Cheap Bloodline (Music) (Recoil) Price

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Customer Reviews of Bloodline

An inkling of things to come...
Before Alan Wilder left Depeche Mode to focus all of his creative energy into Recoil, the ultimate result being the wildly ambient "Unsound Methods," there was "Bloodline," the album that was instrumentally still based in the dark synth pop origins of Depeche Mode, but compositionally still progressing towards the sound that would yield "Unsound Methods" and the new "Liquid." The music is dark and mostly instrumental, producing more soundscape than song, with the exception of "Faith Healer" and "Edge to Life," two still exceptional songs. They indicated the "filmic" symphonic sound that Wilder would soon produce once free of the constraints of being in Depeche Mode, but needless to say the album does still suffer in comparison to his later work. The instrumentation mimics that of DM. The attentive listener will notice synthesizer sounds that were copied from "Violator" and "Music for the Masses," especially the closing theme "Freeze," a track that mirrors "Pimpf," "Memphisto," and "Sibeling." The intro to Curse even includes the breathing sample from "I Want You Now." This is understandable since Wilder was still in DM at the time, and the album is still a good piece of work, but in lieu of the expansive nature and superior musical quality of the later two albums, "Bloodline" fails to deliver. On its own, however, it's a listenable album. It's more for the dance/DM crowd than "Unsound Methods" or "Liquid." Toni Halliday's tracks are the best, and Moby's vocal on "Curse" is enjoyable, so...if anything listen to this album on its own merits. I heard this album AFTER hearing "Unsound Methods," so naturally I'm somewhat biased, but just remember that Alan Wilder was playing a different tune at the time of "Bloodline." It's a good album. Give it a listen.

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In Bloodline, Alan comes into his own
For those who enjoy synth music without much of the dance hype, Bloodline is a must-have. Alan Wilder, formerly of Depeche Mode comes into his own in his third solo album. Using such artists as Toni Halliday (sp?), Douglas Mccarty, and Bukka White, Recoil is synth music with with rhythm and warmth. For rock-like sound, listen to the cover of "Faith Healer" and "The Defector", for a more blusey rhythm, try "Electro Blues for Bukka White".

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The last of the Depeche Mode-era Recoil
In April 1992, this album was released, Alan Wilder's third-and as it would turn out-last Recoil release while in the band Depeche Mode. It was recorded right after the band's huge 'World Violation' tour, where they had all tasted the pinnacle of their efforts, reaching official stardom status, even though much more was still to come. In this brief lull, Wilder crafted the "Bloodline" album, utilizing guest vocalists for the first time (his previous two Recoil albums, "1+2" and "Hydrology" comprised long instrumental tracks with a haunting appeal, though they were not commercially-friendly-indeed, "Bloodline" was originally intended to be an instrumental album). The track listing goes as follows:

(01)Faith Healer (5:59)
(02)Electro Blues for Bukka White (8:58)
(03)The Defector (8:01)
(04)Edge to Life (6:08)
(05)Curse (7:04)
(06)Bloodline (6:48)
(07)Freeze (7:28) [this track was not included on the vinyl release]

The track "Faith Healer" was released as the album's only single, in March 1992, for good reason, as it is the one track that stands out in the album; sung by vocalist Doug McCarthy (of the band Nitzer Ebb), it has a catchy chorus and pulsing tone. "Edge to Life" and "Bloodline" are both sung by Toni Halliday (of the band Curve), though in hindsight, both Alan Wilder and his fans admit that her vocals were toned down a little too low, probably because, at the time, Wilder was more concerned with portraying the album's musical prowess than the contents of its vocals. "Curse" is sung, or 'rapped' by Moby, and is the album's most socially-aware-raising track. "Electro Blues" is a bluesy, electric pulse that is filled with the vocals of Booker T. Washington White (cousin of B. B. King) put through a filter and sampled into the track (an interesting remix of the song was later put on the Recoil single "Jezebel" in September 2000).

Fans of Recoil's previous two albums will find solace with this LP's two instrumental tracks, "The Defector" and "Freeze," though in my humble opinion, I prefer the former track to the latter. A few Depeche Mode-era samples, from songs of theirs like "I Want You Now," "Personal Jesus," "Enjoy the Silence" and, no doubt, others, have made their way into this LP.

All in all, it is a cool album, interesting not only for its musical qualities and in displaying the ever-heightening talent of Mr. Alan Wilder (and no other, except for the vocalists, of course), but also for its appearance in Depeche Mode's history, the last Recoil album churned out in this context. In 1993, the band made their album "Songs of Faith and Devotion" and undertook a draining tour soon thereafter, which frayed all of them and, upon its end, convinced Wilder that his vocation was to be found elsewhere.