Black Box Recorder / The Facts Of Life
Artist Black Box Recorder
Album Title: The Facts Of Life
Album Cover:
Primary Genre Pop: European Pop
Format CD
Released 05/01/2000
Label Jetset Records
Catalog No TWA36CD
Bar Code No 6 04978 00362 1
Packaging Jewelcase
Tracks
1. The Art Of Driving (4:25)
2. Weekend (2:27)
3. The English Motorway System (4:40)
4. May Queen (3:39)
5. Sex Life (2:56)
6. French Rock'n'Roll (3:01)
7. The Facts Of Life (4:37)
8. Straight Life (4:09)
9. Gift Horse (3:30)
10. The Deverell Twins (2:43)
11. Goodnight Kiss (3:46)
12. Start As You Mean To Go On (2:30)
13. Brutality (2:19)
Date Acquired 05/11/2001
Personal Rating
Acquired from Electric Fetus - Minneapolis
Purchase Price 12.99

Web Links

All Music Guide Entry:
Discogs Entry:

Notes

foobar2000 1.2.9 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2013-12-19 19:47:58

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Analyzed: Black Box Recorder / The Facts of Life
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DR         Peak         RMS     Duration Track
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DR8       -0.18 dB   -10.06 dB      4:26 01-The Art of Driving
DR8       -0.18 dB   -10.09 dB      2:27 02-Weekend
DR8       -0.18 dB    -9.07 dB      4:41 03-The English Motorway System
DR10      -0.18 dB   -12.75 dB      3:39 04-May Queen
DR7       -0.18 dB    -8.51 dB      2:56 05-Sex Life
DR9       -0.18 dB   -10.84 dB      3:01 06-French Rock'n'Roll
DR9       -0.18 dB    -9.75 dB      4:38 07-The Facts of Life
DR8       -0.18 dB    -9.75 dB      4:10 08-Straight Life
DR9       -0.18 dB   -10.39 dB      3:31 09-Gift Horse
DR11      -0.18 dB   -14.05 dB      2:43 10-The Deverell Twins
DR9       -0.18 dB   -10.95 dB      3:46 11-Goodnight Kiss
DR8       -0.18 dB   -10.40 dB      2:30 12-Start as You Mean to Go On
DR10      -0.18 dB   -12.13 dB      2:20 13-Brutality
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Number of tracks:  13
Official DR value: DR9

Samplerate:        44100 Hz
Channels:          2
Bits per sample:   16
Bitrate:           889 kbps
Codec:             FLAC
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Reviews
All Music Guide Review:

Review by Dean Carlson

Make no mistake: Black Box Recorder are malevolent scoundrels. Their debut album -- England Made Me -- was a distressing, vacant eye staring over the unspoken horror of everyday England, so one wondered where they could go from there. With The Facts Of Life, they moved that voyeuristic, cynical stare away from suicide and car crashes and focused it on small-town dating and disenchanted sex lives. Strangely enough, the horror feels the same. Songs like the utterly menacing hook of "The Art of Driving" will chill even the most neutral of listeners, while the John Barry-influenced "Weekend" strolls along with such desolate grace that it's just subtly elegant. Vocalist Sarah Nixey sings with impassioned distance that serves up the disparagement nicely. Lines such as "Don't even look at me 'till we're alone," "Careful not to touch, we've drunk enough/Just another weekend falling," or "Read the message on the bottle/Go and drink yourself to death" probably won't become national anthems anytime soon. All the better for it, then. As in BBR's debut, the same barren instrumentation and distanced vocals are still here, but this time around, there seems to be a pop sensibility that evokes far more seditious strengths than ever before. This produces a delightfully sinister contradiction. "Straight Life," for instance, has Nixey chiming, "It's a beautiful morning," and only BBR could make such a statement sound truly sardonic. The closing "Goodnight Kiss" is also brimming with beauty, yet -- at heart -- still a song with pained regret. All this doesn't even begin to get near the marvel that is the title track, either. "The Facts of Life" is found nestled in the album's core and it still glares at you like a Stanley Kubrick-directed All Saints production. Simple, gorgeous, chart-friendly, and just plain evil, it is undoubtedly one of the most subversive singles ever written. Indeed, clocking in at just under 40 minutes, The Facts Of Life is a precise, meticulous, deeply disturbing experience. The album is proof that there's still life in pop music. Subversion has rarely sounded this startling.

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