Pretend I'm Human
| Pretend I'm Human | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 13, 1999 | |||
| Recorded | March–April 1999 | |||
| Studio | Mad Dog (Burbank, California) | |||
| Length | 42:37 | |||
| Label | Ng | |||
| Producer | Neil Perry | |||
| Orange 9mm chronology | ||||
| ||||
Pretend I'm Human is the third and final album by the American band Orange 9mm, released on July 13, 1999.[1][2] It was a commercial disappointment.[3] Pretend I'm Human was rereleased in 2021.[4]
The band supported it by playing the 1999 Warped Tour; they also toured with Machine Head.[5][6]
Production[edit]
Recorded in California, Pretend I'm Human was produced by Neil Perry.[7][8] The band abandoned all of its demoed songs once they were in the studio, opting instead to start over.[9] Vocalist Chaka Malik played bass on the album.[10] The lyrics to many of the songs touch on themes of societal power dynamics and class.[11]
Critical reception[edit]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [12] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 6/10[13] |
| In Music We Trust | B–[14] |
| PopMatters | 8.5/10[15] |
| See Magazine | [16] |
| Winnipeg Sun | [17] |
Exclaim! wrote that "Touching Skies" "may be the best, if not the only, rap-metal power ballad ever."[18] The Telegram & Gazette deemed the album the band's best yet, praising the "rap-inspired grooves, sharper dynamic shifts and overall better chops."[8] The Arizona Daily Star determined that Malik's "words are racy enough to turn a sailor incarnadine, yet his rap is fantastically caustic poetry."[11]
The New York Post noted that Orange 9mm "is still their hard-core selves on this 10-song collection, which taps hip-hop, industrial and good old-fashioned Stairway-to-Hell metal."[19] The Winnipeg Sun concluded that the "NYC trio manages to weld heavy riffs and hip-hop rhythms without getting them all over each other."[17] The San Diego Union-Tribune stated that "the lurching guitars in the Fugazi-like 'Lifeless', the explosive title track and even the slow build-up in 'Touching Skies', a rather preachy song about self-determination, have a raw, punk edge to them that you won't find in other so-called new metal bands."[20]
AllMusic wrote that, "even if Malik has a better lyrical flow than most rap-metal singers, the results tend to sound stiff and forced when there are no funky backing rhythms for him to play off of."[12] In 2021, Decibel called Pretend I'm Human "extraordinarily eclectic," noting that the reissue "brings the guitars to the fore [to] make it a perfect ahead-of-its-time candidate for reevaluation."[21]
Track listing[edit]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "When You Lie" | 3:01 |
| 2. | "Lifeless" | 3:41 |
| 3. | "Facelift" | 4:11 |
| 4. | "Touching Skies" | 4:57 |
| 5. | "Pretend I'm Human" | 3:48 |
| 6. | "Dragons (You Know I Love You)" | 5:33 |
| 7. | "Innocence" | 7:01 |
| 8. | "Alien" | 3:30 |
| 9. | "Tightrope" | 5:11 |
| 10. | "Day One" | 1:44 |
| Total length: | 42:37 | |
References[edit]
- ^ "Orange 9MM". Perfect Sound Forever.
- ^ Sciarretto, Amy (June 21, 1999). "Must Hear". CMJ New Music Report. Vol. 59, no. 623. p. 3.
- ^ Blush, Steven (October 4, 2016). New York Rock: From the Rise of the Velvet Underground to the Fall of CBGB. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN 9781250083623.
- ^ "Hear Orange 9mm's New Remaster of Rare Final Album 'Pretend I'm Human'". Revolver. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
- ^ Catlin, Roger (11 July 1999). "Also expected in record stores this week". Hartford Courant. p. G10.
- ^ Skierka, Tom (15 Oct 1999). "Rockin' with energy Clones? Wannabes? Maybe, but these bands are more than noise". Weekend. The Spokesman-Review. p. 8.
- ^ "Orange 9MM". Juice. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
- ^ a b McLennan, Scott (12 Aug 1999). "The sun has yet to set on the Summer of Metal...". Telegram & Gazette. p. C5.
- ^ "Matthew Cross: Orange 9MM's Stickman Is No Pretender". Modern Drummer. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
- ^ Sharpe-Young, Garry (May 21, 2005). New Wave of American Heavy Metal. Zonda Books Limited. ISBN 9780958268400.
- ^ a b Purdy, Jim (October 1, 1999). "Orange 9mm target fat cats". Arizona Daily Star. p. 32E.
- ^ a b "Pretend I'm Human". AllMusic.
- ^ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 328. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
- ^ Steininger, Alex (August 1999). "Orange 9MM: Pretend I'm Human". In Music We Trust. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
- ^ Benton, Michael. "Orange 9MM, Pretend I'm Human". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 2000-10-04. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
- ^ Lingley, Scott (August 19, 1999). "Spins". See Magazine. No. 299. p. 11 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b "Discs". Winnipeg Sun. August 6, 1999. p. F17.
- ^ "Orange 9mm Pretend I'm Human". Exclaim!.
- ^ Aquilante, Dan (June 29, 1999). "Pretend I'm Human; Orange 9MM". News. New York Post.
- ^ Niesel, Jeff (August 26, 1999). "Rock: Orange 9MM". Entertainment. The San Diego Union-Tribune. p. 9.
- ^ "Pranic Power: Chaka Malik on Orange 9MM reissues, Burn, Ghost Decibels, & the Prophecy and Peace Found in Extreme Art". Decibel. Retrieved 21 May 2022.