The Richest Man in Babylon (album)

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This article is about the album by Thievery Corporation. For the book by George Samuel Clason, see The Richest Man in Babylon (book).

The Richest Man in Babylon

Studio album by Thievery Corporation

Released

September 17, 2002

Genre

Lounge / Dub / Trip hop

Length

56:58

Label

Eighteenth Street Lounge Music

Producer

Rob Garza and Eric Hilton

Professional reviews

Thievery Corporation chronology

The Mirror Conspiracy
(2000)

The Richest Man in Babylon
(2002)

The Outernational Sound
(2004)

The Richest Man in Babylon is the group Thievery Corporation's third album, released on their Eighteenth Street Lounge label. It was released in 2002. Like Thievery Corporation's previous albums, The Richest Man in Babylon is electronic music with a downtempo aesthetic. The group mixes many different styles in an audacious fashion. Diverse influences such as dub, jazz, dance music, rap, reggae, and especially Indian music are boldly yet smoothly combined. The group's usual elements of echoing synth lines, heavy bass, compressed beats and acoustic instruments are present as well. The songs are sung in English, Spanish, French and Persian, complementing the group's cosmoplitan outlook. The title track, as well as "State of the Union", incorporate protest music into the group's sound, with both songs making strong political statements. The album features various singers from all over the globe (Iceland, Jamaica, France) including Emiliana Torrini, LouLou, Pam Bricker, Latin singers and several Jamaican rappers. The album features both electronic and live instrumentation, treading the "the line between acoustic and electronic music as a drunken sailor might, unpredictably falling on one side or the other with equal frequency,"[1] as one music journalist put it in a positive review.

[edit] Reception

The critical reception was mixed, but several large publications gave it very favorable reviews, getting 4 of 5 stars[2] from Rolling Stone Magazine and called "a great album...this ranks as Thievery Corporation's finest yet.[3]" by the BBC's Collective magazine. All Music Guide's John Bush disliked it though, considering it "bland." Among fans the album is popular, peaking at Number 2 on Billboard's Top Electronic Albums chart and Number 9 on their Top Independent Albums Chart. As of August 2006, songs from The Richest Man in Babylon form the majority of their concert setlist, followed closely by songs from their next album, The Cosmic Game, and the previous The Mirror Conspiracy. The album was received favorably among Thievery's fans.