Pretend I'm Human
Studio album by
Orange 9mm
Released1999
LabelNg Records[1]
ProducerNeil Perry
Orange 9mm chronology
Ultraman Vs. Godzilla
(1998)		 Pretend I'm Human
(1999)

Pretend I'm Human is an album by the American band Orange 9mm, released in 1999.[2][3] It was a commercial disappointment.[4] Pretend I'm Human was rereleased in 2021.[5]

The band supported it by playing the 1999 Warped Tour; they also toured with Machine Head.[6][7]

Production

Recorded in California, Pretend I'm Human was produced by Neil Perry.[8][9] The band abandoned all of its demoed songs once they were in the studio, opting instead to start over.[10] Vocalist Chaka Malik played bass on the album.[11] The lyrics to many of the songs touch on themes of societal power dynamics and class.[12]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[13]
Winnipeg Sun[14]

Exclaim! wrote that "Touching Skies" "may be the best, if not the only, rap-metal power ballad ever."[15] The Telegram & Gazette deemed the album the band's best yet, praising the "rap-inspired grooves, sharper dynamic shifts and overall better chops."[9] The Arizona Daily Star determined that Malik's "words are racy enough to turn a sailor incarnadine, yet his rap is fantastically caustic poetry."[12]

The New York Post noted that Orange 9mm "is still their hard-core selves on this 10-song collection, which taps hip-hop, industrial and good old-fashioned Stairway-to-Hell metal."[16] The Winnipeg Sun concluded that the "NYC trio manages to weld heavy riffs and hip-hop rhythms without getting them all over each other."[14] The San Diego Union-Tribune stated that "the lurching guitars in the Fugazi-like 'Lifeless', the explosive title track and even the slow build-up in 'Touching Skies', a rather preachy song about self-determination, have a raw, punk edge to them that you won't find in other so-called new metal bands."[17]

AllMusic wrote that "even if Malik has a better lyrical flow than most rap-metal singers, the results tend to sound stiff and forced when there are no funky backing rhythms for him to play off of."[13] In 2021, Decibel called Pretend I'm Human "extraordinarily eclectic," noting that the reissue "brings the guitars to the fore [to] make it a perfect ahead-of-its-time candidate for reevaluation."[18]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."When You Lie" 
2."Lifeless" 
3."Facelift" 
4."Touching Skies" 
5."Pretend I'm Human" 
6."Dragons (You Know I Love You)" 
7."Innocence" 
8."Alien" 
9."Tightrope" 
10."Day One" 

References

  1. ↑ Sciarretto, Amy (Jun 21, 1999). "Must Hear". CMJ New Music Report. 59 (623): 3.
  2. ↑ "Orange 9mm Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  3. ↑ "Perfect Sound Forever: Orange 9MM". Perfect Sound Forever.
  4. ↑ Blush, Steven (October 4, 2016). "New York Rock: From the Rise of The Velvet Underground to the Fall of CBGB". St. Martin's Publishing Group – via Google Books.
  5. ↑ "HEAR ORANGE 9MM'S NEW REMASTER OF RARE FINAL ALBUM 'PRETEND I'M HUMAN'". Revolver. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  6. ↑ Catlin, Roger (11 July 1999). "Also expected in record stores this week". Hartford Courant. p. G10.
  7. ↑ Skierka, Tom (15 Oct 1999). "Rockin' with energy Clones? Wannabes? Maybe, but these bands are more than noise". Weekend. The Spokesman-Review. p. 8.
  8. ↑ "Orange 9MM". Juice. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  9. 1 2 McLennan, Scott (12 Aug 1999). "The sun has yet to set on the Summer of Metal...". Telegram & Gazette. p. C5.
  10. ↑ "Matthew Cross: Orange 9MM's Stickman Is No Pretender". Modern Drummer. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  11. ↑ Sharpe-Young, Garry (May 21, 2005). "New Wave of American Heavy Metal". Zonda Books Limited – via Google Books.
  12. 1 2 Purdy, Jim (October 1, 1999). "Orange 9mm target fat cats". Arizona Daily Star. p. 32E.
  13. 1 2 "Pretend I'm Human - Orange 9mm | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  14. 1 2 "DISCS". Winnipeg Sun. August 6, 1999. p. F17.
  15. ↑ "Orange 9mm Pretend I'm Human | Exclaim!". exclaim.ca.
  16. ↑ Aquilante, Dan (June 29, 1999). "PRETEND I'M HUMAN; Orange 9MM". News. New York Post.
  17. ↑ Niesel, Jeff (August 26, 1999). "ROCK: Orange 9MM". Entertainment. The San Diego Union-Tribune. p. 9.
  18. ↑ "Pranic Power: Chaka Malik on Orange 9MM reissues, Burn, Ghost Decibels, & the Prophecy and Peace Found In Extreme Art". Decibel. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
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