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Rating: Let's kick things off with a sensational claim (one more or less makes little difference): ABBA invented futurepop. Do you remember "The Visitors," not the album but the song? New wave reminiscences, emphasized refrain, danceable rhythm, unease, alien presences. At least a start, perhaps unofficial but still highly inspirational. The fact is that, about twenty years later, Mr. Apoptygma Berzerk, aka Stephan Groth, released an album centered on the same theme, which, with all the stylistic differences and evolutions of the case, descends in almost direct line from that splendid avant-garde sparked by the creative genius of Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. A clear and simple title and an immediately recognizable symbol on the cover for a long journey that explores, among many stylistic refinements, one of the key themes of literature and science fiction imagination: contact with alien creatures. "Welcome To Earth" is a concept album through and through, a very ambitious and fascinating work that sounds like a musical in various acts, very structured, perfectly scripted, truly made great by a massive dose of naturalness and compositional inspiration that saves it from the greatest risk and flaw of projects of this kind, namely mannerism.
Recapping, Stephan Groth debuted in 1993 with a synth pop/EBM album with strong gothic hues, still slightly raw but in which great potential could already be seen, four years later comes the second effort, "7," and alongside the darkish nuances, more techno/trance sounds begin to take hold with greater conviction, of which episodes like "Non-Stop Violence" and above all the gem "Electricity" are a clear example. Although the premises were therefore not entirely new, the change of pace between "7" and "Welcome To Earth" in 2000 remains absolutely radical and we can talk about a second phase in the Scandinavian musician's career, his most inspired and creative period, which will also include the fourth album "Harmonizer." This sumptuous FuturePopOpera constantly gives the impression of being able to "derail" at any moment, especially in the first approaches there is the feeling that a misstep, an out-of-place episode, a useless interlude, filler, an overblown step are just around the corner, ready to alter the delicate balance of the concept, but in the end, everything works perfectly. To fully appreciate "Welcome To Earth," a certain taste for grandeur is necessary; if you don't love grandiose arrangements and melodies, perhaps it's best to abstain, but aside from these nuances, the album is nothing less than formidable. Engaging, substantial, rich with emotional tension, it finds its best expressions in episodes like "Eclipse", a relentless and epic midtempo that represents futurepop in its most statuesque and Wagnerian form, with its powerful VNV Nation-style synth-arpeggiated melody from "Empires" and the intense and pronounced singing of a great Stephan Groth, an artist now mature and capable of using his charisma to its fullest potential, and "Kathy's Song" which instead opts for a more subtle approach, presenting itself as a suggestive trance idyll with psychedelic inflections; hypnotic rhythms, seductive and reverberated vocal lines, a slightly unsettling sense of tranquillity; a song far from radio-friendly yet we're talking about APB's most successful hit, able to rank high in charts in Germany and Scandinavian countries, without a major behind or any particular media push, and here I could make many remarks but I'd rather not bore you.
Amid the masterpieces of "Welcome To Earth," a cover of "Fade To Black" by Metallica stands out, and, putting aside the visceral antipathy I feel for the Californian quartet, I can't deny that it's a very fitting choice, especially thematically; its "despair" fits well in a schizophrenic emotional context that ranges from fascination to innate fear of the unknown; needless to say, without guitar wankery and especially without Hetfield's unpleasant voice, the song can't help but benefit, and Stephan does an excellent job both as a singer and as a remixer, creating a good accompanying piece, the fastest and most straightforward of the work along with the opener "Starsign" with its granite and engaging groove, perfect for a live-encore. Another great pillar of the album, unfortunately overshadowed by other more "flashy" episodes, is certainly "Paranoia", which instead relies on a more fluid and expansive duration, characterized by a fairly sparse groove and a "soap and water" singing not retouched by studio effects that marry well with a particularly catchy and fitting melody, an excellent remastered and polished synth-pop. "Help Me!" is the most experimental part of the album and also the darkest and most unsettling, intended to be the musical transposition of an "abduction experience": a continuous succession of off-screen voices, disorienting rhythms, minor orchestrations that periodically emerge, emphasizing a hallucinated and alien atmosphere in the most authentic sense of the term, but in "Welcome To Earth" there's also room for two beautiful ballads, an absolute novelty for Apoptygma as well as rather rare in futurepop and not always particularly memorable, but even in this case, Stephan Groth's inspiration is truly in a state of grace; "Moment Of Tranquility" is an interlude, placed in the central context of the work, and its poignant melancholy emerges with extraordinary and unexpected delicacy; the rhythms slow and expand, dominated by a sense of inevitable fatalism, the pain of a farewell faced with composure and dignity, "LNDP3" is the grand finale, the unexpected coup de théâtre. Stephan Groth, the one-man band, the protagonist and undisputed leader, hands the microphone to backing singer Kari Pettersen, who responds with a wonderful performance that further ennobles this orchestral ballad, sad in soul but of a wrenching beauty rich in pathos, poetic and deeply moving, a "Death Is Not The End" according to Stephan Groth's vision, the best epilogue for a work following a very coherent and rigorous logical thread, in which each act is the direct consequence of the previous one. Intense, visionary, and compelling, this is "Welcome To Earth," a fundamental album for its genre and a strictly unique exemplar; free to believe it or not, to share it or not, but calling this album a masterpiece is absolutely not an exaggeration.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Starsign (05:35)
Like a bolt from the blue, descending from the sky
My brain collapses in the dead of night
Too much for my psyche, another crack-up
If you're awake, join me
All the things you see, the same as what I see
We listen to the sound of nervous breakdown
A death that blends with a will to live
One of the things that freaks me out
I'm waiting for a sign, have to leave this place behind
Where no one knows my name
Then later we'll calm down, we'll both break down and cry
(And say) our last goodbye...
