L.D. 50 (album)
Encyclopedia
L.D. 50 is the debut studio album by American heavy metal
band Mudvayne
. Released in 2000, it is the band's first release on Epic Records
, following the independently-released extended play
, Kill, I Oughtta
. L.D. 50 was coproduced by GGGarth
& Mudvayne and executive produced by Steve Richards & Slipknot
member Shawn "Clown" Crahan. The band's elaborate visual appearance resulted in increased recognition of the band and L.D. 50 peaked at #85 on the Billboard 200
. The album was appraised by critics for its technical and heavy style of music.
formed in 1996 in Peoria, Illinois. The band became known for its strong visual appearance, which included horror film
-styled makeup. After independently releasing their debut extended play
, Kill, I Oughtta
, the band signed to No-Name/Epic Records
. L.D. 50 was produced by Garth "GGGarth" Richardson
and executive produced by Steve Richards and Slipknot
member Shawn "Clown" Crahan. Epic Records initially chose to promote the band without focusing on its appearance and early promotional materials featured a logo instead of photographs of the band. However, the band's appearance and music videos increased recognition of the album.
, King Crimson
and Porcupine Tree
. Mudvayne's musical style incorporates elements of death metal
, jazz fusion
, hardcore punk
, speed metal
and progressive rock
.
The musical style of L.D. 50 has been described as alternative metal
, heavy metal
and nu metal
.
The album's 1st track, "Monolith", refers to Stanley Kubrick
's film 2001: A Space Odyssey
. The album's title derives from the medical term used by chemists to refer to the dose required to kill half the members of a tested population.
During the songwriting process, the band members paired riffs with lyrics based on what Matthew McDonough
referred to as "number symbolism". According to McDonough, while he and Chad Gray
wrote the lyrics to "Nothing to Gein", Greg Tribbett
performed a riff which alternated in bars of 4 and 5. Because the number 9 is a lunar number, McDonough felt that the riff would fit the song's lyrics, which referred to serial killer
and grave robber Ed Gein
, whose actions McDonough associated with nighttime activity.
A sound collage entitled "L.D. 50", composed and recorded by MjDawn, appears on the album as a series of interludes. The complete piece appeared as a bonus track on The Beginning of All Things to End, Epic Records' reissue of the band's 1997 self-released EP Kill, I Oughtta.
Top Heatseekers chart and #85 on the Billboard 200
. The singles "Dig" and "Death Blooms" peaked at #33 and #32, respectively, on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
Allmusic reviewer William Ruhlmann, Rolling Stone
reviewer Ben Ratliff and Q
magazine each gave the album three out of five stars.
Ratliff noted the band's technical background, comparing the songwriting style to that of Nirvana
and stating that the album's interludes are better than those of Slipknot. Ruhlmann found the band hard to take seriously. Q referred to the album as "a clever amalgam of Korn
, Tool
and Mr. Bungle
".
Melody Maker
gave the album 3 and a half out of 5 stars, calling it "A slithering cesspit of fetid malignance". College Music Journal
called the album "Futuristic aggro-metal".
Blabbermouth.net
reviewer Borivoj Krgin gave the album 8 out of 10 stars, praising it's technicality and heavyness. The Daily Cardinal
reviewer Nate Finn wrote that L.D. 50 "[represents] nihilism in the form of music". In The Essential Rock Discography, Martin Charles Strong gave the album six out of ten stars.
" and the demo version of "Death Blooms
" appeared on the compilation By the People, for the People
, which was compiled from selections voted for by fans through the band's website. The album versions of "Dig", "-1" and "Death Blooms" appeared on the compilation Playlist: The Very Best of Mudvayne, which was released by Legacy Recordings
in 2011.
Singles
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Mudvayne
Mudvayne
Mudvayne is an American heavy metal band. Their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate visual appearance, which has included face and body paint, masks and uniforms...
. Released in 2000, it is the band's first release on Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
, following the independently-released extended play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Kill, I Oughtta
Kill, I Oughtta
Kill, I Oughtta is the debut extended play of American heavy metal band Mudvayne. It was self-released by the band in 1997. In 2001, the EP was reissued by Epic Records under the title The Beginning of All Things to End. The reissue featured remixes of "Dig", a song from the band's debut studio...
. L.D. 50 was coproduced by GGGarth
Garth Richardson
Garth "GGGarth" Richardson is a Canadian music producer and engineer. He is the son of renowned Canadian music producer Jack Richardson . Jack was a pioneer of the music recording industry in the 60's and 70's...
& Mudvayne and executive produced by Steve Richards & Slipknot
Slipknot (band)
Slipknot is an American heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. Formed in 1995, the group was founded by percussionist Shawn Crahan and bassist Paul Gray...
member Shawn "Clown" Crahan. The band's elaborate visual appearance resulted in increased recognition of the band and L.D. 50 peaked at #85 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. The album was appraised by critics for its technical and heavy style of music.
