Broken (Soulsavers album)
Encyclopedia
Broken is the third full-length studio album from electronica
production duo Soulsavers
, released by V2 Records
in the UK on August 17, 2009, and released by Columbia Records
in the US in September as a digital download. As with their 2007 album It's Not How Far You Fall, It's the Way You Land
, a collaboration with Mark Lanegan
and a host of guest vocalists, Broken once again features Lanegan as the primary vocalist, as well as contributions from Bonnie "Prince" Billy (Will Oldham), Jason Pierce
(of Spiritualized
and Spacemen 3
), Mike Patton
(of Faith No More
), Richard Hawley
, and Gibby Haynes
(of Butthole Surfers
). The non-album single "Sunrise," a song written by Lanegan and sung by Will Oldham
, preceded the album release on August 3, 2009. The AA-side is a cover of Palace Brothers' "You Will Miss Me When I Burn," written by Oldham and sung by Lanegan, that also features on the album.
In a press release for the album, Rich Machin described Broken as the result of Soulsavers' live incarnation. "Touring has definitely brought the guitars to the front of Broken and it's got a more soulful twist too. And though it clearly has some very dark overtones, I don't think it's quite as dark as the last
. The album was recorded over 2008 and 2009 in Los Angeles and North England, and also features the vocals of newcomer Red Ghost, the performing moniker of Rosa Agostino. According to Rich, "This young Australian girl from Sydney kept on sending me demos... and she was better than most everything else we'd heard. We traded ideas, and it really gelled."
, which assigns a normalised
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average
score of 78, based on 11 reviews.
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
production duo Soulsavers
Soulsavers
Soulsavers are an English production and remix team composed of Rich Machin and Ian Glover. The Soulsavers' downtempo electronica sound incorporates influences of rock, gospel, soul, and country...
, released by V2 Records
V2 Records
V2 Records is a record label that is owned by Universal Music Group as of October 2007. The label was founded in 1996 by Richard Branson, five years after he sold Virgin Records to EMI....
in the UK on August 17, 2009, and released by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in the US in September as a digital download. As with their 2007 album It's Not How Far You Fall, It's the Way You Land
It's Not How Far You Fall, It's the Way You Land
It's Not How Far You Fall, It's the Way You Land is the second studio album by English production team Soulsavers, released on April 2, 2007 in the UK and October 16, 2007 in the US. The album features American singer Mark Lanegan as primary vocalist...
, a collaboration with Mark Lanegan
Mark Lanegan
Mark Lanegan is an American rock musician and songwriter. Lanegan began his music career in the 1980s, forming the grunge group Screaming Trees with Gary Lee Conner, Van Conner and Mark Pickerel. During his time in the band Lanegan would start a low-key solo career...
and a host of guest vocalists, Broken once again features Lanegan as the primary vocalist, as well as contributions from Bonnie "Prince" Billy (Will Oldham), Jason Pierce
Jason Pierce
Jason Pierce , also known as J. Spaceman or Spaceman, is an English musician. He was formerly the joint leader – with Peter Kember – of the alternative rock band Spacemen 3, and is now the leader and sole permanent member of the band Spiritualized.In between his work with Spiritualized...
(of Spiritualized
Spiritualized
Spiritualized are an English space rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Jason Pierce after the demise of his previous outfit, space-rockers Spacemen 3...
and Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3 were an English alternative rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce. Their music was "colorfully mind-altering, but not in the sense of the acid rock of the '60s; instead, the band developed its own minimalistic psychedelia"...
), Mike Patton
Mike Patton
Michael Allan "Mike" Patton is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor, best known as the lead singer of the metal/experimental rock band Faith No More. He has also sung for Mr...
(of Faith No More
Faith No More
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...
), Richard Hawley
Richard Hawley
Richard Hawley is a guitarist, singer-songwriter and producer. After his first band Treebound Story broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longpigs in the 1990s. He later joined the band Pulp, led by his friend Jarvis Cocker...
, and Gibby Haynes
Gibby Haynes
Gibson Jerome "Gibby" Haynes is an American musician, radio personality, and painter, and the lead singer of the group Butthole Surfers.-Early life and career:...
(of Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers is an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...
). The non-album single "Sunrise," a song written by Lanegan and sung by Will Oldham
Will Oldham
Will Oldham , better known by the stage name Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded under variations of the Palace name, including the Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, and Palace Music...
, preceded the album release on August 3, 2009. The AA-side is a cover of Palace Brothers' "You Will Miss Me When I Burn," written by Oldham and sung by Lanegan, that also features on the album.
In a press release for the album, Rich Machin described Broken as the result of Soulsavers' live incarnation. "Touring has definitely brought the guitars to the front of Broken and it's got a more soulful twist too. And though it clearly has some very dark overtones, I don't think it's quite as dark as the last
It's Not How Far You Fall, It's the Way You Land
It's Not How Far You Fall, It's the Way You Land is the second studio album by English production team Soulsavers, released on April 2, 2007 in the UK and October 16, 2007 in the US. The album features American singer Mark Lanegan as primary vocalist...
