Wisconsin Death Trip (album)

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Wisconsin Death Trip
Studio album by
Static-X
ReleasedMarch 23, 1999 (1999-03-23)
Recorded1998
StudioGrandmaster Studios, Hollywood
Genre
Length43:55
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerUlrich Wild
Static-X chronology
Demo 1997
(1997) 		Wisconsin Death Trip
(1999) 		Machine
(2001)
Singles from Wisconsin Death Trip
  1. "Push It"
    Released: June 10, 1999
  2. "I'm with Stupid"
    Released: February 11, 2000
  3. "Bled for Days"
    Released: April 5, 2000

Wisconsin Death Trip is the debut studio album by American industrial metal band Static-X, released on March 23, 1999, by Warner Bros. Records. The band was formed after lead singer Wayne Static and drummer Ken Jay met at a Virgin Records store in Chicago. After being introduced by the Smashing Pumpkins lead singer Billy Corgan, the two decided to head out west to California to enlist a lead guitarist and bassist. Once in California, Koichi Fukuda became guitarist, and not long after, they discovered Californian Tony Campos to complete the lineup as their bassist. Warner Bros. Records discovered the band in California and signed them in February 1998.[2]

Wisconsin Death Trip peaked at number 107 on the US Billboard 200 and number one on the Top Heatseekers chart, and was certified platinum by the RIAA in 2001.[3] Three singles were released from the album: "Push It", "I'm with Stupid", and "Bled for Days".

Background[edit]

The album was produced by Ulrich Wild in a matter of eight weeks with a budget of $50,000; the band originally wanted Terry Date to produce, but couldn't afford him, so they opted for his assistant Wild.[4] The band wanted very "machine-like" sounding drums, but without the use of a drum machine: instead, they built their own triggering system from pieces of plywood and piezo microphones to record the kick, snare and toms into Opcode Vision. The cymbals were then played separately on top.[4] Samples were programmed in by Static in an Alesis HR-16, while synth lines were produced by Fukuda with a Roland MC-303.[4]

It features a song written by vocalist Wayne Static and drummer Ken Jay's former band Deep Blue Dream, titled "December". The crash-landing scene from the 1968 film Planet of the Apes was sampled in the intro of "Sweat of the Bud". The intro for "Stem" was sampled from the 1989 experimental horror film Begotten. A sample of dialogue from actress Linnea Quigley from the 1988 film Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama appears in the outro of "I'm with Stupid".

Title[edit]

The album's title was taken by the band from Michael Lesy's 1973 book of the same name during a stay at Static's sister Lisa's apartment during a tour when they spotted the book on her table.[5] Originally, the band - at the time called "Static", which management deemed too common to be service marked - wanted to use the title as the band name, but the label deemed it too long.[5]

The book, responsible for capturing the imaginations of the band and inspiring the album title, contains a collection of photographs cataloging deceased persons previously residing in the Black River Falls region in the late 19th century. When interviewed about the source of the title, Wayne Static explained, "[It's] actually a book title that we stole. It's been out of print for about 20 years. It's a historical book about life in this small town in Wisconsin from 1890 to 1900. And it's about everything that happened, but it focuses on people dying and how they died. And there are pictures of dead people as well as stuff about natural disasters and fires and stuff like that."[6]

Reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Christgau's Consumer Guide(1-star Honorable Mention)[8]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal6/10[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]

CMJ included the album in its "Loud Rock '99 Top 5" list, saying, "Static-X's industrial/metal hybrid uses a guitar sound that keeps its songs refreshingly large, loud and groovable."[11] In 2018, Revolver include the album on their list of "20 Essential Nu-Metal Albums".[12] At AllMusic, Tim Sheridan called it "Fast, cheap, and out of control. This is gutbucket thrash for the most jaded of teenaged parking lot dwellers."[7] Robert Christgau claimed it was "Horrorshow abuse in living stereo--they mean it, man."[8] In 2021, it was named one of the 20 best metal albums of 1999 by Metal Hammer magazine.[13]

Singles[edit]

"Push It" was the first single released from the album. The song features an array of sounds from industrial metal to the band's "evil disco" style. Mick Olszewski directed the music video for the song, using clay figures along with shots of the band.