Background
MudvayneMudvayne
Mudvayne is an American heavy metal band. Their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate visual appearance, which has included face and body paint, masks and uniforms...
formed in 1996 in Peoria, Illinois. The band became known for its strong visual appearance, which included horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
-styled makeup. After independently releasing their debut extended play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Kill, I Oughtta
Kill, I Oughtta
Kill, I Oughtta is the debut extended play of American heavy metal band Mudvayne. It was self-released by the band in 1997. In 2001, the EP was reissued by Epic Records under the title The Beginning of All Things to End. The reissue featured remixes of "Dig", a song from the band's debut studio...
, the band signed to No-Name/Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
. L.D. 50 was produced by Garth "GGGarth" Richardson
Garth Richardson
Garth "GGGarth" Richardson is a Canadian music producer and engineer. He is the son of renowned Canadian music producer Jack Richardson . Jack was a pioneer of the music recording industry in the 60's and 70's...
and executive produced by Steve Richards and Slipknot
Slipknot (band)
Slipknot is an American heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. Formed in 1995, the group was founded by percussionist Shawn Crahan and bassist Paul Gray...
member Shawn "Clown" Crahan. Epic Records initially chose to promote the band without focusing on its appearance and early promotional materials featured a logo instead of photographs of the band. However, the band's appearance and music videos increased recognition of the album.
Music and lyrics
L.D. 50 features a technical style of music which they have referred to as "math metal." Mudvayne was influenced by performers such as EmperorEmperor (band)
Emperor was a Norwegian black metal band formed in 1991. They dissolved in 2001, but reunited in 2006 and again in 2007 for a few festival dates and brief US tours. The group was founded by Samoth and Ihsahn .-Biography:...
, King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
and Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
. Mudvayne's musical style incorporates elements of death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
, jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
, hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
, speed metal
Speed metal
Speed metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from NWOBHM and hardcore punk roots. It is described by Allmusic as "extremely fast, abrasive, and technically demanding" music....
and progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
.
The musical style of L.D. 50 has been described as alternative metal
Alternative metal
Alternative metal is a genre of alternative rock and heavy metal that gained popularity in the early 1990s. Most notably, alternative metal bands are characterized by heavy guitar riffs and experimental approaches to heavy music.-Origins:...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
and nu metal
Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...
.
The album's 1st track, "Monolith", refers to Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's film 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
. The album's title derives from the medical term used by chemists to refer to the dose required to kill half the members of a tested population.
During the songwriting process, the band members paired riffs with lyrics based on what Matthew McDonough
Matthew McDonough
Matthew McDonough is the drummer for heavy metal band Mudvayne. McDonough is the band's original drummer and has appeared and performed on every release by Mudvayne...
referred to as "number symbolism". According to McDonough, while he and Chad Gray
Chad Gray
Chad Gray , is the lead vocalist for the American heavy metal bands Mudvayne and Hellyeah.-Personal life:Gray is the son of Dan and Mitzi Gray of Edgewater, Florida...
wrote the lyrics to "Nothing to Gein", Greg Tribbett
Greg Tribbett
Greg Tribbett is the guitarist and backing vocalist for American band Mudvayne, and supergroup Hellyeah. He has been with Mudvayne since their inception in 1996. He has named Randy Rhoads as the guitarist who most influenced him. He plays Gibson V's, Gibson Les Pauls, Ibanez S-series, Ibanez...
performed a riff which alternated in bars of 4 and 5. Because the number 9 is a lunar number, McDonough felt that the riff would fit the song's lyrics, which referred to serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
and grave robber Ed Gein
Ed Gein
Edward Theodore "Ed" Gein - July 26, 1984) was an American murderer and body snatcher. His crimes, committed around his hometown of Plainfield, Wisconsin, gathered widespread notoriety after authorities discovered Gein had exhumed corpses from local graveyards and fashioned trophies and keepsakes...
, whose actions McDonough associated with nighttime activity.
A sound collage entitled "L.D. 50", composed and recorded by MjDawn, appears on the album as a series of interludes. The complete piece appeared as a bonus track on The Beginning of All Things to End, Epic Records' reissue of the band's 1997 self-released EP Kill, I Oughtta.
Reception
L.D. 50 peaked at #1 on the BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Top Heatseekers chart and #85 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. The singles "Dig" and "Death Blooms" peaked at #33 and #32, respectively, on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
Allmusic reviewer William Ruhlmann, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
reviewer Ben Ratliff and Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine each gave the album three out of five stars.
Ratliff noted the band's technical background, comparing the songwriting style to that of Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
and stating that the album's interludes are better than those of Slipknot. Ruhlmann found the band hard to take seriously. Q referred to the album as "a clever amalgam of Korn
Korn
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed as an expansion of L.A.P.D.The band released their first demo album,...
, Tool
Tool (band)
Tool is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1990, the group's line-up has included drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan. Since 1995, Justin Chancellor has been the band's bassist, replacing their original bassist Paul D'Amour...
and Mr. Bungle
Mr. Bungle
Mr. Bungle was an experimental band from Northern California. The band was formed in 1985 while the members were still in high school and was named after a children's educational film. Mr. Bungle released four demo tapes in the mid to late 1980s before being signed to Warner Bros. Records and...
