''Musique'' is the fourth
studio album by the
Norwegian metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typi ...
band
Theatre of Tragedy, released in 2000. The title on the album's cover, , is the pronunciation of the English word "music" transcribed in the
International Phonetic Alphabet.
''Musique'' is the album that marked for the band the change from
gothic metal with
Early Modern English
Early Modern English or Early New English (sometimes abbreviated EModE, EMnE, or ENE) is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transition from Middl ...
lyrics to a more
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
style, using
Modern English.
The change in musical direction for Theatre of Tragedy was associated with a change from traditional gothic and supernatural themes to lyrics based on modern life, including technology ("Machine", "Radio"), nightlife ("Image", "The New Man") and streetfighting ("Crash/Concrete"). The song "Commute" has the line "It's more fun to commute" in its lyrics, possibly a reference to
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize t ...
's "It's more fun to compute" from their ''
Computer World
''Computer World'' (german: link=no, Computerwelt) is the eighth studio album by German electronic band Kraftwerk, released on 10 May 1981.
The album deals with the themes of the rise of computers within society. In keeping with the album's co ...
'' album, which in turn is a reference to "It's more fun to compete" found on old pinball machines.
Metal Mind Productions reissued the album after it had been digitally remastered using a 24-bit process on a golden disc. It includes three bonus tracks, "Quirk" (Original Version) - also known as the original version of "Image" - , "Radio" (Unreleased Mix) and "Reverie" (Unreleased Mix). The reissue is limited to 2,000 copies and was released in Europe on 27 July 2009.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Theatre of Tragedy.
On the back of the album's casing, "Space Age" is written in
Russian: "''Космическая эра''"; moreover, the words "''Гагарина, Терешковой, Леонова, Лайки, Белки и Стрелки''" ("''Of
Gagarin
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. Tr ...
,
Tereshkova
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova ( rus, Валентина Владимировна Терешкова, links=no, p=vɐlʲɪnʲˈtʲinə vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvnə tʲɪrʲɪʂˈkovə, a=Valentina Tereshkova.ogg; born 6 March 1937) is an engine ...
,
Leonov, of
Laika
Laika (russian: link=no, Лайка; – 3 November 1957) was a Soviet space dog who was one of the first animals in space and the first to orbit the Earth. A stray mongrel from the streets of Moscow, she flew aboard the Sputnik 2 spacec ...
,
Belka and Strelka''") are recited throughout the song.
The song "Reverie" begins with loading of a
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer.
Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...
program from an audio cassette.
Personnel
Theatre of Tragedy
*Raymond I. Rohonyi - vocals, programming
*
Liv Kristine Espenæs - vocals
*
Frank Claussen - guitars
*
Lorentz Aspen - keyboards
*
Hein Frode Hansen - drums
Additional musicians
*Erik Andre Rydningen - additional drums
*Erik Ljunggren - keyboards and programming
Production
*Erik Ljunggren - producer, engineer
*Jon Marius Aareskjold - engineer
*Ulf W. Ø. Holand - engineer and mixing
Singles
Two tracks from ''Musique'' were released as singles.
*"Image" was released in 2000. This single had the album version of "Machine" plus remixes of "Fragment" (by Element) and "Machine" (by
VNV Nation).
*''Machine'' was released as an EP in 2001. The EP had the same remixes of "Fragment" and "Machine" which were on the "Image" single. The EP also had the French version of "Image", a remix of "Reverie" and "Radio". The multimedia content on the disc is the video for "Image".
Charts
References
{{Authority control
2000 albums
Theatre of Tragedy albums
Nuclear Blast albums
East West Records albums