I'll break the chains, I'm out of line
I'm living on my nerve, last days of ninety-nine
Nightmare, conspiracy, depression and lunacy
I need to feel, walled up inside
Locked up, messed up, maybe there is no tomorrow
All this thinking does me no good
I'll miss you my love, but it's about time that this world goes up in flames
03 Eclipse (05:57)
As we dwell inside the safe zones that we've made
Where nothing but earthly pleasures seem to matter
The only light we see is from the screens
No will to feel or explore the forgotten dimensions
Some day we'll catch a glimpse of eternity
As the world stands still, for a moment
And I guess we will be making history
When we all join hands just to watch the sky
(For a moment...)
Our selfish lives have made us all go blind
One day we'll awake by a bright light on the horizon
In one second every eye will see the same
And this blinding light will draw all our attention
Some day we'll catch a glimpse of eternity
As the world stands still, for a moment
For the very first time and it's meant to be
We'll forget about ourselves and share the moment
(For a moment...)
04 Help Me! (05:47)
I saw you take the first lingering steps away from me
Towards something, maybe towards someone
I hear you say the words that once changed me
I hear you play that 12-inch I bought you
I hope you feel the same way now as you did then
But you probably don't feel anything...
I hold your hand so you won't steal anything
I take your drugs so you can't feel anything
I hold you tight so you don't lose everything
But I can't hold you like this forever
So I guess I'll lose you...
07 Moment of Tranquility (07:35)
I turn around to talk
I face your eyes
Pride replaces fright
To my surprise...
I feel as I'm falling, and I see
Your soul in your eyes
As I die...
I try to stand tall
You roll your eyes
You feel the same way I do
To my surprise...
I feel as we're drowning in the deepest sea
You die, you're gone just like me
Her eyes are starring at me
Empty as the sky
In this moment of tranquility
I realize
This is goodbye...
08 Fade to Black (05:27)
originally written and recorded by Metallica.
(Hetfield/Ulrich/Burton/Hammett)
Life it seems will fade away
Drifting further every day
Getting lost within myself
Nothing matters, no one else
I have lost the will to live
Simply nothing more to give
There is nothing more for me
Need the end to set me free
No one but me can save myself but it's too late
Now I can't think, think why I should even try
Yesterday seems as though it never existed
Death greets me warm, now I will just say goodbye
Things not what they used to be
Missing one inside of me
Deathly lost, this can't be real
Cannot stand this hell I feel
Emptiness is filling me
To the point of agony
Growing darkness taking dawn
I was me but now he's gone
10 Paranoia (07:48)
Chew the pill that tastes like hell, but gives you strength Embrace the drug that makes you mad, cause still it turns you into Something else Feel the need for love grows stronger! Swap your mind for a mirror-search, and shake until the break of day
One day you'll realize that you were wrong And you'll regret that all this happened Did it (all) happen? Some day you'll realize that you were wrong (You'll be) Left with paranoia, (as your only friend)
Your mind is full of enemies, the room is full of energies That want to take control They're all around you, and you're all alone Your mind is full of enemies, the room is full of energies Haunting your soul They're all around you, and you're on your own
One day you'll realize that you were wrong You'll regret that all this happened Some day you'll realize that you were wrong To be left with Paranoia
11 Soultaker (06:58)
You dont scare me much
By the things you say
Want me to be like you
I choose to live this way
You try to rule my world
And hurt me every day
I want to live my life
You want to take my soul away...
It doesnt cost me much
To share my thoughts with you
I know you'll never share
Share my point of view
Its not that easy you know
Not even if you pay
I want to be myself
You want to take my soul away...
You dont scare me much
By the things you say
Just want me to like you
Live my life my way
You try to rule my world
So what can I say?
I want to live my life
You want to take my soul away...
12 LNDP3 (05:20)
Saw you looking so sad
Like everything is gone
So you left them all
Just leave them all behind
Just realize the water is way over our heads
I don't worry much, cause I'm halfway dead
So why are you crying?
Why are you crying?
Can you tell me why, can you tell me how?
Can you tell me why aren't you happy now?
Whatever it is, it's really over now
Can you tell me why, can you tell me now?
We took them by surprise
By leaving this place
Some thoughts we left behind
Some good and some sad
You should know
I hold you in my arms...
You should know
That I hold you in my arms...
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