Sonic Jihad (Snake River Conspiracy album)

Sonic Jihad is the debut studio album by American industrial rock band Snake River Conspiracy, released in the United States on July 11, 2000, by Reprise Records, and in the UK on November 13, 2000, through Morpheus Records, an imprint label of Reprise.

Sonic Jihad
Studio album by Snake River Conspiracy
Released	July 11, 2000
Recorded	1998–2000
Studio	H.O.S. Recording Studio, Redwood City, California Scream Studios, Los Angeles, California[1]
Genre	Industrial rock
Length	44:48
Label	Reprise Morpheus (UK)
Producer	Jason Slater David Kahne Eric Valentine Charlie Clouser
Snake River Conspiracy chronology
Vulcan (1999) Sonic Jihad (2000) Smells Like Teen Punk Meat (2000)
Singles from Sonic Jihad
"Vulcan" Released: October 5, 1999 "How Soon Is Now?" Released: June 5, 2000[2][a] "Breed" Released: November 13, 2000[4][b]

Besides six original songs, Sonic Jihad contains five covers; "You and Your Friend" by T-Ride, "Lovesong" by The Cure, "How Soon is Now?" by The Smiths, and "Act Your Age" and "Oh Well" by Running with Scissors.^[6]

Sonic Jihad garnered mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised the album's aggressive and inventive production and Tobey Torres' vocal performances, although some perceived the album as uneven and stylistically unoriginal. Three singles were released from the album: "Vulcan", "How Soon is Now?" and "Breed". "How Soon is Now?" and "Breed" charted in the US.

Commercial performance

Although the album itself was relatively unsuccessful, three singles were released, two of which charted. The first single, "Vulcan", failed to reach any chart. The next single, however, "How Soon Is Now", performed well in the United States, where it reached No. 38 on the Alternative chart and #15 on the Dance Club Songs chart;^[7] the song also entered the UK Singles Chart, at number 83.^[8] The third single, "Breed", reached No. 37 on the Dance Club Songs chart.^[7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
Drowned in Sound	9/10[10]
The Independent	[11]
Kerrang!	[12]
Metal Hammer	10/10[13]
NME	5/10[14]
Outburn	(positive)[15]
PopMatters	(positive)[16]
Q	[17]
Rock Sound	[18]

Sonic Jihad received generally positive reviews from music critics.

Eden Miller of PopMatters spoke positively of the album, stating that, "Anger has never been so much fun or so approachable," and praising the group's "strong personality".^[19] Drowned in Sound's review, written by Kate Price, was similarly positive, awarding the album 9 out of 10 and stating that the album, "Is a journey, lyrically and musically, through human emotions and represents... the triumph of passion over technology."^[10]

Sonic Jihad was widely praised in the British rock and heavy metal press.^[20] Roberto Cannelloni of Metal Hammer praised the album's inventiveness and Tobey Torres' vocal performances, which he labelled "works of genius full of twisted keyboards and buzzsaw guitars layered underneath probably the finest voice in rock today" and awarded the album a perfect score.^[13] Dave Everly of Kerrang! hailed the album as "A vitriolic blast of venomous post-techno noise rock".^[12] Johnathan Long of Rock Sound stated that while Snake River Conspiracy's initiative of using 1980s music as inspiration was not exactly original, citing the bands Orgy and VAST as other contemporary examples, the band retained a "visceral edge to their music" and called the album a "surprisingly delightful debut".^[18]

Other reviewers were less favourable. AllMusic's William Ruhlmann likened Snake River Conspiracy to the rock group Garbage and Nine Inch Nails, but felt that, "Their sound may be too hard for pop fans and too soft for rock fans," which lead him to giving the album 3 out of 5 stars.^[9] NME writer Darren Johns was critical of the album's gothic undertones and "Dark Mood Syndrome", which he felt undermined the album's "shiny, happy chorus hooks", but also praised the songs "Somebody Hates You" and "How Soon Is Now?", which he called "the oddest, and therefore best, moments" on the album.^[14]

