Symbols (album)

The tenth studio album by German industrial band KMFDM, titled with a set of five unpronounceable, non-alphabetic symbols and commonly known as Symbols,[1][3] was released on 23 September 1997 by Wax Trax! Records.

Symbols
Studio album by
KMFDM
Released23 September 1997 (1997-09-23)[1][2]
Studio
Genre
Length56:34
LabelWax Trax!/TVT
Producer
  • KMFDM
  • Chris Shepard
KMFDM chronology
Xtort
(1996)		 Symbols
(1997)		 Adios
(1999)
Singles from Symbols
  1. "Megalomaniac"
    Released: 1997
  2. "Anarchy"
    Released: 1997

Background

Recorded in Seattle, Symbols marked the introduction of Tim Skold. While his contribution to this album was as a guest, he would become a full-fledged member for Adios and Attak. Sascha Konietzko, the frontman of KMFDM, said the title had no special meaning, and was just an idea for a title the group had very early on, before a single album had been released.[4] En Esch said the idea for the album title came from the symbols used for curses in comic books.[5] The symbols appear in the printed lyrics of "Down and Out"; the corresponding point in the song is covered with a censor-like beep in the song, and is replaced with "(SYMBOLS)" on the official KMFDM lyrics archive.[6] Several song files had been purportedly whiped clean during a computer malfunction late in the recording stage, essentially leading to most of the songs having to be re-done basically from scratch.

Release

Symbols was released on 23 September 1997.[1] "Megalomaniac", "Anarchy", and "Leid und Elend" were included on the soundtrack of the video game Test Drive 5. "Megalomaniac" was also featured in the film Mortal Kombat Annihilation, and was the first single from its soundtrack.[7] "Anarchy" appeared on the European version of the soundtrack to the 1998 film Lost in Space.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Chicago Sun-Timespositive[8]
CMJ New Music Monthlyno score[9]

Andy Hinds of AllMusic gave a mixed review, calling some of the band's ideas repetitive while praising the programming.[1] He also commented that the band keeps its sound fresh by bringing in new contributing artists for each new album, and noted the presence of Tim Skold and Nivek Ogre. He called the production top quality and the album "a fine place for newcomers to start," but said that Symbols offers people that have been following the band few surprises.[1] Kevin Williams of the Chicago Sun-Times called "Megalomaniac" an "incredible, irresistible opener" and said the album "could result in a KMFDM takeover of electronica."[8]

"Stray Bullet" received significant media attention after the Columbine High School Massacre due to the song's lyrics being posted on the website of one of the shooters, Eric Harris, before the massacre.[10] The song was also played in the background of the final video posted by Pekka-Eric Auvinen on YouTube before the Jokela school shooting in Finland.[10]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Megalomaniac"
6:07
2."Stray Bullet"
  • Esch
  • Konietzko
  • Konietzko
  • Schulz
5:32
3."Leid und Elend"
  • Esch
  • Konietzko
  • Konietzko
  • Schulz
6:10
4."Mercy"
  • Esch
  • Konietzko
  • Esch
  • Konietzko
  • Schulz
5:00
5."Torture"Nivek OgreKonietzko7:04
6."Spit Sperm"Raymond Watts
  • Esch
  • Konietzko
  • Schulz
4:46
7."Anarchy"Tim Skold
5:35
8."Down and Out"
  • Esch
  • Konietzko
  • Schulz
6:40
9."Unfit"Watts
  • Esch
  • Konietzko
  • Schulz
6:01
10."Waste"
  • Konietzko
  • Travis
  • Esch
  • Konietzko
  • Rieflin
  • Schulz
3:39
Total length:56:34

Personnel

References
  1. Hinds, Andy. "Symbols Review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
  2. "KMFDM History on April 4, 1997 from archive.org". KMFDM Inc. Archived from the original on April 8, 1997. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  3. "Discography - Symbols". KMFDM Inc. Archived from the original on March 8, 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  4. Rule, Greg (1999). "KMFDM". Electro Shock!: Groundbreakers of Synth Music. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9780879305826. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  5. Iwasaki, Scott (December 5, 1997). "Punk, wave, even Zappa helped shape KMFDM". Deseret News. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
  6. "Lyrics: Down & Out". KMFDM Inc. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
  7. Bendersky, Ari (October 15, 1997). "Mortal Kombat Getting Ready To Annihilate America". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  8. Williams, Kevin (November 9, 1997). "KMFDM pours on industrial-strength rock". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 13.
  9. Reighley, Kurt B. (December 1997). "KMFDM, ['Symbols'] — Wax Trax!/TVT". Reviews. CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 52. pp. 49–50. Retrieved May 23, 2018 – via Google Books.
  10. Torma, Sami (November 7, 2007). "Nine die in Finland after YouTube post". Reuters. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
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