''The Seduction of Claude Debussy'' is the fifth and final studio album by

Art of Noise Art of Noise (also The Art of Noise) were an English avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and mus ...

, released in June 1999 in the United Kingdom and the United States, and December 1999 in Japan. It features a line-up of

Trevor Horn Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...

Anne Dudley Anne Jennifer Dudley (née Beckingham; born 7 May 1956) is an English composer, keyboardist, conductor and pop musician. She was the first BBC Concert Orchestra's Composer in Association in 2001. She has worked in the classical and pop genr ...

Paul Morley Paul Robert Morley is an English music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983 and has since written for a wide range of publications as well as writing his own books. He was a co-founder of the record label ZTT Re ...

and

Lol Creme Laurence Neil "Lol" Creme (born 19 September 1947) is an English musician and music video director, best known for his work in 10cc. He sings and plays guitar, bass and keyboards. Biography Creme was born in Prestwich, Lancashire, England. L ...

, along with other appearances from

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880& ...

Sally Bradshaw Sally Bradshaw is a British high mezzo-soprano who made a career principally as a Baroque specialist in opera and concerts. As a solo artist she has made a number of recordings and performed worldwide. She has also collaborated with many artist ...

Rakim William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim Allah or simply Rakim (), is an American rapper and record producer. One half of golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

, and Donna Lewis. As it had been 10 years since their last album, this album carries a completely different sound to that which had defined their four previous albums. The group blended the music of French

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...

composer

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most infl ...

with

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub- ...

, opera, hip hop,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, and narration, to create a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Some ...

which they described as "the soundtrack to a film that wasn't made about the life of Claude Debussy." The album was announced in mid-1998 as being due for release by the end of that year, but did not release until mid-1999. The album was only released on CD and MiniDisc formats. The UK edition was released 28 June 1999, while the US edition was released 29 June 1999. The Japan edition was released 1 December 1999.

Track listings

US edition

The first US edition of the album, released 29 June 1999, included a bonus disc with remixes of "Metaforce".

Japanese edition

The Japanese edition, released 1 December 1999, was a CD-Extra with two bonus tracks. Some tracks were presented in slightly different mixes. The CD-ROM portion of the disc contained the "Metaforce" video in a

QuickTime QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. Created in 1991, the latest Mac version, QuickTime X, is a ...

format.

''The Production of Claude Debussy''

A promotional version mixed by Trevor Horn, released several months in advance in the US, Canada, and UK, contained the same tracks in a slightly different sequence and with some mixing differences, with "Born on a Sunday" and with "Dreaming in Colour" being one continuous track instead of split into two. This version, retitled ''The Production of Claude Debussy'' and described as a " producer's cut", was included on the 2015 compilation ''Art of Noise At the End of A Century''. It was given a stand-alone digital release in 2022.

Related compilations

''Reduction''

''Reduction'', released in 2000, was a limited edition album consisting mainly of

outtake An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and D ...

s from ''The Seduction of Claude Debussy''. It was available as a separate item in some regions, while in others it was released as a 2-disc set with the original album.

''An Extra Pulse of Beauty''

From 24 June through 30 September 1999, people who purchased the US edition of ''The Seduction of Claude Debussy'' from certain vendors received, by email, a code which could be used to order a custom CD-R containing 5 to 12 (initially, 5 to 10) previously unreleased tracks from the group's early years, with one of three titles, each with its own cover art: ''Bashful'', ''Belief System'', or ''An Extra Pulse of Beauty''. The compilation was released digitally under the latter title.

Personnel

;Featured artists *

– Keyboards, Orchestral Arrangement, Voice,

Piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

–

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, Voice, Keyboards *

– Keyboards, Voice *

–

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

, Keyboards, Voice ;Guest Personnel *

– Narrator *

– Vocals (tracks: 1 to 5, 8 to 13) *

Jamie Muhoberac Benjamin Edward "Jamie" Muhoberac is an American session keyboardist with numerous credits. He is best known for his work with Seal and Was (Not Was). Biography Muhoberac has worked with acts including The All-American Rejects, Fleetwood Mac, B ...

– Keyboards (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8) *

– Vocals (tracks: 6, 7, 10) * Donna Lewis – Vocals (tracks: 3, 5)

Chart positions

The album reached No.150 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

on 7 October 1999. The "Metaforce" single (ZTT 129 CD) reached No.53 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on 26 June 1999.

References

External links

* * with album credits {{DEFAULTSORT:Seduction of Claude Debussy, The Art of Noise albums 1999 albums Concept albums ZTT Records albums Universal Records albums Albums produced by Trevor Horn