitar, production, engineering Additional performers * Dan Agne –

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...

Martin Atkins Martin Clive Atkins (born 3 August 1959) is an English drummer and session musician, best known for his work in post-punk and industrial groups including Public Image Ltd, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Pigface, and Killing Joke. He also works as ...

– additional drums * Nanette Cichon –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

* Jerry – steel drum * Algis Kizys –

* Jason More – additional percussion * Chris Randall – additional programming *

Vincent Signorelli Vincent Signorelli is a drummer from New York City. He has toured in clubs throughout the world, primarily with Unsane (band), Unsane, NYC's infamous noise rock trio. He has played primarily with Swans (band), Swans, Unsane, and Foetus (band), ...

– additional drums *

Louis Svitek Louis Svitek is an American musician and former guitarist for a number of bands including Zoetrope, M.O.D., Ministry, Pigface, Mind Funk, The Hollow steps, Project .44, and The Joy Thieves. His work can also be found in many movie soundtracks s ...

– additional guitar * Matt Warren –

turntables A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

, additional programming * Jennifer Wilcox (as Levi) –

, additional vocals, *

Mars Williams Mars Williams (born May 29, 1955) is an American jazz and rock saxophonist. Exposed to big band and dixieland jazz by his trumpet-playing father, Williams played classical clarinet for ten years, then migrated to saxophone in his last year of hig ...

–

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

Production and design * Eric Arway – additional engineering * Vanessa Cook – additional engineering * Tom Coyne – mastering * Steve Krason (as Mudhead) – additional engineering * Steve Levy – additional engineering * Scott Ramsayer – additional engineering * Matt Warren – additional engineering,

(9) * Stephen Yates – additional engineering

Release history

References

External links

''Engine''
at

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Engine 1995 albums Die Warzau albums TVT Records albums Wax Trax! Records albums