All My CDs, pt 50: Obsolete

Obsolete - Fear Factory

This was another CD I got on impulse, sight unseen (sound unheard?), after finding it on the bargain rack at a record store. This was early on in my music-collecting career, when I was perhaps in my preteens. It's a heavy metal album, and a good one, and has always been one of the most stereotypically "metal" albums in my collection, with all the shouting and distortion that implies.

It's also yet another concept album (hooray for concept albums!). If you follow along in the liner notes while it plays, the songs are interwoven with images and written prose to tell a complete story about a dystopian society and one man's struggle against its corrupt authorities. Very anti-establishment. The story itself isn't exactly literary genius and the ending is downright insipid (spoiler: the hero finds Jesus. I'm not kidding). However, the way it is expressed in the songs comes across as meaningful and surprisingly relevent, even seventeen years after its release. The dystopian society it describes could have easily been a commentary on the current political controversies of government monitoring of private information, drone warfare, and militarized police forces.

On close examination, it's not quite made clear what makes society dystopian in the first place. Songs like "Securitron" imply a world where power is enforced by technology. Machines are used by authorities to monitor, track down, and even destroy those who do not comply. References throughout the album allude to a conflict between machines and humanity. Or rather,  between The Machine and Humanity. The distinction is, I think, significant. Society becomes dystopian when it operates as a machine, fundamentally dehumanizing its members. That is the meaning of the key phrase of the entire album: “Man is obsolete.”

Aside from the grim philosophical implications, it’s also a fun album to just listen to without thinking too hard. In particular, I like to sing along, even though the growly deep vocals are well below my range. The melodies are simple enough and the riffs fast enough to make it good rockin’ out fare.

Next: One Cell in the Sea