. The album was recorded over 2008 and 2009 in Los Angeles and North England, and also features the vocals of newcomer Red Ghost, the performing moniker of Rosa Agostino. According to Rich, "This young Australian girl from Sydney kept on sending me demos... and she was better than most everything else we'd heard. We traded ideas, and it really gelled."
Critical reception
Initial critical response to Broken was positive. At MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalised
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 78, based on 11 reviews.
Track listing
Singles
- "Sunrise"/"You Will Miss Me When I Burn" (7" vinyl, August 3, 2009)
- "Sunrise" (Lanegan) – 3:42
- "You Will Miss Me When I Burn" (Oldham) – 3:48
- "Death Bells" (digital download, September 14, 2009)
- "Death Bells" – 4:49
- "Death Bells" (MogwaiMogwaiThe word mogwai is the transliteration of the Cantonese word 魔怪 meaning "monster", "evil spirit", "devil" or "demon".-Mogwai/Mogui in Chinese culture:...
Remix) – 4:59
- "Unbalanced Pieces" (promo CD and music video only, November 2, 2009)
- "Unbalanced Pieces" (Radio Edit) – 3:58
- "Some Misunderstanding" (promo CD only, March 22, 2010)
- "Some Misunderstanding" (Radio Edit) – 4:07
Musicians
- All music by Rich Machin and Ian Glover.
- Strings arranged by Daniele Luppi.
- Mark LaneganMark LaneganMark Lanegan is an American rock musician and songwriter. Lanegan began his music career in the 1980s, forming the grunge group Screaming Trees with Gary Lee Conner, Van Conner and Mark Pickerel. During his time in the band Lanegan would start a low-key solo career...
– vocals on tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 11. - Rosa Agostino – vocals on tracks 4, 10, 11, and 13.
- Jason PierceJason PierceJason Pierce , also known as J. Spaceman or Spaceman, is an English musician. He was formerly the joint leader – with Peter Kember – of the alternative rock band Spacemen 3, and is now the leader and sole permanent member of the band Spiritualized.In between his work with Spiritualized...
– vocals on track 9. - Mike PattonMike PattonMichael Allan "Mike" Patton is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor, best known as the lead singer of the metal/experimental rock band Faith No More. He has also sung for Mr...
– vocals on track 3. - Richard HawleyRichard HawleyRichard Hawley is a guitarist, singer-songwriter and producer. After his first band Treebound Story broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longpigs in the 1990s. He later joined the band Pulp, led by his friend Jarvis Cocker...
– vocals on track 7. - Gibby HaynesGibby HaynesGibson Jerome "Gibby" Haynes is an American musician, radio personality, and painter, and the lead singer of the group Butthole Surfers.-Early life and career:...
– vocals on track 2. - Wendi Rose, Carmen Stuart, T'jae Cole, and Eleanor Palmer – vocals on tracks 5, 6, and 7.
- Dustin O'Halloran – additional piano on tracks 4 and 8.
- Martyn LeNobleMartyn LeNobleMartyn LeNoble is a Dutch bassist and founding member of Porno for Pyros.LeNoble started his musical career by playing bass in a Dutch punk rock band when he was 14. In 1989, he moved to Los Angeles and played with the likes of Thelonious Monster and The Too Free Stooges...
– additional bass on tracks 5, 6, 7, 9, and 13. - Kev Bales – additional drums on tracks 2, 5, 7, 11, and 12.
- Ian Compton – additional organs on tracks 5, 7, and 10.
- Ray Dickaty – additional saxophone on tracks 2, 3, and 11.
- Anton Riehl – additional cedar flute on track 12.
- Sonus QuartetSonus QuartetSonus Quartet is a Los Angeles based string quartet whose members include Caroline Campbell , Kathleen Sloan , Neel Hammond , and Vanessa Freebairn-Smith...
– additional strings on tracks 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, and 13. - Rich WarrenRichard Warren (musician)Richard Daniel Warren is a British musician, songwriter and producer.He signed his first record deal with Heavenly Records at the height of Britpop in 1996, as one third of The Hybirds....
– additional guitar on tracks 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 13; additional bass on track 2; and additional harmonica on track 7.
Production
- Produced by Soulsavers.
- Mixed by Danton Supple and Soulsavers, except "Death Bells" mixed by Soulsavers.
- Mastered by Mike Marsh at The Exchange.
- Engineered by Eric Weaver, Josh Blanchard, Anton Riehl, Peter Fletcher, Phil Hartley, and Mike Morgan.
- Recorded 2008-2009 at:
- Glenwood Studios and The Hobby Shop, Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
- Mike Patton's place, San Francisco
- Gibby Haynes' place, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
- Dustin O'Halloran's place, BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
- Strongrooms; Assault and Battery; Casa G; First Love Studios; Highfield St., United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
- Studios 301, SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
- Glenwood Studios and The Hobby Shop, Los Angeles
- Design by Ryan Besch at Hero Design Studio.
- Live audio engineer for '09 tour by John Lee Hardee