Mezzamorphis

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Mezzamorphis
Mezzamorphis cover
Studio album by Delirious?
Released 12 April 1999 (UK), June 8, 1999 (U.S.)
Recorded 1998-1999
Genre Alternative rock, Christian rock, Pop
Length 49:47
Label Furious?
Producer(s) Delirious?
Professional reviews
Delirious? chronology
d:tour 1997 Live At Southampton
(1998)		 Mezzamorphis
(1999)		 Glo
(2000)


Mezzamorphis is the second album by the Christian rock band Delirious?. It was released in 1999 to a largely positive critical reception, reaching number twenty-five in the album charts (number two in the indies), and has since gone silver in the UK.[1] However, despite the critical acclaim, many former Delirious? fans disliked the album, claiming that the band had sold out to the secular industry.[2]

While Mezzamorphis is not strictly a concept album, more than one professional reviewer has pointed out that there is a general theme of getting to heaven running through the whole work.[3][4]

Contents

[edit] Writing and recording

Delirious?, formerly known for a sound similar to that of U2,[5][6] aimed for a more dense and electronic sound, taking inspiration from Radiohead.[6][7] The band attribute this partially to the mixing by Jack Joseph Puig[8] and programming by Tedd T.[6]

Most of the recording took place in an old school in West Sussex. In the words of Martin Smith, "We turned a classroom into a control room, and there were some wooden rooms where students used to dine, in which we set up a drum kit with different mike positions. We did the bulk of it there for the first six months in between touring. In the end, we went to a smaller studio in Ford just to finish it off."[9]

The album was originally to be called Mezzanine Floor; the band switched to Mezzamorphis when Massive Attack released Mezzanine in early 1998.[citation needed] The name "Mezzamorphis" is a mixture of the track names "Mezzanine Floor" and "Metamorphis".[6]

[edit] Promotion and singles

The promotional UK tour featured American rock band Switchfoot as support.[10] Delirious? also performed several songs live at Glastonbury Festival.[11][12]

The first single, "See The Star", was released in the UK in 1999, selling over 5,000 copies in the first day and 12,000 copies in the first week. This was enough to push it to number sixteen in the UK Singles Charts and number two in the indies[13] - the highest chart position ever held by a Delirious? single. A year later, the band released "It's OK", which entered the singles charts at number eighteen and the indie charts at number three.[14] The song was featured an episode of the US television series Get Real.[15] "Gravity" was planned to be released as a single in the UK[16], but was only released as a radio single in the US, due to Radio One's refusal to playlist the band.[17]

[edit] Response

Critical response was generally positive in both the secular and UK Christian music media, with multiple mainstream reviews naming the band as "the most successful product of the UK's fledgling Christian rock scene".[18][19] Musically, the album drew comparisons to U2's anthemic qualities[20][21] and was praised for its modern production.[20][22][23]

The album caused some controversy in the US Christian music scene,[6] due to the lyric "she's as pretty as hell" in "It's OK" and the lack of the word "Jesus" on the album.[24] Martin Smith wrote a response to the controversy on the band's website;[2] however, many fans continued to believe that the band had left Christian rock for the secular industry.

[edit] Chart Success

Year Chart Position
1999 Billboard Top Contemporary Christian 2
1999 Heatseekers 5
1999 UK Album Charts 25
1999 Billboard 200 137

[edit] Track listing

[edit] UK track listing

  1. "Mezzanine Floor" (Martin Smith, Stuart Garrard) – 3:44
  2. "Heaven" (Smith, Garrard) – 3:59
  3. "Follow" (Smith, Garrard) – 4:39
  4. "Bliss" (Smith, Garrard) – 3:15
  5. "It's OK" (Smith, Garrard) – 4:08
  6. "Metamorphis" (Garrard) – 4:20
  7. "See The Star" (Smith, Garrard) – 3:30
  8. "Gravity" (Garrard, Jonathan Thatcher, Smith) – 3:18
  9. "Beautiful Sun" (Garrard) – 4:35
  10. "Love Falls Down" (Smith, Garrard) – 3:58
  11. "Blindfold" (Smith) – 5:58
  12. "Kiss Your Feet" (Smith, Thatcher) – 4:19

[edit] US track listing (Sparrow Records version)

  1. "Mezzanine Floor" (Smith, Garrard) – 3:44
  2. "Heaven" (Smith, Garrard) – 3:59
  3. "Follow" (Smith, Garrard) – 4:39
  4. "Bliss" (Smith, Garrard) – 3:15
  5. "Beautiful Sun" (Garrard) – 4:35
  6. "Metamorphis" (Garrard) – 4:20
  7. "See The Star" (Smith, Garrard) – 3:30
  8. "Gravity" (Garrard, Jonathan Thatcher, Smith) – 3:18
  9. "It's OK" (Smith, Garrard) – 4:08
  10. "Love Falls Down" (Smith, Garrard) – 3:58
  11. "Blindfold" (Smith) – 5:58
  12. "Kiss Your Feet" (Smith, Thatcher) – 4:19
  13. "Jesus' Blood" (Smith) - 5:54
  14. "Deeper 99" (Smith, Garrard) - 4:19

[edit] US track listing (Virgin Records version)

