Machine (Static-X album)

Machine is the second studio album from the American industrial metal band Static-X, released on May 22, 2001, and recorded at Studio 508 (Los Angeles, California). When compared to the band's other albums, Machine features more electronics and industrial effects, and more screamed vocals from Wayne Static.

Album information
The song "This Is Not" provided the album's first single and music video, and later a second single would be found in "Black and White". The song "Cold" also had a video made for it, and tied in with the film Queen of the Damned. It was featured on the aforementioned film's soundtrack album, as was the exclusive "Not Meant for Me", performed by Wayne Static. The song "Anything but This", a bonus track from the Japanese version, is also found on the Resident Evil soundtrack.

Reception
Critical reaction to the album was mixed, the most positive reviews came from Rolling stone NME and Drowned in Sound. Terry Bezer of Drowning Sound in his review stated, "It is impossible to put into words just how much Static X have progressed since their last effort. True enough, it’s not the most original of sounds (think Ministry crossed with Slipknot) but it does have all the enthusiasm of a bull charging for El Matador’s red cloth and twice the power." Fan reaction was mostly positive as well. Despite the mixed reviews, Machine sold around 500,000 copies in the USA, making it the band's second most successful album (after Wisconsin Death Trip). It is often regarded as the band's heaviest studio album.

Production
In the unreleased Static-X DVD Where the Hell Are We and What Day Is It... This Is Static-X, it was commented that the songs for this album would have guitar solos; however, this was not the case.

The opening sample of the track "A Dios Alma Perdida", a synthetic arrangement with a filtered voice speaking in what sounds at times like English (notably closing with an eerie "It's me!"), is from the 1978 film Laserblast. This sample is an abbreviated version of a conversation between the aliens in that movie.

Comic book
A comic book series was created by Chaos! Comics entitled "Static-X Machine." Only one volume was printed as Chaos! declared bankruptcy shortly after its release. The comic was packaged with a CD containing one track, "This Is Not (Live)," as well as multimedia content featuring back stage interviews with the band and a live music video of "This Is Not" from the 2002 Machine tour.

Chart positions

 * Album


 * Singles

Personnel

 * Static-X
 * Wayne Static - lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, programming
 * Tony Campos - bass, backing vocals
 * Ken Jay - drums, writing credit
 * Tripp Eisen - lead guitar (band credit and photos only, did not contribute or perform as he was hired after the album's completion)
 * Koichi Fukuda - keyboards, programming, writing credit
 * Ulrich Wild - keyboards, programming