Pretend I'm Human is the third and final album by the American band Orange 9mm, released on July 13, 1999.[1][2] It was a commercial disappointment.[3] Pretend I'm Human was rereleased in 2021.[4]

Pretend I'm Human
Studio album by
ReleasedJuly 13, 1999
RecordedMarch–April 1999
StudioMad Dog (Burbank, California)
Length42:37
LabelNg
ProducerNeil Perry
Orange 9mm chronology
Ultraman Vs. Godzilla
(1998)
Pretend I'm Human
(1999)

The band supported it by playing the 1999 Warped Tour; they also toured with Machine Head.[5][6]

Production

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Recorded in California, Pretend I'm Human was produced by Neil Perry.[7][8] The band abandoned all of its demoed songs once they were in the studio, opting instead to start over.[9] Vocalist Chaka Malik played bass on the album.[10] The lyrics to many of the songs touch on themes of societal power dynamics and class.[11]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [12]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal6/10[13]
In Music We TrustB–[14]
PopMatters8.5/10[15]
See Magazine     [16]
Winnipeg Sun     [17]

Exclaim! wrote that "Touching Skies" "may be the best, if not the only, rap-metal power ballad ever."[18] The Telegram & Gazette deemed the album the band's best yet, praising the "rap-inspired grooves, sharper dynamic shifts and overall better chops."[8] The Arizona Daily Star determined that Malik's "words are racy enough to turn a sailor incarnadine, yet his rap is fantastically caustic poetry."[11]

The New York Post noted that Orange 9mm "is still their hard-core selves on this 10-song collection, which taps hip-hop, industrial and good old-fashioned Stairway-to-Hell metal."[19] The Winnipeg Sun concluded that the "NYC trio manages to weld heavy riffs and hip-hop rhythms without getting them all over each other."[17] The San Diego Union-Tribune stated that "the lurching guitars in the Fugazi-like 'Lifeless', the explosive title track and even the slow build-up in 'Touching Skies', a rather preachy song about self-determination, have a raw, punk edge to them that you won't find in other so-called new metal bands."[20]

AllMusic wrote that, "even if Malik has a better lyrical flow than most rap-metal singers, the results tend to sound stiff and forced when there are no funky backing rhythms for him to play off of."[12] In 2021, Decibel called Pretend I'm Human "extraordinarily eclectic," noting that the reissue "brings the guitars to the fore [to] make it a perfect ahead-of-its-time candidate for reevaluation."[21]

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."When You Lie"3:01
2."Lifeless"3:41
3."Facelift"4:11
4."Touching Skies"4:57
5."Pretend I'm Human"3:48
6."Dragons (You Know I Love You)"5:33
7."Innocence"7:01
8."Alien"3:30
9."Tightrope"5:11
10."Day One"1:44
Total length:42:37

References

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  1. ^ "Orange 9MM". Perfect Sound Forever.
  2. ^ Sciarretto, Amy (June 21, 1999). "Must Hear". CMJ New Music Report. Vol. 59, no. 623. p. 3.
  3. ^ Blush, Steven (October 4, 2016). New York Rock: From the Rise of the Velvet Underground to the Fall of CBGB. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN 9781250083623.
  4. ^ "Hear Orange 9mm's New Remaster of Rare Final Album 'Pretend I'm Human'". Revolver. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  5. ^ Catlin, Roger (11 July 1999). "Also expected in record stores this week". Hartford Courant. p. G10.
  6. ^ Skierka, Tom (15 Oct 1999). "Rockin' with energy Clones? Wannabes? Maybe, but these bands are more than noise". Weekend. The Spokesman-Review. p. 8.
  7. ^ "Orange 9MM". Juice. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  8. ^ a b McLennan, Scott (12 Aug 1999). "The sun has yet to set on the Summer of Metal...". Telegram & Gazette. p. C5.
  9. ^ "Matthew Cross: Orange 9MM's Stickman Is No Pretender". Modern Drummer. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  10. ^ Sharpe-Young, Garry (May 21, 2005). New Wave of American Heavy Metal. Zonda Books Limited. ISBN 9780958268400.
  11. ^ a b Purdy, Jim (October 1, 1999). "Orange 9mm target fat cats". Arizona Daily Star. p. 32E.
  12. ^ a b "Pretend I'm Human". AllMusic.
  13. ^ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 328. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  14. ^ Steininger, Alex (August 1999). "Orange 9MM: Pretend I'm Human". In Music We Trust. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  15. ^ Benton, Michael. "Orange 9MM, Pretend I'm Human". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 2000-10-04. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  16. ^ Lingley, Scott (August 19, 1999). "Spins". See Magazine. No. 299. p. 11 – via Internet Archive.
  17. ^ a b "Discs". Winnipeg Sun. August 6, 1999. p. F17.
  18. ^ "Orange 9mm Pretend I'm Human". Exclaim!.
  19. ^ Aquilante, Dan (June 29, 1999). "Pretend I'm Human; Orange 9MM". News. New York Post.
  20. ^ Niesel, Jeff (August 26, 1999). "Rock: Orange 9MM". Entertainment. The San Diego Union-Tribune. p. 9.
  21. ^ "Pranic Power: Chaka Malik on Orange 9MM reissues, Burn, Ghost Decibels, & the Prophecy and Peace Found in Extreme Art". Decibel. Retrieved 21 May 2022.