Vanishing Point (Primal Scream album)

Vanishing Point
Studio album by Primal Scream
Released 7 July 1997
Genre Ambient dub[1]
Length 53:31
Label Creation, Reprise/Warner Bros. (U.S.)
46867
Producer Primal Scream, Brendan Lynch, Andrew Weatherall
Primal Scream chronology
Give Out But Don't Give Up
(1994)		 Vanishing Point
(1997)		 Echo Dek
(1997)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
Entertainment WeeklyA[4]
Los Angeles Times[5]
NME9/10[6]
Pitchfork8.3/10[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]
Spin8/10[10]
The Village VoiceB+[11]

Vanishing Point is the fifth studio album by Primal Scream. The album shows inspiration from dub, ambient music, dance, krautrock and other genres, as well as individual bands such as Motörhead, Can, and the Stooges. It was the first album to feature the band's new bass player Gary 'Mani' Mounfield, formerly of the Stone Roses, although Marco Nelson played bass on "Burning Wheel", "Star", "If They Move, Kill 'Em'" and "Stuka". Other guests on Vanishing Point include Augustus Pablo, Glen Matlock, and the Memphis Horns.

Recording

The album was recorded with the aid of two portable eight-track recording studios at the band's Chalk Farm rehearsal rooms, where it was also written.[12] The entire album was written and recorded in two months and mixed an additional month.[12] On their cover of "Motorhead," Gillespie sung the first verse through a Darth Vader mask.[13] According to an article, much of the album came from live improvisation and, "Then later on we'd layer other sounds and loops over the top, and the vocals," Gillespie said in an interview.[13] The track "If They Move, Kill 'Em" was originally to have included a sample from Sam Peckinpah's film The Wild Bunch (the song title is one of the earliest lines of dialogue spoken in the film), but it could not be cleared in time.[13] The album was seen by critics as a return to form after 1994's underwhelming Give Out But Don't Give Up.

Inspiration for the album

Gillespie has described the album as an anarcho-syndicalist speedfreak road-movie record.[12] It is named after and inspired by the 1971 film Vanishing Point, especially the song "Kowalski", which is meant to be an alternative soundtrack of the movie. Lead singer Bobby Gillespie said, "The music in the film is hippy music, so we thought, 'Why not record some music that really reflects the mood of the film?' It's always been a favourite of the band, we love the air of paranoia and speed- freak righteousness. It's impossible to get hold of now, which is great! It's a pure underground film, rammed with claustrophobia."[12]

Video

Author Irvine Welsh scripted the video for the album's first single, "Kowalski," which was directed by musician Douglas Hart. The video features a Dodge Challenger and super model Kate Moss beating up the band. Gillespie described the video as a cross between Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill! and The Sweeney.[13]

Reception and legacy

British music journalism magazine NME called Vanishing Point "a brilliant record".[14] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[15]

Track listing

All songs written by Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Innes, Robert Young and Martin Duffy, unless noted.

  1. "Burning Wheel" – 7:06
  2. "Get Duffy" – 4:09
  3. "Kowalski" – 5:50 (Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Innes, Robert Young, Martin Duffy, Gary Mounfield)
  4. "Star" – 4:24
  5. "If They Move, Kill 'Em" – 3:01
  6. "Out of the Void" – 3:59
  7. "Stuka" – 5:36
  8. "Medication" – 3:52
  9. "Motörhead" – 3:38 (Lemmy)
  10. "Trainspotting" – 8:07
  11. "Long Life" – 3:49

Notes

2009 Japan Reissue

A two-CD edition of Vanishing Point was released as part of a deluxe series consisting of their fourth through eighth albums. The first disc includes original album with five bonus tracks; the second includes an additional nine B-sides, remixes and tracks released only on singles.

Disc 1

  1. "Burning Wheel" – 7:06
  2. "Get Duffy" – 4:09
  3. "Kowalski" – 5:50 (Gillespie/Innes/Young/Duffy/Mounfield)
  4. "Star" – 4:24
  5. "If They Move, Kill 'Em" – 3:01
  6. "Out of the Void" – 3:59
  7. "Stuka" – 5:36
  8. "Medication" – 3:52
  9. "Motörhead" – 3:38 (Lemmy)
  10. "Trainspotting" – 8:07
  11. "Long Life" – 3:49
  12. "Jesus" – 4:29
  13. "Know Your Rights" – 4:17 (Strummer/Jones)
  14. "96 Tears" – 2:56 (Martinez)
  15. "Rebel Dub" – 5:20
  16. "How Does It Feel to Belong?" – 5:36

Disc 2

  1. "Full Strength Fortified Dub" – 4:23
  2. "Electric Soup Dub" – 4:29
  3. "A Jake Supreme" – 2:01
  4. "Kowalski" (Automator Mix) – 5:12
  5. "Stuka" (Two Lone Swordsmen Mix) – 10:15
  6. "Burning Wheel" (The Chemical Brothers Mix) – 7:17
  7. "If They Move, Kill 'Em" (12" Disco Mix) – 5:43
  8. "Darklands" – 6:10 (Reid/Reid)
  9. "Badlands" – 7:31

Personnel

Primal Scream

Guests

References

  1. ↑ Terich, Jeff (July 2, 2015). "10 Essential Neo-Psychedelia Albums". Treble. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
  2. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Vanishing Point – Primal Scream". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  3. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-857-12595-8.
  4. ↑ Browne, David (11 July 1997). "Vanishing Point". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  5. ↑ Masuo, Sandy (13 July 1997). "Primal Scream, 'Vanishing Point,' Reprise". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  6. ↑ Dalton, Stephen (5 July 1997). "Primal Scream – Vanishing Point". NME. Archived from the original on 15 October 2000. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  7. ↑ Wisdom, James P. "Primal Scream: Vanishing Point". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 24 December 2001. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  8. ↑ Cohen, Jason (7 July 1997). "Primal Scream: Vanishing Point". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 22 October 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  9. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. p. 654. ISBN 0-743-20169-8.
  10. ↑ Hunter, James (September 1997). "Primal Scream: Vanishing Point". Spin. 13 (6): 159–60. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  11. ↑ Christgau, Robert (21 April 1998). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Kessler, Ted (3 May 1997). "Vortex, Drug & Rock n Roll". New Musical Express. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Perry, Andrew (June 1997). "Freeze!". Select. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
  14. ↑ "Primal Scream - Rank The Albums". NME.com. 2012-01-10. Retrieved 2016-05-02.
  15. ↑ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
  16. ↑ "Primal Scream's 'Kowalski' sample of Can's 'Halleluhwah'". WhoSampled. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  17. ↑ "Primal Scream's 'Kowalski' sample of Funkadelic's 'Get Off Your Ass and Jam'". WhoSampled. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  18. ↑ "Primal Scream's 'If They Move Kill 'Em' sample of Bill Withers's 'Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?'". WhoSampled. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  19. ↑ "Primal Scream's 'Stuka' sample of Lee "Scratch" Perry's 'Upsetting Dub'". WhoSampled. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
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