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Perpetual Motion Machine (album)
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Perpetual Motion Machine (album)
Perpetual Motion Machine
Studio album by
Released1993, Canada
1994, United States
StudioLe Studio
GenreAlternative rock
LabelEMI Music Canada
Atlantic
ProducerJohn Critchley, Glen Robinson
13 Engines chronology
A Blur to Me Now
(1991)
Perpetual Motion Machine
(1993)
Conquistador
(1995)

Perpetual Motion Machine is an album by the Canadian band 13 Engines, released in 1993.[1][2] It was the band's fourth album, and the second one released by a major label.[3] The album's first single was "More".[4]

Production

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The album was produced by frontman John Critchley, with help from Glen Robinson.[5] It was recorded at Le Studio, in Morin-Heights, Quebec.[6] Compared to sessions for their previous albums, the band spent a longer period of time in the studio, exploring overdubbing and trying different mixes.[5] The cellist Anne Bourne contributed to the album.[7] "Saviour" is about the Second Coming.[8]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Calgary HeraldB[10]
The State[11]

Trouser Press wrote that "the unpretentiously arty album lacked only a marketing gimmick (or a transcendent single, although 'Smoke & Ashes' comes mighty close) to get 13 Engines onto the alt-hit parade."[12] Billboard also praised "Smoke & Ashes", calling it "the perfect two-minute rock song."[13] The Philadelphia Inquirer called the album "much-improved," writing that 13 Engines displayed a "willingness to adapt elements of grunge to their songwriting."[14] The State considered the album "a 14-track trip through the subtlety and simplicity that was once rock 'n' roll."[11]

The Washington Post deemed the album "unadorned folk-rock that suggests, without slavishly imitating, Neil Young and Crazy Horse."[15] The Calgary Herald thought that "ambiguous lyrics are delivered in a Morrison monotone style and then sung in wavering half-whispers, buoyed by guitars that slide from grungy psychedelia to hard-rock backbeats."[10] The Edmonton Journal chose Perpetual Motion Machine as the fourth best Canadian album of 1993, describing it as "energetic, original guitar rock with sneaky hooks and sometimes confusing lyrics."[16]

AllMusic called Perpetual Motion Machine "a record that, while perhaps a bit cleaner sonically than their debut, finds the band still creating a glorious racket."[9]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleLength
1."Bred in the Bone" 
2."Saviour" 
3."More" 
4."Unconscience" 
5."The Golden Age" 
6."Smoke & Ashes" 
7."What If We Don't Get What We Want?" 
8."Unbound" 
9."Perpetual Motion Machine" 
10."Moment of Clarity" 
11."Dirty Little Rat" 
12."The Estrangement" 
13."Going Under" 
14."Lift You Up" 

References

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