Xtort

Template:Use mdy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |Template:Short description|noreplace}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Nihil1995Symbols1997studioXtortKMFDM - Xtort.pngOn a dark background, the word KMFDM in white capital letters at the top, and XTORT in capital yellow letters at the bottom. In the center is an image of a man flying directly up and towards the viewer, with stylized explosions and a sunburst in the background. It is done in a woodcut style, with angular, blocky textures, and uses a simple pattern of blue, yellow, white and black.KMFDMTemplate:Start date1995–96Template:PlainlistTemplate:FlatlistTemplate:DurationWax Trax!Template:Flatlistx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}}

Xtort (stylized as XTOЯT) is the eighth studio album by German industrial band KMFDM, released on June 25, 1996, by Wax Trax! Records. It was recorded from the end of 1995 through early 1996, shortly after the death of Wax Trax! co-founder and band friend Jim Nash. Xtort features a variety of guest artists from the industrial music scene and studio musicians from other genres, but includes limited participation from core member En Esch.

The album was massively promoted by KMFDM's American label TVT Records, which pressed tens of thousands of copies of its lead single "Power". Frontman Sascha Konietzko created his own form of promotion, issuing a press release that both disparaged and lauded the coming set. Xtort was generally well-received by critics and is the band's highest-charting album to date. After the original release went out of print, a remastered version was released in 2007. Template:TOClimit

Background

In late 1995, KMFDM had completed the "Beat by Beat" and "In Your Face" tours in support of their last album, Nihil. KMFDM frontman and founder Sascha Konietzko described Nihil as "the crown", and said the band had come as close to mainstream popularity as he wanted. He felt the band needed to move away from its success.<ref name="hypno"/> In 2007, Konietzko recalled that he had "hated all the attention, interviews, photo shoots, etc.".<ref name="Xtort 2007"/> After the tours, Konietzko returned to Chicago in order to be with his friend Jim Nash, co-founder of Wax Trax! Records, who was dying from AIDS. Konietzko referred to the death of Nash that October as "the end of an era".<ref name="KMFDM History"/><ref name=billboard-oct-95/>

En Esch, one of the longtime core members of KMFDM, had almost nothing to do with Xtort, contributing to just two songs.<ref name="MacDonald"/> With regard to Esch's lack of participation, Konietzko said, "En Esch is just En Esch. He never made himself available to do this album, and so it's always my belief that the thing must keep moving; I had to do it without him."<ref name="deathmetal"/> He also said the two were not in communication around the time of the album's release.<ref name="deathmetal"/>

Production

Xtort was pre-produced and tracked in Seattle at Hole in the Wall Studio, and recorded and mixed in Chicago at Chicago Recording Company.<ref name="Xtort 2007"/><ref name="musica"/> Konietzko contacted F. M. Einheit and had him come to Chicago in January 1996 to work on some tracks together.<ref name="Xtort 2007"/> Konietzko also brought in a number of Wax Trax! alumni, such as Chris Connelly of Revolting Cocks and Bill Rieflin of Ministry, to help with the album's creation,<ref name=billboard-june-96/> along with assistance from more than a dozen studio musicians.<ref name="Xtort 2007"/> Konietzko required all the album's contributors to be on call thirteen hours a day during production,<ref name="RS740"/> saying "I don't care what they do on their own time, but when they do KMFDM, if they don't comply with the schedule, they're out."<ref name="RS740"/>

Konietzko said the ideas for songs began with individual sounds, which he then modified until he created a looped rhythm.<ref name="rocknet"/> "Craze", for example, Konietzko called "an homage to Atari Teenage Riot, a band with two guys, one girl, a couple TR90STemplate:Sic drum machines and a bass machine."<ref name="Aquarian"/> He said he was inspired by touring with the band in Europe in support of Nihil in 1995.<ref name="Xtort 2007"/> After creating the base tunes, the songs went to Günter Schulz, another longtime member, to add guitars.<ref name="rocknet"/> With the completed songs, Konietzko then allowed guest artists, such as Connelly,<ref name="deathmetal"/> to pick songs they wanted to contribute to, and added their vocals or other instrumentation.<ref name="rocknet"/> For Xtort, Konietzko used Macintosh products to do all the synchronization.<ref name="rocknet"/>

