Welcome to Earth

Welcome to Earth is the third studio album by Norwegian futurepop band Apoptygma Berzerk. It was released on February 22, 2000 on Metropolis Records but was earlier released on Tatra Records.

Welcome to Earth
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 31, 2000
GenreFuturepop
Length74:00
LabelMetropolis Records
ProducerFredrik Darum
Apoptygma Berzerk chronology
APBL98
(1999)
Welcome to Earth
(2000)
APBL2000
(2001)
Singles from Welcome to Earth
  1. "Paranoia"
    Released: 05 May 1998
  2. "Eclipse"
    Released: 11 Aug 1999
  3. "Kathy's Song (Come Lie Next to Me)"
    Released: 11 Dec 2000
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

The general theme of the album is that of extraterrestrials contacting earth and of moving on. The songs themselves contain samples of reports of alien sightings and crop circle designs feature prominently in the cover and liner notes. Several tracks have been staples in live concerts ever since, especially the single "Kathy's Song", which became one of the band's biggest hits, being remixed by high-profile artists such as VNV Nation and Ferry Corsten.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Everything We Know is Wrong"Stephan Groth1:28
2."Starsign"S. Groth5:35
3."Eclipse"S. Groth5:57
4."Help Me!"Vegard Blomberg, S. Groth5:47
5."Kathy's Song (Come Lie Next to Me)"S. Groth6:34
6."Untitled 3"S. Groth2:38
7."Moment of Tranquility"Jonas Groth, S. Groth7:36
8."Fade to Black" (Metallica cover)Cliff Burton, Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich5:27
9."64k"S. Groth1:44
10."Paranoia"Blomberg, S. Groth7:48
11."Soultaker"S. Groth7:00
12."LNDP3"Blomberg, Frederik Ball, S. Groth5:20
13."Time to Move On" (The song "Time to Move On" ends at 2:30. After 7:08 of silence, at 9:38 begins an untitled hidden track, that ends at 10:26. After the hidden track, there is silence for 40 seconds [10:26 - 11:06].)S. Groth11:06

2007 Remastered Release

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Time to Move On"S. Groth2:30
14."Untitled 4" (bonus track; in other versions, "Untitled 4" is the hidden track after "Time to Move On".)S. Groth2:08
15."Eclipse" (Black Sun Version)S. Groth5:17
16."64k" (Sweep Remix)S. Groth6:46

Themes

The album deals mainly with the modern mythology of extraterrestrial aliens and a hope that one day the truth will be revealed to us. Generally the tracks convey a feeling of alienation as well.

Stylistically, the album drew criticism upon its release for incorporating elements of vocal trance music on tracks such as "Eclipse" and "Kathy's Song", and overall being geared towards being a pop album. There are some tributes to the Commodore 64 home computer as well, hidden in the "64k" track which is based heavily on a sample of Chris Hülsbeck's Commodore 64 version of "Axel F", and the track Untitled 4 is basically just a Commodore 64 chiptune. It is also worth mentioning that since the release of Welcome To Earth, band leader Stephan Groth tattooed a crop circle pattern on his left arm.

References

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