- City (Strapping Young Lad album)
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City 
Studio album by Strapping Young Lad Released February 11, 1997 Recorded 1996 Genre Extreme metal, industrial metal Length 39:22 Label Century Media Records Producer Devin Townsend Strapping Young Lad chronology Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing
(1995)City
(1997)No Sleep 'till Bedtime
(1998)Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic 
[1]City is the second album by Canadian extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad. It was released on February 11, 1997. The album was re-released in 2007 with several bonus tracks and altered cover art. Frontman Devin Townsend assembled a permanent lineup of Strapping Young Lad to record City, including prolific drummer Gene Hoglan, and Townsend's former bandmates Jed Simon on guitar and Byron Stroud on bass. The album was critically acclaimed with Revolver naming it one of "the greatest metal albums of all time",[2] and it is widely considered Strapping Young Lad's best work.
Contents
Background
After releasing the first Strapping Young Lad album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing, as a solo album, Townsend recruited a permanent line-up for the second album: Jed Simon on guitar, Byron Stroud on bass and Gene Hoglan on drums. City was remastered and re-released in 2007, and included several unreleased tracks, as well as a Japanese bonus track and the video for "Detox".[3]
Reception
City received highly positive reviews. Kerrang! praised the album for its heaviness, claiming it sounded like "sticking your head into the jet nozzle of a Stealth Bomber",[4] while Metal Hammer ranked it #13 on its "Top 20 Albums of 1997" list.[5] The album gained a cult following and a loyal fan base for the band.[6] City is considered to be the band's best effort by a large number of fans[7] and critics alike.[8][9]
In 2002, the album was #45 on Revolver magazine's "69 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time" list,[2] and was on their "Must Have Metal Albums" list in 2005.[6] It also appeared on the "100 Most Important Albums of the Nineties" list conducted by Terrorizer.[10] Townsend himself stated City "is the real Strapping record. That's the ultimate one out of all of them".[11] City sold over 9,000 copies its first week.[12] The song "Oh My Fucking God" was later covered by fellow Canadian extreme metal band Cryptopsy, for a compilation album by Century Media.[13]
Track listing
- All songs by Devin Townsend unless otherwise stated.
No. Title Length 1. "Velvet Kevorkian" 1:17 2. "All Hail the New Flesh" 5:24 3. "Oh My Fucking God" 3:34 4. "Detox" 5:37 5. "Home Nucleonics" 2:31 6. "AAA" 5:21 7. "Underneath the Waves" 3:40 8. "Room 429" (Cop Shoot Cop cover) 5:21 9. "Spirituality" 6:34 10. "Centipede" (available on Japanese release and 2007 remaster) 7:55 11. "Home Nucleonics" ('96 demo, available on Japanese release of No Sleep 'till Bedtime and 2007 remaster) 3:02 12. "Headrhoid" (Gunt demo, available on Japanese release of No Sleep 'till Bedtime and 2007 remaster) 1:38 13. "Detox" ('96 demo, available on Japanese release of No Sleep 'till Bedtime and 2007 remaster) 5:48 14. "AAA" ('96 demo, available on Japanese release of No Sleep 'till Bedtime and 2007 remaster) 5:22 Credits
Musicians
- Devin Townsend – vocals, guitar
- Gene Hoglan – drums
- Jed Simon – guitar
- Byron Stroud – bass
Additional musicians
- Chris Valago – vocals
- Tanya Evans – vocals
The Cruxfrog Choir
Val (Chris Valago), Stoolie B. Flames (Byron Stroud), The Tower, Pete "this beer reminds me of the beaches in Portugal" Maia
Production Credits
- Devin Townsend – production, mix engineering
- Daniel Bergstrand – engineering, mix engineering
- Danne the Manne – additional production
- Mercello Gomes – assistant engineer
- Steve Good – assistant engineer
- Matteo Caratozzolo – overdubs
- The Tower – overdubs assistant
- Steve Good – studio coordinator
- Mc2 – editing
- Lulu Devine – editing
Additional credits
- Devin Townsend – song composition, management
- Gene Hoglan – additional drum arrangements on "Oh My Fucking God"
- Adrian White – additional drum arrangements on "AAA"
- Strapping Young Lad - additional arrangements
- Masa Noda – photography
- Dan Collins – photography
References
- ^ City (Strapping Young Lad album) at Allmusic. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
- ^ a b "The 69 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". Revolver. 2002, September/October.
- ^ [1] at Allmusic. Retrieved January 16, 2011.
- ^ Sheils, Liam. "Strapping Young Lad - City". Kerrang!. February 1, 1997, Iss. 633.
- ^ "Top 20 Albums of 1997". Metal Hammer. December 1997.
- ^ a b "Strapping Young Lad: ALIEN CD Release". Metal-Rules.com. 2005-03-23. http://www.metal-rules.com/zine/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=124. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ Rademacher, Brian (2005-08-11). "Interview with Jed Simon". Rock Eyez Webzine. http://www.rockeyez.com/interviews/int-strappingyounglad-simon.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ Bergman, Keith. "Strapping Young Lad - The New Black review". Blabbermouth.net. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/showreview.aspx?reviewID=788. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ Begrand, Adrien (2005-03-25). "Strapping Young Lad: Alien review". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/strappingyounglad-alien. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "100 Most Important Albums of the Nineties". Terrorizer. February 2000, Iss. 75.
- ^ "Strapping Young Lad Are All Rocked Out". Exclaim!. July 2006. http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/points.aspx?csid1=82. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
- ^ http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=3145
- ^ http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=108375
Strapping Young Lad Devin Townsend · Jed Simon · Byron Stroud · Gene Hoglan
Adrian White · Chris Meyers · Chris Bayes · Smokin' Lord TootStudio albums Live albums EPs Tour EP · C:enter:###Compilations Singles "S.Y.L." · "Detox" · "Relentless" · "Love?" · "Wrong Side"DVDs For Those Aboot to Rock: Live at the CommodoreRelated articles Categories:- Strapping Young Lad albums
- 1997 albums
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