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Connelly contributed to four tracks,<ref name="Xtort 1996"/> including "Blame", which also featured the horn section from the Oakland, California, based group Tower of Power.<ref name="Aquarian"/> Nicole Blackman, KMFDM's publicist at the time, contributed spoken word vocals to the track "Dogma", which was adapted from the ten-minute live performance she provided while touring with the band.<ref name="Aquarian"/> "Power", meanwhile, was made to fulfill a request by the band's label, Wax Trax!, for a radio promo song.<ref name="Aquarian"/> Konietzko said he'd heard "radio didn't like big female choruses", so he got voiceover commercial singer Cheryl Wilson to help with the song, which he called "dumb and catchy".<ref name="Aquarian"/> The hidden track of the album, "Fairy", is a story narrated by Jr. Blackmail, who had worked with the band previously in the 1980s. Konietzko said it was inspired by Blackmail's "dirty fantasies".<ref name="queenmusic"/> He also said it was not a serious track: "it was more like kids at play".<ref name="queenmusic"/> For the background sounds, the group did things like roll screws on the floor while Schulz played piano.<ref name="queenmusic"/>

Release

The first track on the album, "Power", was featured on the "Wax Trax! Summer Swindle", a cassette sampler included with 45,000 issues of the July 1996 issue of Alternative Press.<ref name=billboard-june-96/> Another 50,000 copies of the sampler were to be handed out at summer college and beach events and given away at radio stations.<ref name=billboard-june-96/> 90,000 pre-release posters and information sheets were mailed out to fans.<ref name=billboard-june-96/>

File:Son of a Gun (KMFDM video - screenshot).jpg

The character Son of a Gun from the video of the same name.

Blackman wrote the promotional piece for the album's press kit,<ref name="Transmission"/> and at Konietzko's request,<ref name="Transmission"/> wrote the first half of the promo as an insulting take down of the album rather than as a standard promo. The first letter of each line of the first section of the promo spelled out the phrase "April Fools Day Fucker"<ref name="Press Kit"/> and included lines such as "It's been 100 years and fifty albums for the German/American rock squad—are they running out of gas or what?"<ref name="Press Kit"/> and "KMFDM can't suck hard enough",<ref name="Press Kit"/> a quote from the track "Inane".<ref name="Xtort 1996"/> The second half of the promo included phrases such as "XTORT is a supersonic soundtrack"<ref name="Press Kit"/> and "The new album is the sound of a band at the height of their powers."<ref name="Press Kit"/> Carrie Borzillo of Billboard stated KMFDM was "poised to make a significant commercial breakthrough."<ref name=billboard-june-96/> Konietzko said at the time there were no plans to tour in support of the album's release.<ref name=billboard-june-96/> He later said this was due to the fact that the band as a touring unit had ceased to exist.<ref name="Xtort 2007"/>

Xtort was released on June 25, 1996<ref name=billboard-june-96/> on Wax Trax!/TVT on cassette,<ref name="allmusic"/> CD, and vinyl.<ref name="official"/> The album was also released in CD format in EuropeTemplate:Citation needed and Japan.<ref name="joshin"/> In addition to being the first KMFDM album to chart in the Billboard 200, staying there for three weeks and peaking at No. 92 the week of July 13, 1996,<ref name=Billboard-chart/> Xtort sold over 200,000 copies,<ref name="Blog Critics"/> making it one of the band's best-selling albums.<ref name="shit"/><ref name="billboard2016"/> The song "Son of a Gun" was made into an animated video by visual artist Aidan "Brute!" Hughes,<ref name="brute"/> who also did the album's cover artwork.<ref name="Xtort 1996"/> On March 6, 2007, Metropolis Records released a digitally remastered version of the album on CD and MP3.<ref name="official"/><ref name="Metropolis"/> Looking back on the album at the time of its re-release, Konietzko said it was his favorite album of the 1990s.<ref name="Xtort 2007"/>

