Obsolete (album)

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Obsolete
Obsolete cover
Studio album by Fear Factory
Released July 28, 1998
Recorded February to May, 1998
Genre Industrial
Length 1:08:47
Label Roadrunner Records
Producer(s) Fear Factory,
Rhys Fulber,
Greg Reely
Professional reviews
Fear Factory chronology
Remanufacture
(1997)		 Obsolete
(1998)		 Digimortal
(2001)


Obsolete is the third full-length album released by Fear Factory on July 28, 1998. The album is considered a sequel to Demanufacture, the band's second full-length release. It is also their third studio release as Remanufacture is a remix album.

A concept story is contained within the music. The story is about the future of mankind and how machines have taken over humanity. This was inspired by the band's belief that humanity has become too reliant on technology. However, a hero named Edgecrusher sets out to destroy the machines and save humanity.

Dino Cazares made his debut with seven-string guitars on this album as well.

This album was also ranked gold and was once called "the heaviest album of 1998".

Contents

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Shock" (Bell/Cazares/Herrera/Wolbers) – 4:58
  2. "Edgecrusher" (Bell/Cazares/Herrera/Wolbers) – 3:39
  3. "Smasher/Devourer" (Bell/Cazares/Herrera/Wolbers) – 5:34
  4. "Securitron (Police State 2000)" (Bell/Cazares/Herrera/Wolbers) – 5:47
  5. "Descent" (Bell/Cazares/Herrera/Wolbers) – 4:36
  6. "Hi-Tech Hate" (Bell/Cazares/Herrera/Wolbers) – 4:33
  7. "Freedom or Fire" (Bell/Cazares/Herrera/Wolbers) – 5:11
  8. "Obsolete" (Bell/Cazares/Herrera/Wolbers) – 3:51
  9. "Resurrection" (Bell/Cazares/Herrera/Wolbers) – 6:35
  10. "Timelessness" (Bell/Cazares/Fulber) – 4:08

[edit] Bonus tracks

A digipak version of Obsolete contains additional tracks:

  • "Cars" (Gary Numan) – 3:37
  • "0-0 (Where Evil Dwells)" (Thirlwell/Mosimann) – 5:16
  • "Soulwound" (Bell/Cazares/Herrera/Wolbers) – 3:51
  • "Messiah" (Bell/Cazares/Herrera/Wolbers) – 3:31
  • "Concreto" (Bell/Cazares/Herrera/Wolbers) – 3:30

"Cars" is a cover of the original Gary Numan track (Numan also appears on the new version) and "0-0 (Where Evil Dwells)" is a cover of Wiseblood.

[edit] Story line and characters

[edit] Edgecrusher

Edgecrusher is the main character and protagonist and is also the name of a song on the album.

It is unknown who Edgecrusher truly is but from reading the lyrics, he might be a cyborg. His human side must have been more prevalent if he preferred to save humanity instead of assist the machines that control the Earth to destroy it.

In the beginning of the story, he is in a prison and he causes a prison breach. He kills the guards and also causes the death of many cell mates. He must have had great strength to kill all the guards by himself or perhaps he was assisted by his cell mates. He escapes the ruined prison and begins his mission.

However, he also has two obstacles in his path. The first is the massive elite robot, Smasher/Devourer that is hunting him down and the second is the police force of the future, the Securitron. He likely engaged in battle with them.

In the songs with his name, "Descent" and "Resurrection", Burton C. Bell portray's Edgecrusher as the one singing the lyrics. The opener song, "Shock" and the closer song, "Timelessness", could be him as well. He also witnessed the events in the song's "Hi-Tech Hate", "Freedom or Fire" and the album's title track. In the song, "Descent", he wonders if his mission is worth it. From the lyrics in "Resurrection", he enters a church and finds a statue of Jesus Christ. He apparently gains a lot of memories from seeing the statue and the statue itself appers to be crying. Edgecrusher than swears to continue his mission to save humanity. (This was also depicted in the Resurrection video.) Bell could be portraying him in the closer song, "Timelessness" but this is unknown. If it is him, he has either been captured by the Securitron or has committed suicide.

[edit] Securitron - antagonists

The Securitron are the antagonists in the story and their name is part of the album's song, "Securitron (Police State 2000)".

In the story, they serve as law enforcement, governmental leaders and are deadset in keeping humanity in-line. They appear to be all over the world and to ensure no crime is gone un-seen, they have set large monitors in various places to keep humanity under their view. They themselves are likely cyborgs and also appear to be draining the Earth's resources. If a crime is spotted, harsh punishment is enforced. If the criminal escapes, they send their elite robot, Smasher/Devourer to assist in the search.

[edit] Smasher/Devourer - secondary antagonist

Smasher/Devourer is the secondary antagonist in the story and is also the name of a song on the album.

From the description given in the album's booklet, the Smasher/Devourer is a large robot with an "egg-like frame" and "its arms are actually weaponry for protection". It is used to hunt down criminals and may have once been used to protect humanity but the Securitron reprogrammed it to be mankind's enemy. No further information on its design is given and what the machine really could look like is left to the imagination. In the story, it's sent on a mission to kill Edgecrusher.

According to guitarist, Dino Cazares, the Smasher/Devourer is like a Terminator and can wipe out anything on Earth.

The machine is last mentioned in the booklet's page for the song "Descent" and its status after that is unclear.

[edit] Credits

[edit] Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1998 The Billboard 200 77

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
1999 "Descent" Mainstream Rock Tracks 38
Fear Factory
Burton C. Bell | Christian Olde Wolbers | Byron Stroud | Raymond Herrera
Dino Cazares | Andrew Shives
Discography
Albums: Concrete | Soul of a New Machine | Demanufacture | Obsolete | Digimortal | Archetype | Transgression
Live, compilation and remix albums: Fear Is the Mindkiller | Remanufacture | Hatefiles
Related articles
G/Z/R | Strapping Young Lad | Zimmer's Hole
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