"I'm with Stupid" was released as the second single from the album. The song kicks off with Wayne Static bellowing out the chorus and then transitions to the lead guitar riff. David Meyers directed the song's music video, featuring creatures from the previous video. The video also includes Wayne Static playing a woman, and monkeys hidden throughout. This song, along with "Push It", is credited with Wisconsin Death Trip's success.

"Bled for Days" was released as the final single from the album, although technically it was the first song released off the album on the Bride of Chucky soundtrack. It was the auditioning song for Nick Oshiro's enlistment into the band. The music video is composed of recordings from live shows, and the audio was spliced with the original album version.

In popular culture[edit]

"Push It" was used in the intro for the 2000 video game Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes, was included in the soundtrack for the 1999 film Idle Hands and was featured in the 2004 film Torque. A remix of the song "Love Dump" appeared on the soundtrack to the 2001 film Valentine, as well as the 2009 video game Brütal Legend.[14] In 2008, "Push It" was made available as downloadable content in the music game Rock Band. "Otsegolation" was featured in the soundtrack for the American release of Omega Boost in 1999, and "Bled for Days" was included in the soundtrack for the films Bride of Chucky and Universal Soldier: The Return.

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are written by Static-X

No.TitleLength
1."Push It"2:34
2."I'm with Stupid"3:24
3."Bled for Days"3:45
4."Love Dump"4:19
5."I Am"2:47
6."Otsegolation"3:32
7."Stem"2:54
8."Sweat of the Bud"3:30
9."Fix"2:49
10."Wisconsin Death Trip"3:09
11."The Trance Is the Motion"4:50
12."December"6:17
Total length:43:55
Japanese edition
No.TitleLength
13."Down"3:15

Personnel[edit]

Credits taken from the CD liner notes.

Static-X[edit]

Technical[edit]

  • Ulrich Wild – production, engineering, mixing at Master Control, Burbank, CA
  • Michael "Elvis" Baskette – recording assistant
  • Jeff Robinson – mixing assistant
  • Tom Baker – mastering at Future Disc

Charts[edit]

Chart (1999–2000) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[15] 107
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[16] 1

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[17] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The 50 best nu metal albums of all time". April 2022.
  2. ^ Loehr, Josh. "Static-X." AllMusic. Rovi Corporation, October 17, 2010. Web. October 25, 2011. <http://www.allmusic.com/artist/static-x-p365757/biography>.
  3. ^ "RIAA Database Search Results". Recording Industry Association of America.
  4. ^ a b c Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Static-X "Push It": Inside the Song w/ Ulrich Wild - Warren Huart: Produce Like A Pro". YouTube.
  5. ^ a b Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: That Just Happened (November 21, 2019). "Static-X - Live Interview". YouTube.
  6. ^ St. James, Adam. "Static X - Success on a Death Trip." Guitar.com. D'Addario, February 1, 2001. Web. November 3, 2011. <http://guitar.com/articles/static-x-success-death-trip>.
  7. ^ a b "Wisconsin Death Trip - Static-X". AllMusic.
  8. ^ a b "CG: Static-X". Robert Christgau.
  9. ^ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 422. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  10. ^ Harris, Keith (2004). "Static-X". In Brackett, Nathan (ed.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. p. 776–777. ISBN 9780743201698.
  11. ^ "Static-X - Wisconsin Death Trip CD Album". CD Universe.
  12. ^ "20 Essential Nu-Metal Albums". Revolver. July 26, 2018.
  13. ^ "The Top 20 best metal albums of 1999". Metal Hammer. Future plc. January 21, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  14. ^ "Brutal Legend Video Game | Double Fine | EA". Archived from the original on October 24, 2011. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  15. ^ "Static-X Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  16. ^ "Static-X Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  17. ^ "American album certifications – Static-X – Wisconsin Death Trip". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
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