Miss Machine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Miss Machine
Miss Machine cover
Studio album by Dillinger Escape Plan
Released July 20, 2004
Recorded 2004
Genre Mathcore, Experimental Metal
Length 39:54
Label Relapse
Producer Steve Evetts, Benjamin Weinman, Chris Pennie
Professional reviews
Dillinger Escape Plan chronology
Irony Is a Dead Scene
(2002)		 Miss Machine
(2004)		 Plagiarism
(2006)

Miss Machine is the second album by American mathcore band The Dillinger Escape Plan, released in July 2004 by Relapse Records. It is Greg Puciato's first album as the lead vocalist for the band. Miss Machine marks a change to a more experimental style by the band. It is still considered Mathcore, but is less aggressive than Calculating Infinity, with the track Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants being sung traditionally by lead vocalist Puciato. The album is The Dillinger Escape Plan's first album since 1999, the gap between albums being accredited to a number of bad fortunes, and a short EP release with lead vocals being performed by Mike Patton.

Up until the band's 2007 release of the further groundbreaking Ire Works, Miss Machine was the band's most experimental release to date, as the band drew from the experience of working with Mike Patton and the industrial influence of Greg Puciato's other project, Error. It is also arguably their most accessible due to the band toning down the musical complexity and adding new elements like slower song tempos, singing vocals, and more straight-forward song structures. The band still decided to use Metalcore producer Steve Evetts to produce their album.

Contents

[edit] Background

After the largely successful Calculating Infinity, the band undertook a tour which would be the last with the original line-up. Not long after their tour was finished, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis quit the band due to personal reasons. The band was thus left without a vocalist and began hunting for a vocalist.

At this point, the band looked to be falling apart. However, they were persistent, and after hearing of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle frontman's liking of the band, the band requested him to collaborate on an album with them. Patton agreed, and in 2002, the band released Irony Is a Dead Scene, a four-song EP which the title read "The Dillinger Escape Plan and Mike Patton". The songs showcased the band's increasing experimental side which was highly influenced by Patton's Avant-Garde Metal act Mr. Bungle. Due to Patton's friendship with Epitaph Records, the EP was released on the Epitaph Records independent label.

After the collaboration with Mike Patton, Mike Patton left the band, but his influence was permanent. The band began to search for a new vocalist to replace Minakakis and Patton when bassist Adam Doll was involved in a car accident which left him paralyzed from the armpits down, and losing all of his hand dexterity. Just as things looked to be up for the band, this tragedy struck. However, the band discovered Greg Puciato and asked him to join the band as their lead vocalist. Shortly after Puciato's hiring, the band hired Liam Wilson on bass guitar. Despite all the tragedy, things looked to be finally going the band's way, and in late 2003, the band began recording their sophomore album, Miss Machine.

[edit] Musical Direction

Due to Mike Patton collaborating with the band, his experimental influences began to rub off on the band. Plus, Greg Puciato was involved in an industrial band before joining The Dillinger Escape Plan, all of which would form their sound on Miss Machine. The album turned out to be much more experimental, and include much more jazz-fusion elements and electronics. Weinman's guitars were not as prominent in the mix, and Pennie's drumming was not as demanding. However, their newer, experimental sound was a hit with critics, as they garnered much attention due to the shift in sound. This, yet, split fans, as some embraced their new sound while others detested it.

[edit] Critical Reception

The critical reception for Miss Machine was relatively favorable, with Allmusic going so far as to say, "There's nothing more to say — the next true image of rock & roll has crawled out of the swamps of Jersey." Despite being positive in their review, Pitchfork noticed "Though Miss Machine displays DEP in top musical form, the band seems to have lost its confidence and direction." Rolling Stone, however, was negative, noticing "unless you're trying to drive a third world dictator out of his barricaded palace, you'll be hard pressed to listen to Miss Machine in its entirety."

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Panasonic Youth" (Weinman/Puciato) – 2:27
  2. "Sunshine the Werewolf" (Weinman/Puciato) – 4:17
  3. "Highway Robbery" (Weinman/Puciato) – 3:30
  4. "Van Damsel" (Weinman/Puciato) – 2:59
  5. "Phone Home" (Pennie/Puciato) – 4:15
  6. "We Are the Storm" (Weinman/Puciato) – 4:38
  7. "Crutch Field Tongs" (Pennie) – 0:52
  8. "Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants" (Weinman/Puciato) – 3:27
  9. "Baby's First Coffin" (Weinman/Puciato) – 4:02
  10. "Unretrofied" (Weinman) – 5:37
  11. "The Perfect Design" (Weinman/Puciato) – 3:50

Bonus Tracks

  1. "My Michelle" (Japanese Bonus Track) (Guns N' Roses Cover)
  2. "Damaged Pt. 1&2 (Japanese Bonus Track) (Black Flag Cover)

[edit] Notes

"Panasonic Youth" was featured in Konami's GuitarFreaks V and Drummania V

"Unretrofied" was used for WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006 video game as a soundtrack.

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Additional Personnel

  • Steve Evetts - producer, engineering, mixing
  • Jesse Cannon - "Additional Protooling"
  • Tom Shumway - assistant engineer
  • James Russo - assistant engineer
  • Alan Douches - mastering
  • Mike Watkajtys - live sound engineer
  • Brian Montuori - artwork and direction
  • Dimitri Minakakis - layout and design
  • Matthew Jacobson - executive producer

[edit] Chart positions

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
2004 The Billboard 200 106
2004 Top Heatseekers 2
2004 Top Independent Albums 4
2004 Top Internet Albums 106
Languages