".
Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
gave the album 3 and a half out of 5 stars, calling it "A slithering cesspit of fetid malignance". College Music Journal
College Music Journal
College Music Journal, commonly known as CMJ, is a music events/publishing company which hosts an annual festival in New York City, the CMJ Music Marathon, as well as a weekly magazine of and for the music industry and college radio stations in the United States and Canada. It publishes top 30...
called the album "Futuristic aggro-metal".
Blabbermouth.net
Blabbermouth.net
Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was officially launched in March 2001...
reviewer Borivoj Krgin gave the album 8 out of 10 stars, praising it's technicality and heavyness. The Daily Cardinal
The Daily Cardinal
The Daily Cardinal is a student newspaper that serves the University of Wisconsin–Madison community. The sixth oldest daily student newspaper in the country, it began publishing on Monday, April 4, 1892...
reviewer Nate Finn wrote that L.D. 50 "[represents] nihilism in the form of music". In The Essential Rock Discography, Martin Charles Strong gave the album six out of ten stars.
Legacy
L.D. 50 was repackaged with The Beginning of All Things to End in a budget priced reissue on August 30, 2011. A live recording of "DigDig (Mudvayne song)
"Dig" is the first and debut single from Mudvayne's 2000 album, L.D. 50. The song won the first ever MTV2 Award in 2001.-Music video:A music video was produced for the song which was featured in a "Making of" video...
" and the demo version of "Death Blooms
Death Blooms
"Death Blooms" is a song by American heavy metal band Mudvayne and the second single from their debut album, L.D. 50. The song was written by lead singer Chad Gray about his grandmother and how she was being neglected by her family because she was nearing death...
" appeared on the compilation By the People, for the People
By the People, for the People
- Personnel :* Chad Gray – vocals* Greg Tribbett – guitar* Ryan Martinie – bass* Matthew McDonough – drums* Dave Fortman – production-Chart positions:AlbumSingles...
, which was compiled from selections voted for by fans through the band's website. The album versions of "Dig", "-1" and "Death Blooms" appeared on the compilation Playlist: The Very Best of Mudvayne, which was released by Legacy Recordings
Legacy Recordings
Legacy Recordings is Sony Music Entertainment's catalog division. It was founded in 1990 by CBS Records under the leadership of Jerry Shulman, Richard Bauer, Gary Pacheco and Amy Herot to handle reissues of recordings from the vast catalogues of Columbia Records, Epic Records and associated...
in 2011.
Track listing
Personnel
- Chad GrayChad GrayChad Gray , is the lead vocalist for the American heavy metal bands Mudvayne and Hellyeah.-Personal life:Gray is the son of Dan and Mitzi Gray of Edgewater, Florida...
— Vocals - Greg TribbettGreg TribbettGreg Tribbett is the guitarist and backing vocalist for American band Mudvayne, and supergroup Hellyeah. He has been with Mudvayne since their inception in 1996. He has named Randy Rhoads as the guitarist who most influenced him. He plays Gibson V's, Gibson Les Pauls, Ibanez S-series, Ibanez...
— Guitar - Ryan MartinieRyan MartinieRyan Martinie is an American bassist, best known for being the bass player of heavy metal band Mudvayne. He is well known for his complex basslines and unique playing style...
— Bass - Matthew McDonoughMatthew McDonoughMatthew McDonough is the drummer for heavy metal band Mudvayne. McDonough is the band's original drummer and has appeared and performed on every release by Mudvayne...
— Drums - GGGarthGarth RichardsonGarth "GGGarth" Richardson is a Canadian music producer and engineer. He is the son of renowned Canadian music producer Jack Richardson . Jack was a pioneer of the music recording industry in the 60's and 70's...
— Production, Engineering, Electro-organic audio manipulation - Andy WallaceAndy Wallace (producer)Andy Wallace is a Grammy Award-winning music studio engineer with a long track record of successful productions, beginning with the 1986 production of the Run-DMC/Aerosmith collaboration on "Walk This Way" with Rick Rubin...
— Mixing - Steve Richards — Executive producer
- Shawn Crahan — Executive producer
- Andre Wahl — Engineering
- MjDawn — Electro-organic audio manipulation
- Chris Vaughan-Jones — Engineering
- Ben Kaplan — Engineering
- Dean Maher — Engineering
- Scott Ternan — Assistant engineer
- Alex Aligizakis — Assistant engineer
- Paul Forgues — Assistant engineer
- Zak Blackstone — Assistant engineer
- Steve Sisco — Assistant mix engineer
- Howie Weinberg — Mastering
- Richard Leighton — Guitar technician
- Chris Crippin — Drum technician
- Chris Potter — Technical support
- Ron Vermuelen — Technical support
Chart positions
Album| Chart (2001) | Position |
|---|---|
| Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
1 |
| Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
85 |
Singles
| Song | Chart (2001) | Position |
|---|---|---|
| "Dig" | Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks | 33 |
| "Death Blooms" | 32 |