''Almost Human'' is the second studio album by

Cuban American Cuban Americans ( or ) are Americans who immigrated from or are descended from immigrants from Cuba. As of 2023, Cuban Americans were the fourth largest Hispanic and Latino American group in the United States after Mexican Americans, Stateside ...

dark cabaret Dark cabaret is a music genre that draws on the aesthetics of burlesque, vaudeville and Weimar-era cabaret, generally played by groups with origins in rock music. The genre traces its roots to 1930s Weimar Republic experimental cabaret of Bert ...

singer

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

, released on August 1, 2000, through

Projekt Records Projekt Records is an independent record label established by Sam Rosenthal in 1983, the label focuses on darkwave, ambient, shoegaze, gothic rock, ethereal, dream-pop, and dark cabaret releases. History Projekt was founded in 1983 by Sam ...

. According to Voltaire on his official website, the album is intended to convey a "look at life from the perspective of

Lucifer The most common meaning for Lucifer in English is as a name for the Devil in Christian theology. He appeared in the King James Version of the Bible in Isaiah and before that in the Vulgate (the late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bib ...

"; thus being, most of the album's tracks deal with

existentialism Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and valu ...

, the

human condition The human condition can be defined as the characteristics and key events of human life, including birth, learning, emotion, aspiration, reason, morality, conflict, and death. This is a very broad topic that has been and continues to be pondered ...

and the

existence of God The existence of God is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and theology. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God (with the same or similar arguments also generally being used when talking about the exis ...

, in Voltaire's usual tongue-in-cheek humorous way. Also present in the album are covers of the traditional songs "El Barquito de Nuez" and " Ringo no Uta" – the first one was composed by famous Mexican songwriter

Francisco Gabilondo Soler Francisco Gabilondo Soler (October 6, 1907, Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico – December 14, 1990, Texcoco, State of Mexico) was a Mexican composer and performer of children's songs. He recorded and performed those songs under the name of '' Cri-Cri: E ...

, while the second one was composed by Hachiro Sato and Manjome Tadashi for the 1945 film ''Soyokaze''. They are fully sung in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, respectively. The song "Almost Human" is a song from the perspective of Lucifer, and "Feathery Wings" from the perspective of the Angel of Death. "Anastasia" references the fate of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n princess Anastasia Nikolayevna. Voltaire originally wrote the track "The Night" in 1988; a more

deathrock Deathrock (or death rock) is a rock music subgenre that merges punk rock and post-punk with Gothic fiction, gothic and glam rock visuals and elements of horror film scores. Often overlapping with, and sometimes considered a subgenre of, gothic ...

-inflected version of it would appear on his 2014 album ''

Raised by Bats ''Raised by Bats'' is the tenth studio album by Cuban Americans, Cuban American dark cabaret singer Aurelio Voltaire, Voltaire, released in 2014. The album's production was Crowdfunding, crowdfunded by Voltaire's fans all over the world via a succ ...

''. The track "Alchemy Mondays" is a tribute to the eponymous

goth Goth or Goths may refer to: * Goths, a Germanic people Arts and entertainment * Gothic rock or goth, a style of rock music * Goth subculture, developed by fans of gothic rock * ''Goth'' (2003 film), an American horror film * ''Goth'' (2008 f ...

event which used to take place at the famous, now-defunct music club

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Cou ...

, in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Musician Myke Hideous of Misfits and The Bronx Casket Co. fame is also mentioned on the song's lyrics.

Track listing

Personnel

— vocals/acoustic guitar * Gregor Kitzis — violin * Matthew Goeke — cello * George Grant — bass * Stephen Moses/Grisha Alexiev — drums

In popular culture

The song "The Night" from the album is prominently featured in the 2016 self-titled first episode of the animated web series ''The Vampair'' by Daria Cohen, in which it is presented as being sung by the vampire Duke to the then-human Melissa "Missi" Dumarias on her entry to his castle, which she proceeds to wrest from his control, becoming a vampire herself on taking Duke's sceptre.

References

External links

Voltaire's official website

''Almost Human'' on Projekt Records' official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Almost Human (Voltaire Album) Voltaire (musician) albums Projekt Records albums 2000 albums