''Unsound Methods'' is the fourth studio album by

Recoil Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, as according to Newton's third law the force requ ...

, released in 1997. It was recorded at

Alan Wilder Alan Charles Wilder (born 1 June 1959) is an English musician, composer, arranger, record producer and former member of the electronic band Depeche Mode from 1982 to 1995. Since his departure from the band, the musical project called Recoil b ...

's home studio, The Thin Line, in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, during sessions that lasted from September 1996 to March 1997. The album was produced by Alan Wilder, with assistance and coordination by Hepzibah Sessa, and additional production and engineering by Steve Lyon. The album was mixed by Wilder (with assistance from Paul Stevens and Simon Shazell). ''Unsound Methods'' was Alan Wilder's fourth Recoil release (after three

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

s), and his first since his departure from his band

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

in June 1995. The music was very different from previous Recoil offerings. According to Wilder, "... e sound relates much more to the approach taken on Depeche Mode's ''

Songs of Faith and Devotion ''Songs of Faith and Devotion'' is the eighth studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode. It was first released on 22 March 1993 in the United Kingdom by Mute Records and a day later in the United States by Sire Records and Rep ...

'' LP, which featured and combined lots of snatches of performance (with all their inherent feel). These parts were then

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

and

sequenced In genetics and biochemistry, sequencing means to determine the primary structure (sometimes incorrectly called the primary sequence) of an unbranched biopolymer. Sequencing results in a symbolic linear depiction known as a sequence which suc ...

utilizing all the available technology, to hopefully achieve something more interesting than the sound of a band playing together."

Spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

artist

Maggie Estep Margaret Ann "Maggie" Estep (March 20, 1963 – February 12, 2014) was an American writer and poet, best known for coming to prominence during the height of the spoken word and poetry slam performance rage. She published seven books and rel ...

Nitzer Ebb Nitzer Ebb () are a British EBM group formed in 1982 by Essex school friends Vaughan "Bon" Harris (programming, synthesizers, drums, vocals), Douglas McCarthy (vocals), and David Gooday (drums). History Initial releases (1983–1987) The g ...

vocalist

Douglas McCarthy Douglas John McCarthy (born 1 September 1966) is the vocalist of the English Electronic body music, EBM band Nitzer Ebb. McCarthy writes and performs with the band. He has appeared on multiple recordings by Recoil (band), Recoil and has release ...

, ''Songs of Faith and Devotion'' back-up singer Hildia Campbell and Siobhan Lynch were all vocalists. The

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

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 ...

duo

Pan Sonic Pan Sonic was a Finnish electronic music group founded in Turku in 1993. The group consisted of Mika Vainio, Ilpo Väisänen, and Sami Salo. Salo left in 1996 leaving Pan Sonic a duo. The group was originally named Panasonic until 1998. In Dece ...

from

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

, Finland remixed the song "Shunt".

Track listing

All music written by Alan Wilder #"Incubus" (Words: Douglas McCarthy/

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five A ...

(listed as F. Copolla)) #"Drifting" (Words: Siobhan Lynch) #"Luscious Apparatus" (Words:

) #"Stalker" (Words: McCarthy) #"Red River Cargo" (Words:

Thomas A. Dorsey Thomas Andrew Dorsey (July 1, 1899 – January 23, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and Evangelism, Christian evangelist influential in the development of early blues and 20th-century gospel music. He penned 3,000 songs, a third of them ...

) #"Control Freak" (Words: Estep) #"Missing Piece" (Words: Lynch) #"Last Breath" (Words: Ernest Gold/

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

) #"Shunt" (Words: Wilder)

Credits and personnel

*Alan Wilder–All music (except as noted), producer,

programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

, mixer, and

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

on "Missing Piece" and "Shunt" *Douglas McCarthy–

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 ...