  1. "Mezzanine Floor" (Smith, Garrard) – 3:44
  2. "Deeper 99" (Smith, Garrard) - 4:19
  3. "Heaven" (Smith, Garrard) – 3:59
  4. "Follow" (Smith, Garrard) – 4:39
  5. "It's OK" (Smith, Garrard) – 4:08
  6. "Metamorphis" (Garrard) – 4:20
  7. "See The Star" (Smith, Garrard) – 3:30
  8. "Gravity" (Garrard, Jonathan Thatcher, Smith) – 3:18
  9. "Bliss" (Smith, Garrard) – 3:15
  10. "Beautiful Sun" (Garrard) – 4:35
  11. "Love Falls Down" (Smith, Garrard) – 3:58
  12. "Blindfold" (Smith) – 5:58

[edit] Personnel

  • Martin Smith - vocals, guitar, recording of sounds to tape
  • Stuart "Stu G" Garrard - lead guitar, backing vocals, Otari Radar engineer
  • Stewart Smith - drums, percussion, backing vocals, art direction
  • Jon Thatcher - bass, keyboard, upright bass, theramin
  • Tim Jupp - keys, Logic Audio programming, editing
  • Tony Patoto - band manager, backing vocals

[edit] References

  1. ^ Delirious?. Archive:D [DVD]. United Kingdom: Furious? Records.
  2. ^ a b Delirious? (1999-07-06). Martin Smith Answers the Selling-Out Question. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-04-08.
  3. ^ Rimmer, Mike (June 1999), "Delirious? - Mezzamorphis", Cross Rhythms Magazine (no. 51)
  4. ^ Anderson, Rick. Mezzamorphis > Overview (HTML). All Music Guide. Retrieved on April 8, 2007.
  5. ^ August 1998, "View from the Dressing Room", Cross Rhythms Magazine
  6. ^ a b c d e Soditus, J. Warner (June 1999). (delirious.org.uk mirror) Modern Rock with a Message (HTML). CDNow.com. Retrieved on April 8, 2007.
  7. ^ Lyttle, Michael (June 1999). (delirious.org.uk mirror) Delirious with Devotion (HTML). Amazon.com. Retrieved on April 8, 2007.
  8. ^ (delirious.org.uk mirror) Delirious? Biography (HTML). Crosswalk.com (August 1999). Retrieved on April 8, 2007.
  9. ^ Brown, Bruce A. (October 1999). (delirious.org.uk mirror) A Conversation with Delirious (HTML). CDNow.com. Retrieved on April 8, 2007.
  10. ^ Wood, Dave (1999-05-10). Switchfoot to Support Delirious? on Mezzamorphis UK Tour (HTML). delirious.org.uk. Retrieved on April 8, 2007.
  11. ^ Wood, Dave (1999-06-28). Delirious? Perform At UK Glastonbury Festival (HTML). delirious.org.uk. Retrieved on April 8, 2007.
  12. ^ Wood, Dave (1999-06-28). Neil Morrisey at Glastonbury (HTML). delirious.org.uk. Retrieved on April 8, 2007.
  13. ^ 1999-03-27, "(delirious.org.uk mirror) D:lighted at 16", Christian Herald
  14. ^ Features - It's OK (HTML). delirious.org.uk. Retrieved on April 8, 2007.
  15. ^ Wood, Dave. 'It's OK' on TV (HTML). delirious.org.uk. Retrieved on April 8, 2007.
  16. ^ Wood, Dave. Gravity Single in the USA / New UK Single Planned (HTML). delirious.org.uk. Retrieved on April 8, 2007.
  17. ^ Rimmer, Mike (June 1999), "(delirious.org.uk mirror) Radio and TV Snub Delirious", Cross Rhythms Magazine (no. 51)
  18. ^ Smith, Nick (May 1999), "(delirious.org.uk mirror) Heaven Sent", Rock Sound Magazine
  19. ^ Duerden, Nick (July 1999), "(delirious.org.uk mirror) This band can fill Brixton Academy but Radio 1 won't play them. Is it because they're Christians?", Q Magazine
  20. ^ a b Porter, Martina (May 1999), "(delirious.org.uk mirror) Review: Mezzamorphis", Rock Sound Magazine
  21. ^ Sutherland, Adam (May 1999), "(delirious.org.uk mirror) Review: Mezzamorphis", Maxim (magazine) Magazine
  22. ^ Beattie, Rob (June 1999), "Review: Mezzamorphis", Q (magazine) Magazine
  23. ^ Lyttle, Michael. Review: Mezzamorphis (HTML). Amazon.com. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  24. ^ Wood, Dave. Delirious? Speak Out Against Criticism (HTML). delirious.org.uk. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Delirious?
Musicians Martin Smith - Stu G - Jon Thatcher - Tim Jupp - Stew Smith
Studio Albums Cutting Edge - King of Fools - Mezzamorphis - Glo - Audio Lessonover? - Touch - World Service - The Mission Bell
Live Albums Live & In The Can - d:tour 1997 Live At Southampton - Access:d - Unified Praise
Compilations Deeper - Libertad
Songs / singles White Ribbon Day - Deeper - History Maker - I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever - Inside Outside - It's OK - Paint The Town Red - Promise - See The Star - Waiting For The Summer - Every Little Thing
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../m/e/z/Mezzamorphis.html"