Utopia Banished is the fourth studio album by the British grindcore band Napalm Death. It was released in 1992 by Earache Records.[6] It is the first album featuring Danny Herrera on drums following the departure of Mick Harris. Metal Hammer ranked it as one of the 20 best metal albums of 1992.
| Utopia Banished | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 23 June 1992 | |||
| Recorded | 10–19 February 1992 23 February – 2 March 1992 | |||
| Studio | The Windings, Wrexham, Wales | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 39:04 | |||
| Label | Earache, Relativity | |||
| Producer | Colin Richardson, Napalm Death | |||
| Napalm Death chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [1] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 4/10[2] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [3] |
| Select | [4] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 5/10[5] |
Release
editA limited edition of this album included a 3" bonus CD; the vinyl release included a bonus 7" containing the same material.[6] The 2007 re-release came as part of Earache's Classic Metal series with The DVD as bonus disc.[7] In 2012, Earache Records released a remastered edition on limited edition coloured vinyl and CD digipak.[8]
Single
editThe EP "The World Keeps Turning" was released in July 1992 on vinyl and CD and contains two non-album tracks, "A Means to an End" and "Insanity Excursion".[9]
Writing
editSamples
editNapalm Death make use of samples in some songs on Utopia Banished. The tracks "Discordance" and "Awake (To a Life of Misery)" sample snippets from 1988 science fiction film They Live while the track "Contemptuous" takes a line from 1987 war film Full Metal Jacket.[10]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Discordance" | 1:26 | ||
| 2. | "I Abstain" | Mark Greenway | Jesse Pintado | 3:30 |
| 3. | "Dementia Access" | Shane Embury | Mitch Harris | 2:27 |
| 4. | "Christening of the Blind" | Embury | Embury | 3:21 |
| 5. | "The World Keeps Turning" | Greenway | Pintado | 2:55 |
| 6. | "Idiosyncratic" | Greenway | Embury, Pintado | 2:35 |
| 7. | "Aryanisms" | Greenway | Embury, Harris | 3:08 |
| 8. | "Cause and Effect (Part II)" | Greenway | Pintado | 2:07 |
| 9. | "Judicial Slime" | Embury | Embury | 2:36 |
| 10. | "Distorting the Medium" | Greenway | Pintado | 1:58 |
| 11. | "Got Time to Kill" | Greenway | Embury | 2:28 |
| 12. | "Upward and Uninterested" | Greenway | Pintado, Harris | 2:07 |
| 13. | "Exile" | Embury | Harris | 2:00 |
| 14. | "Awake (To a Life of Misery)" | Embury | Harris | 2:05 |
| 15. | "Contemptuous" | Embury | Embury, Harris, Pintado | 4:21 |
Personnel
editNapalm Death
edit- Mark "Barney" Greenway – lead vocals
- Jesse Pintado – guitars
- Mitch Harris – guitars, backing vocals
- Shane Embury – bass
- Danny Herrera – drums
Technical personnel
edit- Colin Richardson – production, engineering
- Pete Coleman – co-engineering
- Matt Anker – photography
- Mid – cover art
- J. Barry – layout
Chart positions
edit| Chart (1992) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] | 60 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[12] | 77 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[13] | 58 |
References
edit- ^ Birchmeier, Jason. Napalm Death: Utopia Banished > Overview at AllMusic. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- ^ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 305. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
- ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. pp. 1015–1016. ISBN 978-0857125958.
- ^ Perry, Andrew (July 1992). "Napalm Death: Utopia Banished". Select. EMAP. pp. 74–75.
- ^ Norris, Chris (1995). "Napalm Death". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 265–266. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
- ^ a b "Napalm Death 'Utopia Banished'". Earache.com. Earache. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ Utopia Banished at Discogs
- ^ Sheila (14 May 2012). "Napalm Death – 'Utopia Banished' remastered edition out now!". PlanetMosh. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- ^ "Napalm Death 'The World Keeps Turning'". Earache.com. Earache. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
- ^ "(Film) samples in (metal) songs". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
- ^ "Napalm Death - Utopia Banished". Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Germany. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Napalm Death – Utopia Banished" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ "Napalm Death | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 11 October 2014.