Accolades

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Kerrang!	United Kingdom	Kerrang! Albums of the Year[21]	2000	7

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Breed"	Jason Slater Eric Valentine Denny Porter Tobey Torres[a] Jerry Goldsmith	Jason Slater Eric Valentine David Kahne	4:30
2.	"Casualty"	Slater Valentine Porter	Slater Valentine Kahne	4:54
3.	"You and Your Friend" (T-Ride cover)	Daniel Arlie	Slater Valentine Kahne	3:35
4.	"Lovesong" (The Cure cover)	Robert Smith Simon Gallup Roger O'Donnell Porl Thompson Boris Williams Lol Tolhurst Slater[a] Valentine[a] Porter[a] [22]	Slater Valentine	3:56[c]
5.	"Act Your Age" (Running with Scissors cover)	Slater Porter	Slater Kahne	4:27
6.	"More Than Love"	Slater Valentine Porter	Slater Valentine Kahne	3:50
7.	"Strangled" (featuring Greg Camp[a])	Slater Valentine Porter John Barry	Slater Valentine Kahne	4:43
8.	"Oh Well" (Running with Scissors cover)	Slater Porter Charlie Clouser	Slater Charlie Clouser	3:46
9.	"Somebody Hates You"	Slater Valentine Porter David Kahne	Slater Valentine Kahne	3:57
10.	"Vulcan"	Slater Valentine	Slater Valentine	3:59
11.	"How Soon Is Now?" (The Smiths cover)	Morrissey Johnny Marr	Slater Kahne	3:23
Total length:				44:48

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an uncredited songwriter/contributor

Sample credits

• "Breed" contains a sample from "New Identity", written by Jerry Goldsmith, and featured in the score for the 1968 film Planet of the Apes.
• "Strangled" contains a sample from "Goldfinger", written by John Barry, Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley (credited only to Barry in liner notes), and performed by Shirley Bassey.

Personnel

Personnel per liner notes.^[23]

Snake River Conspiracy Jason Slater – bass, guitar, instruments, production, songwriting (all tracks), mixing (1-7, 9, 11) Tobey Torres – vocals, lyrical contributions (uncredited)[24] Additional personnel Geoff Tyson – additional production (uncredited), remixes[25] Michael Urbano – drums (uncredited)[26] Greg Camp – guitar solo on "Strangled" (uncredited)[27] Artwork Michael Kahne – art direction, design, illustrations Stephen Lee – photography Melaine Nissen – photography

Production Eric Valentine – production, engineering, songwriting (1-4, 6–7, 9–10), mixing (4, 10) David Kahne – production, mixing, engineering, overdubs, orchestral arrangements, songwriting[28][1] (1-3, 5–7, 9, 11) Charlie Clouser – production, mixing (8) Rob Brill – engineering (uncredited)[28] Krish Sharma – mixing (1, 2, 7, 9) Doug Trantow – mixing (5) Brian Gardener – mastering (at Bernie Grundman Mastering) Management Eric Gotland – management (at EGM Management) Dusty Sorenson – management (at EGM Management) David Kahne – A&R

Use in media

"Breed" is used in the 2001 film Valentine during the end credits. The "Prince Quick Mix's Cracker Beat Pass Mix" of "How Soon Is Now" was included on the American Eagle Outfitters compilation Summer 9ine.^[29] “Lovesong” features in an episode of HBO's The Sopranos.

Charts

Chart performance for Sonic Jihad

Chart (2000)	Position
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[7]	36

Release history

Country	Date	Format	Label	Catalog #	Ref.
United States	July 11, 2000	CD cassette	Reprise Records	9 47383-2	[30]
Canada		CD		CDW 47383
Europe				9362- 47701-2
United Kingdom	November 13, 2000		Morpheus Records	Morph 008	[31]

Notes

1. Released in the UK on July 2, 2001^[3]
2. Reissued on March 13, 2001^[5]
3. Although the 3:56 version of "Lovesong" is included on the album, a full-length version (4:08) also exists.