Critical reception

Template:Music ratings Reviews for Xtort were almost universally positive. Jon Wiederhorn of Entertainment Weekly called it "the heaviest and most danceable disc in [KMFDM's] 12-year career"<ref name="EW"/> while giving it an A−. Heidi MacDonald of CMJ New Music Monthly compared Xtort to getting hit with a wrecking ball, saying, "When KMFDM does what it does best, it is the best at what it does, namely jack-hammer industrial anthems that hit with stunning precision and power."<ref name="MacDonald"/> Sandy Masuo of Rolling Stone called the album "the product of a first-rate lineup,"<ref name="Rolling Stone"/> and praised the album's diversity, saying, "The 10 tracks on Xtort are grounded in KMFDM's smart synthesis of metallic crunch, swiveling rhythms and sophisticated electronics, but it's the organic elements that give the album a zesty twist."<ref name="Rolling Stone"/> Kevin M. Williams of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the album an "essential" rating, and said, "KMFDM has some major mojo working with Xtort".<ref name="chicago">Template:Cite news</ref> Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic was less enthusiastic, saying, "it would be nice to hear [KMFDM] branch out and start to experiment a little bit more", and commenting that while Xtort did not sound much different from previous releases, "KMFDM sounds as good as they ever have, and several tracks rank among their best."<ref name="allmusic"/> Liz Armstrong of the Daily Herald thought the guest contributors added significant differences to their individual songs.<ref name="Daily Herald"/>

Larry Flick of Billboard said "Power", the opening track, "finds front man Sascha Konietzko snarling and growling with palpable force, while Cheryl Wilson softens the edges with splashes of soul-mama vamping during the chorus."<ref name=billboard-may-96/> Williams called the song "irresistible".<ref name="chicago"/> Masuo noted in particular the use of horns and the Hammond B3 organ, and concluded by stating, "In their insidiously arty and intellectually sassy music, KMFDM continue to bring diverse elements together to create a unified whole."<ref name="Rolling Stone"/> Armstrong called "Dogma" a song that crossed over from being industrial to "frightening",<ref name="Daily Herald">Template:Cite news</ref> while MacDonald described it as "blistering"<ref name="MacDonald"/> and Williams said it was "captivating".<ref name="chicago"/> Armstrong said "Son of a Gun" was the album's "truly explosive track",<ref name="Daily Herald"/> but Williams thought "Inane" was the best song.<ref name="chicago"/>

Track listing

All information from 2007 release CD booklet.<ref name="Xtort 2007"/> Template:Track listing

Personnel

All information from 2007 release CD booklet<ref name="Xtort 2007"/> except where noted. Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2

Band members

• Mark Durante – guitar (2, 3, 6)
• Sascha Konietzko – vocals, bass (1–6, 8–10), synthesizers, programming, drums (1–3, 10), production, mixing<ref name="musica" />
• Bill Rieflin – drums (5–10)
• Günter Schulz – bass (7), guitar, piano (11), mixing,<ref name="musica" /> photography
• En Esch – voice (1), guitar solo (6)
• Jennifer Ginsberg – background vocals (7)<ref name="Xtort 1996"/>

Additional personnel

• Dorona Alberti – vocals (4, 8, 9)
• Bruce Bendinger – voice (6)
• Bruce Breckenfeld – Hammond B3<ref name="Xtort 1996"/> organ (3)
• Jr Blackmail – narration (11)
• Nicole Blackman – vocals (5), spoken word (10)
• Michael Cichowicz – trumpet (7)
• Chris Connelly – vocals (3, 4,<ref name="Xtort 1996"/> 7, 9)
• F. M. Einheit – whipping, banging, and breaking stuff (5),<ref name="Xtort 1996"/> lawnchairs, rubble, rocks and dirt (9)<ref name="Xtort 1996"/>
• Steve Finkel – saxophone (7)
• Jack Kramer – trumpet (7)
• Ron Lowe – drill and vacuum cleaner (8)<ref name="Xtort 1996"/>
• Bob Samborski – trombone (7)
• Jon Van Eaton – noise (10)<ref name="Xtort 1996"/>
• Cheryl Wilson – vocals (1, 3, 6)<ref name="Xtort 1996"/>

Production

• Chris Shepard – production, engineering, mixing<ref name="musica" />
• Jon Van Eaton – assistant production
• Rob Lowe – assistant engineering
• Claudine Pontier – assistant engineering
• Konrad Strauss – mastering<ref name="Xtort 1996"/>
• Brian Gardner – remastering
• Paul Elledge – photography
• Justin Gammon – photography
• Brute! – cover art