''How to Measure a Planet?'' is the fifth studio album by the Dutch rock band
The Gathering. It was released as a double CD on 9 November 1998 by
Century Media Records. The album was recorded at Bauwhaus Studios,
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
, and
Wisseloord Studios
The Wisseloord Studio is a recording studio in Hilversum, Netherlands. It was officially opened on 19 January 1978 by Prince Claus. The studios were founded by electronics company Philips, to enable their PolyGram artists to record in a prof ...
,
Hilversum, between July and October 1998 under the guidance of producer Attie Bauw.
The theme of
space travel runs through many of the songs on the album as well as on the cover and CD booklet.
The track "Liberty Bell" was released as a single in Europe, as well as in Canada on a bonus CD distributed with issue 12 of the metal magazine ''
Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles
''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'' (''BW&BK'') is a Canadian heavy metal magazine. Although based in Toronto, Canada, ''BW&BK'' features writers from the US, Germany and the UK, allowing the magazine to represent metal music from an internationa ...
''.
Upon release, the album received positive reviews from critics who appreciated the band's absorption of newfound elements of
shoegaze and
trip hop
Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tem ...
into its sound. However, many fans of the more metallic side of the group were not so pleased and it sold about two-thirds as much as its two predecessors (although some slippage should have been expected, given it was a more expensive two-CD package). Many of the Gathering's fans did stay with the band and, as the members have said, it brought them a whole new fanbase.
''How to Measure a Planet?'' remains something of a high point for the Gathering, with tracks from the album making up the majority of their two subsequent live albums, ''
Superheat'' (2000) and ''
Sleepy Buildings'' (2004).
In Japan, a one-CD version of the album was released, omitting the nearly half-hour title track.
Background
Having already achieved some moderate success with ''
Mandylion
According to Christian tradition, the Image of Edessa was a holy relic consisting of a square or rectangle of cloth upon which a miraculous image of the face of Jesus had been imprinted—the first icon ("image"). The image is also known as the M ...
'' and ''
Nighttime Birds'', the group felt trapped in an artistically controlled corner, which was very limited due to the high expectations from their fan base.
Following the departure of guitarist
Jelmer Wiersma, the remaining members of The Gathering decided they needed a change in musical direction. Having only one guitar player implied more space for different elements. Acknowledging the likes of
Radiohead's ''
OK Computer'' and
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall.
The debut Massive Attack album '' Blue Lines'' was releas ...
's ''
Mezzanine'', and the growing influence of such
shoegaze bands as
Slowdive
Slowdive is a British rock band that formed in Reading, Berkshire, in 1989. The band consists of Rachel Goswell on vocals and guitar, Neil Halstead on vocals and guitar, Christian Savill on guitar, Nick Chaplin on bass and Simon Scott on d ...
, the spacey
psychedelia
Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...
of bands as
Motorpsycho, and the more ethereal sounds of 4AD bands such as
Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance are an Australian music duo first established in Melbourne. Currently composed of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, the group formed in 1981. They relocated to London the following year. Australian music historian Ian McFarlane des ...
, the group took the opportunity to experiment with their sound and reinvent themselves.
Under guidance from producer Attie Bauw, the band embraced innovative recording techniques and a will to experiment, turning away from the standard structuring of their previous recordings. The group developed a different sound, less bombastic, more transparent, which vastly expanded the group's creative spectrum and style.
Track listing
Personnel
The Gathering
*
Anneke van Giersbergen
Anna Maria "Anneke" van Giersbergen (born 8 March 1973) is a Dutch singer, songwriter and guitarist who became known worldwide as the lead singer for the rock band The Gathering between 1994 and 2007. She also has a solo career. The project wa ...
– lead vocals, guitars on tracks 1.4 and 2.3
*
René Rutten – guitars,
didgeridoo on track 2.1,
theremin
The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...
on track 2.2
*
Frank Boeijen
Franciscus Johannes Maria (Frank) Boeijen (born 27 November 1957 in Nijmegen) is a Dutch singer and guitarist. His best known songs are ''Kronenburg Park (Ga die Wereld Uit)'' about a prostitute, ''Zwart Wit'' about the racial murder of Kerwi ...
– keyboards
*
Hugo Prinsen Geerligs – bass
*
Hans Rutten
The Gathering is a Dutch rock band, founded in 1989 by brothers Hans and René Rutten and vocalist Bart Smits in Oss, North Brabant.
The Gathering earliest releases were categorized as atmospheric doom metal with influences from extreme m ...
– drums
Production
*Attie Bauw – producer, engineer, mixing, programming, some percussion, arrangements with The Gathering
*Chris Blair – mastering at
Abbey Road Studios, London
Charts
References
{{Authority control
1998 albums
The Gathering (band) albums
Century Media Records albums