| Product Summary | | UPC: 00075678363122 | | Release Date: 4/22/2003 | | Buy.com Sku: 60594388 | | Item#: MXW9KD | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 25140 | Format:  CD |
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| Song Listing |  |
Disc 1
| | Song Title | Sample | | 1. Above ~ Blue Man Group |  | | 2. Time To Start ~ Blue Man Group | | | 3. Sing Along - (featuring Dave Matthews) ~ Blue Man Group | | | 4. Up To The Roof - (featuring Tracy Bonham) ~ Blue Man Group | | | 5. Your Attention ~ Blue Man Group | | | 6. Persona - (featuring Josh Haden) ~ Blue Man Group | | | 7. Piano Smasher ~ Blue Man Group | | | 8. White Rabbit - (featuring Esthero) ~ Blue Man Group | | | 9. Current, The - (featuring Gavin Rossdale) ~ Blue Man Group | | | 10. Shadows Part 2 - (featuring Tracy Bonham/Rob Swift) ~ Blue Man Group | | | 11. What Is Rock - (featuring Arone Dyer/Peter Moore) ~ Blue Man Group | | | 12. Complex, The - (featuring Peter Moore) ~ Blue Man Group | | | 13. I Feel Love - (featuring Venus Hum) ~ Blue Man Group | | | 14. Exhibit 13 ~ Blue Man Group | |
| Blue Man Group released their first, full-fledged rock 'n' roll album The Complex featuring guest collaborations with Dan the Automator, Tracy Bonham, Esthero, Josh Haden, Dave Matthews, and others. Within The Complex, the Blue Man Group was able to record as well as build the wide array of unusual invented instruments used on the album. Aided by the help of some of today's most intriguing vocalists, Blue Man Group has successfully moved beyond the instrumental category and has catapulted full force into the rock world. The track "The Current" is heavily featured in the highly anticipated film, Terminator 3. You'll hear their signature sounds, such as the tube instruments, the giant walls of percussion, and all of the Group's other invented instruments; you'll also hear some more familiar trappings of today's music; thrashing guitars, verse/chorus/bridge song structure, scratching, and in addition, a variety of guest vocalists.
| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. | | Blue Man Group: Matt Goldman (cimbalom, upside-down bass, air poles, low-octave PVC, big drum, drumbone, backpack PVC, shaker gong, Utne drum, ribbon crasher, dumpster); Phil Stanton (cimbalom, air poles, drumbone, tubulum, Utne drum, mid-octave PVC, extenstion cord bull roarer, ribbon crasher, dumpster, Phil drum, backpack tubulum, timpani, drum wall); Chris Wink (cimbalom, tubulum, high-octave PVC, air poles, piano smasher, cuica, doppler toms, drum wall, drumulum, drumbone, dumpster, backpack tubulum, Utne shakers). | | Additional personnel includes: Dave Matthews, Tracy Bonham, Josh Haden, Esthero, Gavin Rossdale, Venus Hum, Rob Swift, Arone Dyer, Peter Moore (vocals); Spalding Gray (spoken vocals). | | Recorded at Blue Man 3rd Street Studio, New York, New York. | | This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. | | Lyricist: Spalding Gray. | | Personnel: Blue Man Group (cimbalom, dulcimer, drums, cuica, percussion, sound effects); Avram Glietsman (vocals, guitar); Peter Moore (vocals, keyboards); Dave Matthews, Esthero, Gavin Rossdale, Dave Mathews, Annette Strean, Josh Haden, Arone Dyer, Tracy Bonham, Venus Hum (vocals); Brooke Ferris, Spalding Gray (spoken vocals); Christian Dyas (guitar, baritone guitar, E-bow, zither, harpsichord); Larry Heinemann (guitar, zither, Chapman stick); Dave Steele, Jeff Turlik (guitar, zither); Nels Cline, Chris Traynor (guitar); Byron Estep (dobro); Elvis Lederer (zither); Todd Perlmutter (drums, percussion, programming); Ian Pai, Jeff Quay , Todd Waetzig, Dave Anania (drums, percussion); Jeff Torton, Matthew Kriemelman, Crag Rodriguez, Nick White , Chris Bowen, Jordan Cohen, Vince Verderame, Josh Matthews, Wendy Day, Peter Simpson, Jeff Tortora (drums); Dan the Automator (programming); Kid Koala (sampler); Rob Swift (turntables). | | Audio Mixers: Andrew Schneider; Rich Costey. | | Recording information: Blue Man 3rd Street Studio, NY. | | Director: Seth Freed. | | Unknown Contributor Roles: Larry