Lifeforms (The Future Sound of London album)

1994 studio album by The Future Sound of London

Lifeforms

Studio album by

The Future Sound of London

Released| May 23, 1994 (1994-05-23)
Genre|

* Ambient[1][2]
* experimental techno[3]

Length| 92:33
Label| Virgin
Producer| The Future Sound of London
The Future Sound of London chronology
| Accelerator
(1992)  | Lifeforms
(1994)  | ISDN
(1995)

|
|

Full cover picture

The "Witch Girl" in a desert landscape

Lifeforms is the second studio album by the British electronic music duo The Future Sound of London. It was released on 23 May 1994 by Virgin Records. It entered the Dance Albums Chart at No. 1 and the Albums Chart at No. 6.[4]

## Background

[edit]

The Future Sound of London began work on the album around the same time as they were finishing Tales of Ephidrina, and the more complex, ambient direction they were taking resulted in Lifeforms.[1] The artwork also progressed from previous works, with soon-to-be familiar images of the "Witch Girl" Sheuneen Ta and the "Spike" computer model having been previously used on the group's Cascade EP.

## Reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [3]
NME| 8/10[5]
Resident Advisor| 4.3/5[6]
Select| [7]
Sputnikmusic| 5/5[2]
Tom Hull – on the Web| B+[8]

Lifeforms achieved commercial success and produced hit singles such as "Cascade" and "Lifeforms". It entered the Dance Albums Chart at No. 1 and the Albums Chart at No. 6.[4] The album was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for over 60,000 units sold. It was later licensed to Astralwerks for release in the US.

AllMusic called it "one of the best experimental techno releases of the '90s" and "an inventive, fascinating aural experience, as rich and detailed as the Orb's best work."[3]

The Swedish band Carbon Based Lifeforms got the idea of its name partly from this album.[9]

## Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by The Future Sound of London (Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans), except where noted

Disc oneNo.| Title| Length

|
|

1.| "Cascade"| 5:59
2.| "Ill Flower"| 3:24
3.| "Flak" (Cobain, Dougans, Robert Fripp, Andrew Grossart, Trevor Nightingale, William Thomson, Paul Williams)| 4:53
4.| "Bird Wings"| 1:30
5.| "Dead Skin Cells"| 6:50
6.| "Lifeforms"| 5:18
7.| "Eggshell"| 6:45
8.| "Among Myselves"| 5:52

Disc twoNo.| Title| Length

|
|

1.| "Domain"| 2:48
2.| "Spineless Jelly"| 4:41
3.| "Interstat"| 0:55
4.| "Vertical Pig"| 6:44
5.| "Cerebral"| 3:30
6.| "Life Form Ends"| 5:03
7.| "Vit"| 6:48
8.| "Omnipresence" (Cobain, Dougans, Klaus Schulze)| 6:39
9.| "Room 208"| 6:12
10.| "Elaborate Burn"| 3:15
11.| "Little Brother"| 5:13

## Personnel

[edit]

* The Future Sound of London – production, writing

Additional musicians

* Robert Fripp – guitar textures and bytes on "Flak"
* Toni Halliday – vocal texture on "Cerebral"
* Ozric Tentacles – sound bytes on "Flak"
* Talvin Singh – Tabla Tronics on "Life Form Ends"
* Yage – engineering

Additional personnel

* The Future Sound of London – art direction
* Buggy G. Riphead – art direction
* Peter Atkinson – photography
* Stephen Marks – photography
* P. Knott – photography
* Alistair Shay – photography
* Martin Poole – photography
* Olaf Wendt – CGI design
* Rob Manley – A&R

## Charts

[edit]

Chart (1994)  | Peak
position

|

UK Albums (OCC)[10] | 6
UK Dance Albums Chart (CIN)[4] | 1

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Future Sound of London". Clash. 2 September 2006. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
2. ^ a b Mikesn (7 February 2009). "The Future Sound of London – Lifeforms". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
3. ^ a b c Raggett, Ned. "Lifeforms – The Future Sound of London". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
4. ^ a b c Redmond, Steve, ed. (4 June 1994). "Dance Albums Chart" (PDF). Music Week. London: Spotlight Publications. p. 22.
5. ^ Mulvey, John (28 May 1994). "Long Play". NME. p. 33. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
6. ^ Muggs, Joe (6 March 2018). "Future Sound Of London – Lifeforms". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
7. ^ Harrison, Andrew (May 1994). "New Albums". Select. p. 87. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
8. ^ Tom Hull, Hull (12 November 2023). "Grade List: Future Sound Of London". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
9. ^ "In Darkness Dreaming: Another Carbon Based Lifeforms Interview!". Archived from the original on 17 June 2020.
10. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 January 2018.

## External links

[edit]

* Lifeforms at Discogs (list of releases)
* Lifeforms at MusicBrainz (list of releases)

* v
* t
* e

The Future Sound of London

* Garry Cobain
* Brian Dougans

Studio albums|

* Accelerator
* Lifeforms
* Dead Cities
* Hand-Made Devices
* The San Monta Tapes
* Environments
* The Woodlands of Old
* Environments II
* Environments 3
* Environments 4
* Environment Five
* Environment Six
* Environment 6.5

Albums as
Amorphous Androgynous|

| Studio albums|

* Tales of Ephidrina
* The Isness/The Otherness
* Alice in Ultraland
* The Peppermint Tree and Seeds of Superconsciousness
* The Cartel Vol. 1
* The Cartel Vol. 2

|

Compilations|

* A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding in Your Mind: Volume 1
* Volume 2
* Volume 3

Live albums|

* ISDN
* ISDN Show

Compilations|

* Earthbeat
* Teachings from the Electronic Brain
* From the Archives Vol. 1
* From the Archives Vol. 2
* From the Archives Vol. 3
* Zeebox 1984-1987 Vol. 1
* Zeebox 1984-1987 Vol. 2
* By Any Other Name
* The Pulse EPs
* From the Archives Vol. 4
* From the Archives Vol. 5
* From the Archives Vol. 6
* From the Archives Vol. 7
* Archived 8

Solo albums|

* Global
* Eurotechno
* Sessions 84–88
* 4 Forests

Singles & EPs|

* Stakker Humanoid (Humanoid)
* Slam (Humanoid)
* Tonight (Humanoid)
* A.S.T.
* Q (Mental Cube)
* So This Is Love (Mental Cube)
* You Took My Love
* The Pulse EP
* Pulse 2 EP
* Principles of Motion EP
* Pulse 3 EP
* Papua New Guinea
* Fuzzy Logic EP
* Pulse Four EP
* People Livin' Today
* Metropolis
* Liquid Insects
* Cascade
* Expander
* Lifeforms
* The Far-Out Son of Lung and the Ramblings of a Madman
* My Kingdom
* We Have Explosive
* The Mello Hippo Disco Show
* Divinity
* The Witchfinder
* Archived EP

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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