''Lifeforms'' is the second

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 ...

by British

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

group

The Future Sound of London The Future Sound of London (often abbreviated FSOL) is a British electronic music duo composed of Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans. They have been described as a "boundary-pushing" electronic act, covering techno, ambient, house music, trip ho ...

. The album was released on 23 May 1994 by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

and later by

Astralwerks Astralwerks is an American record label primarily focused on electronic music owned by Universal Music Group. Its material is distributed via Capitol Music Group in the United States. The label was founded in 1993 and, in its early years, featur ...

Background

The Future Sound of London began work on the album around the same time as they were finishing ''

Tales of Ephidrina ''Tales of Ephidrina'' is an ambient/techno album by electronica duo Amorphous Androgynous, better known as The Future Sound of London (FSOL). It was released on 5 July 1993 through Quigley Records, a subsidiary label of Virgin. It was created ...

'', and the more complex,

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

direction they were taking resulted in ''Lifeforms''. The artwork also progressed from previous works, with soon-to-be familiar images of the "Witch Girl" Sheuneen Ta and the "Spike" computer model having been previously used on the group's ''

Cascade Cascade, Cascades or Cascading may refer to: Science and technology Science *Cascade waterfalls, or series of waterfalls * Cascade, the CRISPR-associated complex for antiviral defense (a protein complex) * Cascade (grape), a type of fruit * Bioc ...

'' EP.

Reception

''Lifeforms'' achieved commercial success and produced hit singles such as "

" and "

Lifeforms Life form (also spelled life-form or lifeform) is an entity that is living, such as plants (flora) and animals (fauna). It is estimated that more than 99% of all species that ever existed on Earth, amounting to over five billion species, are ext ...

". The album was certified silver by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

(BPI) for over 60,000 units sold.

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 ...

called it "one of the best experimental techno releases of the '90s" and "an inventive, fascinating aural experience, as rich and detailed as

the Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 19 ...

's best work." The Swedish band

Carbon Based Lifeforms Carbon Based Lifeforms is a Swedish electronic music duo formed in Gothenburg in 1996 by Johannes Hedberg and Daniel Vadestrid (''né'' Ringström). History Formation and early period Hedberg and Ringström (both born in 1976) first met in 1991, ...

got the idea of its name partly from this album.

Track listing

Personnel

* The Future Sound of London – production, writing ;Additional musicians *

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session ...

– guitar textures and bytes on "Flak" *

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, ...

– vocal texture on "Cerebral" *

Ozric Tentacles Ozric Tentacles are an English instrumental rock band, whose music incorporates elements from a diverse range of genres, including psychedelic rock, progressive rock, space rock, jazz fusion, electronic music, dub music, world music, and ambi ...

– sound bytes on "Flak" *

Talvin Singh Talvin Singh OBE (born 1970) is an English musician, producer, and composer. A tabla player, he is known for creating an innovative fusion of Indian classical music and drum and bass. Singh is generally considered involved with an electronica ...

– Tabla Tronics on "Life Form Ends" * Yage – engineering ;Additional personnel * The Future Sound of London – art direction * Buggy G. Riphead – art direction * Peter Atkinson – photography * Stephen Marks – photography * P. Knott – photography * Alistair Shay – photography * Martin Poole – photography * Olaf Wendt – CGI design * Rob Manley – A&R

Charts

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1994 albums Astralwerks albums The Future Sound of London albums Virgin Records albums