Ebbhead
	Produced by Alan Wilder & Flood
	Released on September 30, 1991
	US CHART POSITION #146
	Find it at GEMM
GEFD-24456 cover [high resolution scan]

K ronomyth 4.0: WHERE THE NITZER WILDER, THE DAZE IS DULLER. Coproduced by Depeche Mode’s Alan Wilder, Ebbhead retreats from the intensity of Showtime, back into belly of the constipated Belief. What remains is a dark techno industrial album with a few memorable tracks (“Godhead,” “I Give To You”), none of which outshine anything on Showtime. Although you couldn’t seriously call this a sellout, Ebbhead did become their first album to chart in the US, a fact that has more to do with the commercial crossover of industrial music in general (NIN, White Zombie, Ministry) than Nitzer Ebb in particular. Honestly, Nitzer Ebb isn’t as scary as their industrial counterparts, with one club foot still firmly planted on the dancefloor (“Trigger Happy,” “DJVD”). And the child stalker stuff (“Lightning Man,” “Sugar Sweet”) is officially starting to weird me out. (Seriously, guys, get it out of your system with a Gary Glitter remix or something.) While Ebbhead is a stylistic step back in most ways from Showtime, it does feature some new elements like middle eastern sounds (“Lakeside Drive”) and strings (“I Give To You”). These should have been handled better in the mix, but instead get buried as so much extra noise. Really, it’s unforgivable that an industrial album should have an inferior mix. Included at the end of Ebbhead is a remixed version of “Family Man.” Remixed from what I’m not sure, since it had only appeared on an earlier EP (As Is). Lastly in my litany of complaints, the album’s opening track (“Reasons”) is arguably its lamest. Nice track placement there.

TRACK LISTING

1. REASONS
2. LAKESIDE DRIVE
3. I GIVE TO YOU
4. SUGAR SWEET
5. DJVD
6. TIME
7. ASCEND
8. GODHEAD
9. TRIGGER HAPPY
10. FAMILY MAN (REMIXED VERSION)
    
    All songs written by V. Harris and D. McCarthy

CREDITS

BON HARRIS -- design
DOUGLAS McCARTHY -- design
Steve Lyon -- engineer
Julian Beeston -- additional drums & percussion
Jerry McCarthy-Clemance -- vocal treatments (4)
Andrew Poppy -- orchestration arranger (3)
State -- video
Vertikal -- image grab
Designs -- lyrics typesetting
Simon -- design
Steve Garp -- design

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