Heinemann; Chris Wink; Matt Goldman; Phil Stanton; Blue Man Group. | | Arrangers: Ian Pai; Dave Steele; Jeff Turlik; Peter Moore. | | After devoting more than 15 years to building their unique fusion of edgy performance and advanced yet home-brewed technologies, the Blue Man Group moves aggressively toward the mainstream with The Complex. "Mainstream" is, of course, a flexible notion, so what passes as commercial for these guys is a lot more adventurous than most of the era's ear candy. These tracks adhere to clear song structures, with guest vocalists singing actual lyrics on original as well as cover material; a zombie-like cameo by Dave Matthews on "Sing Along" offers the wryest surprises. But an unmistakable imprint endures in the eclectic sonic references and, above all, thundering stage-oriented rhythms. The core members of the group play traditional instruments -- in this case, ranging from standard-issue electric guitar to Hungarian cimbalom, heard most clearly in the opening seconds of "Above" -- as well as their invented gear whose contributions to the din are, frankly, neither critical nor easy to discern. On their version of the disco classic "I Feel Love," for instance, the 16th-note pulse created via sequencer for the Donna Summer original is mimicked by the device they call the Tube, giving rise to the question of whether using something new to do what someone else did with old stuff 20-plus years earlier is worth the effort. But this is, of course, beside the point: Although its inspirations, musical and conceptual, trace as far back as Kraftwerk, The Complex serves as a reminder that modern devices and glistening production values can be applied to the most primal creative instincts, if utilized by the right -- blue -- hands. ~ Robert L. Doerschuk | | Tubular percussion abounds on the cerulean trio's second album, which intersperses instrumental segments from the ever-expanding organization's show with guest spots from Tracy Bonham, Bush's Gavin Rossdale, and Dave Matthews, among others. Musically, the Blue Men concoct a kind of quirky metal from their collection of found and conventional instrumentation that's effective in settings such as "The Current," where they're combined with Rossdale's grunge-lite vocals. | | But the Men are also good at being laid-back and slightly sinister when occasion demands, one example being the accompaniment to Dave Matthews's distinctive vocal on the infectious "Sing Along." The outfit's crowd-pleasing version of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" is an ideal vehicle for Esthero's Beth Gibbons-like vocal, shedding the retro-jocularity of the live show version for something darker and more explicit. Ultimately THE COMPLEX neatly sidesteps any questions about translating the Blue Man oeuvre to a non-visual medium, with a combination of quirky arrangements and strategically placed guest stars. |
Producer: CMP; Tom Elmhirst; Dan The Automator; John Alagia; Todd Perlmutter; Venus Hum |
Engineer: Bill Bookheim; Joe Hogan; Joe O'Connell; Andrew Schneider; Todd Perlmutter |
Musical Guests | | Dave Matthews | | Rob Swift | | Venus Hum | | Esthero | | Gavin Rossdale | | Tracy Bonham | | Joshua Haden | | Peter Moore | | Arone Dyer |
| | Compilation Appearances |
| | Associated Artists and Works |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 04/22/2003 | | Original Release Date : 2003 | | Catalog ID : 83631 | | Label : Lava/Atlantic | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00075678363122 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Rolling Stone (5/1/03, p.56)
- 3 stars out of 5 - "...Chic Euro-techno atmospheres that won't wear off even after you've seen the live show..."Q (10/03, p.100)
- 3 stars out of 5 - "...An engagingly quirky rock record....This is a concept album that actually works..." CMJ (03/24/03, p.8)
- "...Full of danceable arthouse takes on West African percussion, catchy '90s-era alt-rock and tons of high-profile guests givin' the blue stew some tubular balls..." |
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