electronic :: albums :: raise the pressure

uk lp (pcs 7382), cd (cdpcs 7382) and cassette (tcpcs 7382) released by parlophone on 8 july 1996. us cd (9 45955-2) and cassette (9 45955-4) released by warner bros on 9 july 1996. german cd (841735 2) released by virgin. japanese cd with lyric sheet and obi strip (wpcr-791) and australian cd (9362459552) released by warner bros. the uk cd initially came with a mail-away card. the japanese cd included all that i need.

forbidden city
for you
dark angel
one day
until the end of time
second nature
if you’ve got love
out of my league
interlude
freefall
visit me
how long
time can tell

uk cassette.

produced by electronic
engineered by james spencer

thanks to
karl bartos keyboards denise johnson vocals
ged lynch drums and percussion
donald johnson drums on 4 danny saber organ on 8
guy pratt bass on 13 alan meyerson mixing 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12 & 13
james spencer mixing 2, 3, 8, 10 & 11
andrew berry, russell kearney, kevin jacobs, j.c.,
ben findlay, jon savage, marcus russell,
alec mckinlay, abby scott and all at ignition

cover illustration by johannes handschin
electronic logo by paul barnes
designed by howard wakefield
@ meiré und meiré and peter saville

bernard sumner vocals and keyboards
johnny marr guitars, bass and keyboards

1, 2, 5, 7, 12 & 13 written by marr, sumner and bartos
3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10 & 11 written by marr and sumner

german and australian cds.

sometime in january 1996 this, what it is, i do not yet know. a collection of accumulated knowledge, ideas, memories, fact surmise… who knows. anyway what i once considered private, seems to be public. late the next night and i’ve just woken up to this most unsatisfying thought… one has to be a bastard to exist in this world full of them, but then i’ve always had the suspicion i took myself too seriously until i found my self too serious to take. tonight is a horrible day. i have discovered the true meaning of two words, power and greed; power is in sex, also in drugs. power is the feeling when something immense happens in return for little effort. i.e. an assassin firing a gun or a junky shooting up etc. the participant gets off on the execution just as much as the end result. greed comes dressed in a velvet glove, greed is not the want to possess everything, greed is simply wanting more than the person next to you.

later cruelty occurs when people lose touch with the real world. in the nineties this is partly due to the fact that we are distanced from reality by a life we do not lead, therefore we are also distanced from one another. we experience the world through television and use drugs to enjoy social communication. we use machines instead of our bodies and then when our bodies fail us, machines keep us alive. when we do not feel life, we do not feel what it is to be alive. we do not feel compassion, our neighbour is invisible. when he suffers, we turn the television off or simply register a blank. existence is a bubble we feel will never burst. we can’t decide how to vote because we need a new party. we’ve abandoned our world in favour of ourselves. we cover the ground in broken glass then take off our shoes, we need to look again. unemployment is the final insult to the individual, mass production was the first. our education system is wrong, it takes no note of the subtleties of human nature, it places more importance on the memory of an individual than how memorable an individual is. is does not nurture talent, but rewards those who obey and allows them entrance into an exclusive club. this is wrong. the best are wasted. this is why society is disintegrating. can’t you see the spelling doesn’t matter, because we are not saying anything any more, it’s called the power of silence. the right to which we lost in 1995.

uk cd in card sleeve (cdpcsdj 7382) and 5-track cassette released by parlophone. us advance cd in jewel case (2-45955-a) released by warner bros. the uk cassette contained forbidden city, for you, second nature, visit me and time can tell.

uk and us cds.

blah blah blah, july 1996
melody maker, 6 july 1996
mojo, august 1996
q, august 1996
vox, august 1996

uk #8
billboard #143
heatseekers #7
germany #79
sweden #9

japanese cd.

amazon.co.uk
amazon.com
the ideal copy

electronic’s second album remains very much maligned over a decade after its release. at a generous sixty minutes it’s far less concise than its predecessor, yet on repeated listenings every song reveals a melodic subtlety that betrays the thick, polished production; for you, dark angel and second nature are among the genuine highlights. marr and sumner’s collaborations with ex-kraftwerk member karl bartos are also highly successful, with lead single forbidden city and the b-sides i feel alright and imitation of life all vindicating the two years they spent recording.

bernard: “if you take electro, that music originally came from europe, from german electronics, and the beats came from kraftwerk. that interested me because it’s european culture and it’s the culture i grew up with.” johnny: “we were trying to get a balance of guitar and technology, but to keep it sounding contemporary. when i listen to it now, it sounds a bit dense, but give it time and i think everyone will see it as a really strong pop album, which is pretty much what we were trying to do.”