Bloodline (Recoil album)

Bloodline is the first album by Recoil, released April 14, 1992. It was recorded at Konk Studio in London, during sessions that lasted from January to March 1991, being mixed late that same year. The album was produced by Alan Wilder, engineered by Steve Lyon, and assisted by Dave Eringa.

Bloodline
Studio album by Recoil
Released	April 14, 1992
Recorded	Jan - Mar 1991, Konk Studios, London (Mixed Oct - Dec 1991)
Genre	Electronic
Length	50:38
Label	Mute Records STUMM 94 Sire/Reprise/Warner Bros. Records 26850
Producer	Alan Wilder
Recoil chronology
Hydrology (1988) Bloodline (1992) Unsound Methods (1997)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

After completing Depeche Mode's most successful album, Violator, and subsequent World Violation Tour (with Nitzer Ebb as the support act), Wilder co-produced Nitzer's 1991 album Ebbhead. This cemented both a good personal and working relationship with Nitzer lead singer Douglas McCarthy.[2] After completing the Nitzer Ebb album, Wilder went to work on his solo project, and McCarthy returned the favor by performing on the Recoil album.

Wilder recruited guest vocalists for the first time: Moby, Toni Halliday (from Curve), and Douglas McCarthy, helping produce a significant move forward. It also marked the first Recoil single, a cover of the Alex Harvey song "Faith Healer".[3]

The album is also notable for the track "Electro Blues for Bukka White", which introduced the idea of taking very old recordings and setting them in a new electronic setting. Moby, who contributed vocals for the song "Curse", arguably used this inspiration for his breakthrough 1999 album, Play, for which he used several old field recordings by Alan Lomax, much as Wilder had used a 1937 recording of White's "Shake 'Em on Down".

Track listing

All music written by Alan Wilder except "Faith Healer" (Alex Harvey and Hugh McKenna)

1. "Faith Healer" (Vocals: Douglas McCarthy)
2. "Electro Blues for Bukka White" (Vocals: Bukka White)
3. "The Defector" (instrumental)
4. "Edge to Life" (Vocals: Toni Halliday)
5. "Curse" (Vocals: Moby)
6. "Bloodline" (Vocals: Toni Halliday)
7. "Freeze" (instrumental)

Credits and personnel

Alan Wilder – Production, Instruments Douglas McCarthy – Lead vocals on "Faith Healer" Toni Halliday – Lead vocals on "Edge to Life" and "Bloodline" Moby – Rap on "Curse" Bukka White – Vocals taken from the track "Shake 'Em on Down" and used for "Electro Blues for Bukka White" Diamanda Galás – Vocals (whispering) on "Curse" Jimmy Hughes – Bass Guitar on "Edge to Life" Steve Lyon – Engineering Aaron Trinder – Guitar on "Faith Healer" Dave Eringa – Engineering assistant Martin Atkins, T + CP Associates – Sleeve photography and design

Diamanda Galás contribution is unexplained in the credits, but she is mentioned as appearing on the album. The coda to "Curse" contains a backmasked sample from "The Lord Is My Shepherd" (Psalm 23) from You Must Be Certain of the Devil. In the short interlude between "Electro Blues for Bukka White" and "The Defector", there's a piano sample from the end of David Bowie's "Aladdin Sane". Samples of Anthony Hopkins' voice from The Silence of the Lambs are used throughout "The Defector". In "Edge to Life", the end of Ippolita's monologue from Depeche Mode's Strange can be heard twice. An interpretation (or slowed down sample) of "Laura Palmer's Theme" from Twin Peaks is featured in the instrumental interlude in "Bloodline". "The Defector" is Alan's tribute to one of his favorite bands, Kraftwerk.

Single

7" (MUTE 110) (UK)

1. "Faith Healer (LP Version)" – Mixed by Wilder and Lyon
2. "Faith Healer (Healed Mix)" – Remixed by LFO

12" and CD (12 MUTE 110 / CD MUTE 110) (UK)

1. "Faith Healer (LP Version)" – Mixed by Wilder and Lyon
2. "Faith Healer (Trance Mix)" – Mixed by Wilder and Lyon
3. "Faith Healer (Conspiracy Theory)" – Remixed by Daniel Miller and Philipp Erb, Engineered by Mike Bigwood
4. "Faith Healer (Disbeliever Mix)" – Remixed by LFO
5. "Faith Healer (Deformity)" – Mixed by Wilder and Lyon
6. "Faith Healer (Barracuda Mix)" – Additional production and mix by Moby (Listed as Richard Hall)
7. "Faith Healer (Conspiracy (Double Bullet) Theory)" – Remixed by Miller and Erb, Engineered by Bigwood

Notes

1. Allmusic review
2. From Recoil's official website: Shunt Archived November 24, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
3. From Recoil's official website: Shunt Archived November 24, 2005, at the Wayback Machine