Cydonia (album)

Cydonia is the fifth studio album by English electronic music duo the Orb. It was released on 27 February 2001 in the United Kingdom by Island Records and in the United States by MCA Records. Members Alex Paterson and Thomas Fehlmann, along with usual collaborators Andy Hughes, Nick Burton, and Simon Phillips, wrote and produced the album for a planned 1999 release.[1] Featured on the album are Robert Fripp, John Roome, and Fil Le Gonidec, who had previously only worked with the Orb in live performances.

Cydonia
Studio album by
The Orb
Released27 February 2001
Recorded1998
Genre
Length68:38
Label
Producer
The Orb chronology
Orblivion
(1997)		 Cydonia
(2001)		 Bicycles & Tricycles
(2004)

Production

Unlike previous Orb albums, Cydonia featured several 'proper' songs with vocals, which critics felt did not sound similar to Orb songs.[2] Singers Nina Walsh and Aki Omori appeared on two tracks each on Cydonia, providing vocals and co-writing lyrics with Paterson, who felt that this new direction for the Orb was more similar to the experimental work of Orbus Terrarum, rather than the poppish techno of Orblivion.[3]

The Orb produced two CDs worth of material for the album and eventually cut it down for the final release. However, to the displeasure of Paterson, large portions of both CDs were leaked through Napster.[4] As Island Records was trapped in major-label-restructuring limbo because of its recent merger between the MCA and PolyGram families that created Universal Music Group, Cydonia was not released until 2001.[4][5] "It's a strange situation," Paterson noted at the time, "I'm getting more contact out of my pet terrapins than I am out of my record company."[6]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic64/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Alternative Press[9]
Muzik[10]
NME3/10[11]
Pitchfork6.1/10[12]
Release Magazine6/10[13]
Rolling Stone[14]
Uncut[15]

Upon release, critics noted that Cydonia merged pop, trance, and ambient-dub, which they felt to be a conglomeration of bland vocals and uninventive ambience.[5][16] NME harshly described it as "a stillborn relic, flawed throughout by chronically stunted ambitions" and describing its only appropriate audience to be "old ravers" seeking nostalgia.[17] With the album came the single "Once More" featuring remixes from Bedrock and Mark Pritchard. Paterson believed that "Centuries", another vocal piece from Cydonia, was also worth releasing as a single, but Island chose to wait and see how successful the album was before making a final decision.[4] Not only did the album receive poor reviews, but The Orb was frequently regarded by the UK press as past the peak years of the creative years, being an "ambient dinosaur" out of place in the current dance music environment.[16][18] After the release of Cydonia, Hughes left the group, becoming "another acrimonious departure from The Orb".[19]

Track listing
  1. "Once More" – 4:42
  2. "Promis" – 5:27
  3. "Ghostdancing" – 7:29
  4. "Turn It Down" – 8:44
  5. "Mile Long Lump of Lard" - 8:28
  6. "Ralf" - 7:40
  7. "Freely Wheely" - 7:22
  8. "Lungle - 10:39
  9. "Terminus - 11:02

UK edition
  1. "Once More" – 4:17
  2. "Promis" – 5:27
  3. "Ghostdancing" – 7:29
  4. "Turn It Down" – 8:38
  5. "Egnable" – 1:59
  6. "Firestar" – 0:46
  7. "A Mile Long Lump of Lard" – 6:21
  8. "Centuries" – 4:22
  9. "Plum Island" – 5:22
  10. "Hamlet of Kings" – 7:56
  11. "1.1.1" – 0:36
  12. "EDM" – 4:12
  13. "Thursday's Keeper" – 4:09
  14. "Terminus" – 11:16 (w/ Robert Fripp)

Remastered and Expanded edition – 2008

CD1

  1. "Once More" – 4:17
  2. "Promis" – 5:27
  3. "Ghostdancing" – 7:29
  4. "Turn It Down" – 8:38
  5. "Egnable" – 1:59
  6. "Firestar" – 0:46
  7. "A Mile Long Lump of Lard" – 6:21
  8. "Centuries" – 4:22
  9. "Plum Island" – 5:22
  10. "Hamlet of Kings" – 7:56
  11. "1.1.1" – 0:36
  12. "EDM" – 4:12
  13. "Thursday's Keeper" – 4:09
  14. "Terminus" – 11:16 (w/ Robert Fripp)

CD2

  1. "Centuries (Eurofen Mix)" – 4:42
  2. "Ghostdancing (Version)" – 6:45
  3. "Hamlet of Kings (Version)" – 7:58
  4. "Firestar (Version)" – 1:14
  5. "Centuries (Wine, Woman & King Mix)" – 4:01
  6. "Once More (Scourge of the Earth Mix)" – 4:53
  7. "Plum Island (Flat Mix)" – 5:21
  8. "Promis (Version)" – 5:46
  9. "Once More (Bedrock Edit 2)" – 8:04
  10. "Turn It Down (Long Version)" – 9:03
  11. "Terminus (Andy's Mix)" – 11:07

References
  1. Bush, John. "The Orb Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 9 October 2006.
  2. Cowen, Andrew (19 March 2001). "What goes around comes around". Birmingham Post. p. 13.
  3. Demby, Eric (27 February 2001). "Orb Back From Orblivion With New LP, Cydonia". VH1.
  4. O'Neal, Sean (19 April 2001). "Q and A: Alex Paterson". Philadelphia City Paper. Archived from the original on 8 December 2005. Retrieved 6 January 2007.
  5. Bush, John. "Cydonia Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 10 October 2006.
  6. Q, May 2001
  7. "Cydonia by The Orb" – via www.metacritic.com.
  8. Allmusic review
  9. Alternative Press (6/01, p.78) - 3 out of 5 - "...Mellow dancefloor electronica laced with some inspired rhythms and catchy melodies..."
  10. Muzik (2/01, p.51) - 5 out of 5 - "...His most cohesive work to date...they manage to sound like no one elese when they put their minds to it..."
  11. "Orb : Cydonia". NME. Archived from the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  12. "The Orb: Cydonia". Pitchfork.
  13. "The Orb: Cydonia - Release Music Magazine review". www.releasemagazine.net.
  14. "Rolling Stone review". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
  15. Uncut (2/01, p.89) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Floating along on its own soft dynamic, CYDONIA retrenches itself in the dub style of yore..."
  16. Walker, Richard (4 March 2001). "A dance pioneer who's just going round in circles". Sunday Herald. p. 10.
  17. Pattison, Louis (2001). "Orb : Cydonia". New Musical Express. Archived from the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2006.
  18. Smith, Aidan (16 February 2001). "A master of the ballistic". The Scotsman. p. 10.
  19. Simpson, Dave (19 January 2001). "The Friday Interview". The Guardian. p. 6.
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