Brainbloodvolume
| Brainbloodvolume | ||||
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| Studio album by Ned's Atomic Dustbin | ||||
| Released | 21 March 1995 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 38:39 | |||
| Label | Furtive, Columbia | |||
| Producer | Tim Palmer | |||
| Ned's Atomic Dustbin chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
Brainbloodvolume is the third and final album from Ned's Atomic Dustbin with their original line-up. It was released in the United States on 21 March 1995 but did not appear in the United Kingdom until July of that year. It received a memorable review by Neil Kulkarni in Melody Maker, which consisted entirely of a rant against students and did not discuss the actual album.
Brainbloodvolume finds the band "decisively stepping beyond" their usual style "to embrace a variety of styles and approaches," and is marked by "ultramodern production", electronics and sampling, all of which were introduced to a lesser extent on Are You Normal?Ned Raggett of Allmusic said the album was "brimming with energy and a willingness to experiment" while "retaining the yearning heart" of many early songs by the band. The album is "an altogether happier effort" than its predecessor and shows the band seeming "confident and relaxed enough to work; the songs appear to be the result of actual woodshedding, not last-minute whip-ups."
Palmer's "especially careful" production "gets [the material] all down in a clear mix of bristling, textured power and slick commercial" whilst ably following "the group's minor stylistic perambulations while juggling modern dance beats, driving rock, pinging atmospherics, found-sound silliness and glossy mid-tempo pop." Guitarist Rat and sometimes bassist Alex Griffin indulge "in crispier sometimes-abstract performances that suggest early-'80s post-punk à la New Order and the Cure."
According to Raggett, opening song "All I Ask of Myself Is That I Hold Together" features an "absolutely massive guitar blast and partially sampled metallic percussion" with "John Penney's always-reliable vocals riding the chaos with increasing desperation, serves notice that the quintet isn't into doing anything half-assed." "Floote" is another instance "of the band's ear for newer approaches", and features a flute and "an attractive sitar filigree for a trippily eerie crunch." According to Trouser Press, the song is witty "pop-hop" and its flute is "jammy." "Your Only Joke" and "I Want It Over" are together an "epic but not overbearing collapse." "Prenotion" features the Funky Drummer breakbeat loop sped-up, acoustic guitar and "a quietly hyperactive keyboard techno riff." "...To Be Right" combines "heavily processed wash" with "gentler chime."
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