Raise the Pressure

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Professional reviews
Raise the Pressure

Studio album by Electronic
Released	8 July 1996
Genre	House, Alternative
Length	1:02:25
Label	Parlophone (UK) Warner Bros. Records (US and Australia) Virgin (EU)
Producer(s)	Bernard Sumner, Johnny Marr
All Music Guide (3/5) link
Electronic chronology
Electronic (1991)	Raise the Pressure (1995)	Twisted Tenderness (1999)

Raise the Pressure is Electronic's second album, released in July 1996.

1 History
2 Track listing
3 Singles
4 Personnel
5 External link

[edit] History

Seven of the thirteen tracks were composed by full-time members Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner, with the other six co-written with former Kraftwerk member Karl Bartos. He was recommended to Electronic via a friend of Sumner's, and commuted to Manchester throughout 1995 during the recording sessions, which stretched from late 1994 to early 1996.

The protracted sessions resulted in a dense, thick production that was later acknowledged by both Sumner and Marr and commented on negatively in music reviews; they consequently spent much less time on their next album Twisted Tenderness. The album was also remarked upon for Bernard Sumner's impressionistic lyrics, which many saw as the result of his use of Prozac during this period. Musically the album comprises guitar pop/rock songs ("One Day", "Out of My League") and more dance orientated tracks ("Until the End of Time", "If You've Got Love").

The album cover is a painting of a cherub by Johannes Handschin, which echoes the sleeve of New Order's 1989 album Technique. The title of the album appears on the inner inlay sleeve of most CD releases; the Australian CD and cassette editions are two which have Raise the Pressure placed on the cover. This was the last Electronic album to be released on vinyl.

Unlike its predecessor, Raise the Pressure received mixed reviews and did not perform as well commercially, with the first two singles "Forbidden City" and "For You" charting modestly in the UK Top 20, and the third, "Second Nature", barely making the Top 40. In the US no commercial singles were released, with "Forbidden City" and "Second Nature" issued only as promotional radio-play discs. Four mixes of "Until the End of Time" were released through the Electronic mailing list in October 1997; this item and a maxi-single of "Second Nature" remixes are among the most sought-after recordings by the band.

[edit] Track listing

"Forbidden City" – 4:03
"For You" – 4:52
"Dark Angel" – 5:30
"One Day" – 4:35
"Until the End of Time" – 6:19
"Second Nature" – 4:55
"If You've Got Love" – 6:26
"Out of My League" – 4:36
"Interlude" – 0:44
"Freefall" – 4:58
"Visit Me" – 5:58
"How Long" – 4:46
"Time Can Tell" – 4:43

All songs written by Marr and Sumner except "Forbidden City", "For You", "Until the End of Time", "If You've Got Love", "How Long", and "Time Can Tell", written by Marr, Sumner and Bartos.