on "Incubus" and "Stalker" *Siobhan Lynch–Lead vocals on "Drifting" and "Missing Piece", background vocals on "Control Freak" and "Stalker"–Punished Mix *Maggie Estep–Lead vocals on "Luscious Apparatus" and "Control Freak", background vocals on "Stalker"–Punished Mix * Hildia Campbell–Lead vocals on "Red River Cargo" and "Last Breath", background vocals on "Incubus" and "Control Freak", (also uncredited background vocals on "Missing Piece–Night Dissolves") * Hepzibah Sessa–

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

solo on "Missing Piece", talking on "Drifting" and "Last Breath", background vocals on "Incubus", "Control Freak", and "Shunt", assistance and coordination *

Oliver Kraus Oliver Kraus (born 1970 in Shepherd's Bush, London) is an English musician best known for his work as a cellist and string arranger/ producer and composer for film and television. String Arrangements and Performance Kraus has performed with nume ...

–

Cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

on "Stalker" and "Control Freak" *Steve Lyon–Additional production and programming *Paul Stevens–Mix assistant *Simon Shazell–Mix assistant *Ian Cooper–Metropolis mastering *House (at Intro) –Sleeve design * Merton Gauster–

Photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

*Shunt (Pansonic Mix) remixed by

Singles

"Drifting"

CD: Mute / CD MUTE 209 (UK)

#"Drifting"–Radio Mix (by Wilder) #"Drifting"–Poison Dub (by Wilder) #"Control Freak"–

Barry Adamson Barry Adamson (born 11 June 1958) Discography Studio Albums Compilation Albums EPs Singles Soundtracks References External links * Adamson's art-house
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adamson, Barry 1958 births Living people People from ...

Mix #"Shunt"–

Pansonic Pan Sonic was a Finnish electronic music group founded in Turku in 1993. The group consisted of Mika Vainio, Ilpo Väisänen, and Sami Salo. Salo left in 1996 leaving Pan Sonic a duo. The group was originally named Panasonic until 1998. In Dece ...

Mix

"Stalker/Missing Piece"

CD: Mute / CD MUTE 214 (UK)

#"Stalker"–Punished Mix (by Alan Wilder and PK) #"Missing Piece"–Night Dissolves (by Wilder and PK) #"Red River Cargo"–(album version)

Trivia

is listed as a co-writer of "Incubus" as the song is filled with quotes from ''

Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella ''Heart of Darkness'' by Joseph Conr ...

''. Douglas McCarthy even sounds like

Martin Sheen Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...

's Capt. Benjamin L. Willard. The album title also comes from a quote from Willard: "They told me that you had gone totally insane, and that your methods were unsound." *Pat Boone and Ernest Gold are listed as a co-writer of "Last Breath" because an

interpolation In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one often has a n ...

of their song "Exodus (This Land Is Mine)", from the 1960 film ''

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

'', is used. *Hildia Cambell was tapped to sing on the album after joining Depeche Mode as a touring singer during the Devotional Tour. She also sings on the song "Get Right with Me" on the Depeche Mode album ''

''. *

is the only collaborator to sing lead vocals on two Recoil albums. He also sang the single "Faith Healer" on the ''Bloodline'' album. *"Red River Cargo" is based on the

gospel song Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

Take My Hand, Precious Lord "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" (a.k.a. "Precious Lord, Take My Hand") is a gospel song. The lyrics were written by Thomas A. Dorsey, who also adapted the melody. Origin The melody is credited to Dorsey, drawn extensively from the 1844 hymn tune, " ...

", written in 1932. *In "Control Freak", there is an interpolation of part of the

Ashford & Simpson Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting-production team and recording duo of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946). Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carolina, ...

song "

You're All I Need to Get By "You're All I Need to Get By" is a song recorded by the American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and released on Motown Records' Tamla label in 1968. It was the basis for the 1995 single "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Ge ...

" (made popular by

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

and

Tammi Terrell Tammi Terrell (born Thomasina Winifred Montgomery; April 29, 1945 – March 16, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter, widely known as a star singer for Motown Records during the 1960s, notably for a series of duets with singer Marvin Gaye. ...

). The words are changed to "You're all I need to get high".

Notes

{{Authority control 1997 albums Mute Records albums Recoil (band) albums Reprise Records albums