Blackbox (album)
Blackbox | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 27 October 2017 | |||
Recorded | 2016 | |||
Studio | Duper Studio & Degaton Studios | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 47:45 | |||
Label | Degaton Records | |||
Major Parkinson chronology | ||||
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Blackbox is the fourth studio album of the Norwegian band Major Parkinson. It was released on 27 October 2017. The album features a new lineup and has an emphasis on dark, ambient electronica mixed with pop and prog rock.[1][2]
The critical reception to the album has been positive.[3][4][5] In 2023, Loudwire mentioned the album in their list of the best progressive rock & metal albums of each year since 1983.[6]
Track listing
[edit]- "Lover, Lower Me Down!"
- "Night Hitcher"
- "Before the Helmets"
- "Isabel: A Report to an Academy"
- "Scenes from Edison's Black Maria"
- "Madeleine Crumbles"
- "Baseball"
- "Strawberry Suicide"
- "Blackbox"
Cultural references
[edit]Just like Twilight Cinema, Blackbox features many cultural references, mostly from 19th and 20th century historical figures. The opening title "Lover, Lower Me Down!" includes a play on The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, while Hemingway himself is later mentioned in "Baseball". Several philosophers are named in "Isabel: A Report to an Academy" - Plato, Nietsche, Heidegger, Russell, while works by Salvador Dalí, René Magritte and Hieronymus Bosch are referenced.
Personnel
[edit]- Major Parkinson
- Jon Ivar Kolbotn – Lead vocals, lyrics, songwriting, arrangement
- Eivind Gammersvik – Bass, production, arrangement, backing vocals
- Lars Bjørknes – Piano, synth, organs, programming, notation, backing vocals
- Sondre Skollevoll – Guitars, backing vocals, additional synths, arrangement, microKORG (track 4)
- Sondre Sagstad Veland – Drums, perc, typewriter, arrangement, backing vocals
- Øystein Bech-Eriksen – Guitars, arrangement
- Claudia Cox: – Violin, backing vocals, arrangement
- Additional personnel
- Linn Frøkedal – Lead vocals
- Carmen Boveda – Cello
- Jonas Flemsæter Hamre – Saxophone
- Joar Lemme – Trombone
- Gunleik Gisletveit – Tuba
- Logan Arndt – French horn
- Andreas Hesselberg Hatzikiriakidis – Trumpet
- Nataniel Hjønnevåg – Xylophone
- Thomas Rolland aka Lip Shaw – Whistling
- Megan Kovacs – Backing vocals
Female choir by Volve Vokal: - Thea Meidell Sjule
- Idunn Strøm Myklebust
- Frida Ekerhovd
- Kaja Linder Henriksen
- Ann Christin Jenssen
- Kristine Norebø
- Signe Wiger
- Kine Granum
- Malene Moen Sætre
- Solveig Foldnes Dybsland
References
[edit]- ^ Hatton, Thomas (19 January 2021). "Interview with Lars Christian Bjørknes (Major Parkinson, Moron Police)". Proglodytes. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ Wors, Andy (5 January 2018). "Major Parkinson - An Interview with Jon Ivar Kollbotn". nordicmusicreview. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ Wors, Andy (4 November 2017). "Major Parkinson - 'Blackbox' Album Review". nordicmusicreview. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ Hatton, Thomas (24 May 2018). "Album Review: Major Parkinson, "Blackbox"". Proglodytes. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ Mind, The Prog (9 October 2017). "Major Parkinson – "Blackbox"". The PROG Mind. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ "Best Progressive Rock + Metal Album of Each Year Since 1983". Loudwire. 13 December 2023.