''Humanistic'' is the debut album by

Abandoned Pools Thomas Edward Walter (born October 30, 1970) is an American musician and songwriter, best known for his alternative rock band, Abandoned Pools, as well as being the former bassist and one of the founding members of Eels. Early years and the E ...

. It was released in September 2001 through Extasy International. Though two songs were co-written by Pete Pagonis, the album is considered a solo work of Tommy Walter's in which he used new material, as well as several songs he'd worked on beforehand in both Tely and Metromax, to compose, record, and release. The album features a contrast of dark, gloomy, and sometimes aggressive songs such as "The Remedy" and "Blood" and more serene, upbeat tracks like "Start Over" and "Sunny Day." Elements of

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten ...

are evident in various ways;

keyboard 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 ...

is used in light melody of the dark-lyric-themed "Ruin Your Life" as well as the raging chorus of "Fluorescein," and ambiguous, non-sung vocal recordings are featured in various tracks.

Synth A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

effects are also utilized in various songs. Four tracks include backing vocals by

Angie Hart Angela Ruth Hart (born 8 March 1972), billed as Angie Hart, is an Australian pop singer best known for her role as lead vocalist in the alternative pop rock band Frente! and the indie pop duo Splendid with her then husband Jesse Tobias. Hart's ...

Frente! Frente! (or Frente) were an Australian folk- pop and indie pop group which originally formed in 1989. The original line-up consisted of Simon Austin on guitar and backing vocals, Angie Hart on lead vocals, Tim O'Connor on bass guitar (later r ...

. Hart's harmony style alongside Walter's somewhat androgynous voice creates a unique vocal chemistry. This album was mixed by

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic compression for molding mixes that play wel ...

and Matt Silva, and was mastered by

Gavin Lurssen Gavin Lurssen is an American mastering engineer. He owns Lurssen Mastering in Hollywood, California.singles did not begin to chart until March 2002 and commonly peaked around May. Leah Randi and Bryan Head filled out the ranks of bassist and drummer for the album's tour support. They had several successful tours, going across the country and headlining with acts such as Garbage and Lenny Kravitz. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

was produced for the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

, "Mercy Kiss," and saw substantial airplay on MTV2. "The Remedy" and "Monster" were second and third video/single releases; however, the latter consisted of tour footage and was released long after the others via MTV's website. "Start Over" was also included on the ''National Lampoon's Van Wilder'' soundtrack in March 2002. The group performed "The Remedy" on the June 5, 2002 edition of ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

'' and the June 26 edition of ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn ''The Late Late Show'' is an American late-night television talk and variety comedy show on CBS. It first aired in January 1995, with host Tom Snyder, who was followed by Craig Kilborn, Craig Ferguson, and current host James Corden. The show ...

''. A large number of songs off ''Humanistic'' were also featured on the MTV

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

Clone High ''Clone High'' (occasionally referred to in the United States as ''Clone High USA'') is an adult animated science fiction sitcom created by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Bill Lawrence. The show centers on a high school populated by the c ...

'' which debuted in November that year, with "Start Over" being the finale song of the show. However, after the series was dropped by MTV in February 2003, Abandoned Pools stopped touring (largely due to the dissolution of their label, Extasy Records).

Reception

The album received overall high praise upon release. Jason Thompson of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' compared ''Humanistic'' to Billy Corgan's solo work and noted it as much more successful. He went on to proclaim, "''Humanistic'' is a fantastic album that could be considered a masterpiece of

electro-pop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

... Walter has a gift for creating dense pop confections that manage to float like a feather even with all of their heaviness." Often referring to the 31-year-old as a "kid," Thom Jurek 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 databa ...

described Walter as a "harder-rock version of

Tommy Gnosis Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...

: vulnerable, lost, and wanting desperately to put it all into terms that are rock & roll enough to make him stand out from the crowd."

Track listing

All songs are written by

Tommy Walter Thomas Edward Walter (born October 30, 1970) is an American musician and songwriter, best known for his alternative rock band, Abandoned Pools, as well as being the former bassist and one of the founding members of Eels. Early years and the E ...

, except where noted.

Personnel

Musicians

– vocals, instrumentation * Josh Freese – drums * Tim Dow – additional drums *

Sean Slade Sean Slade (born 14 November 1957) is an American record producer, engineer, and mixer. On many of his productions he worked in partnership with Paul Q. Kolderie. Career Slade was born in Lansing, Michigan, United States. He graduated from Y ...

– organ , clavinet , bass clarinet , piano , additional guitar *

– backing vocals * Paul Q. Kolderie – additional guitar

Technical

* Tommy Walter – production, programming * Sean Slade – production * Paul Q. Kolderie – production * David Young – additional production *

Yoshiki Yoshiki is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yoshiki can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *義樹, "justice, tree" *義基, "justice, foundation" *義機, "justice, opportu ...

– executive production *

– mixing * Matt Silva – mixing assistance *

Gavin Lurssen Gavin Lurssen is an American mastering engineer. He owns Lurssen Mastering in Hollywood, California.Monster – MTV.com
{{Authority control Tommy Walter albums 2001 debut albums Warner Records albums Extasy Records albums Albums produced by Paul Q. Kolderie Albums produced by Sean Slade