''Visual Audio Sensory Theater'' is the debut album by the band

VAST VAST is an American alternative rock band based in Seattle, United States. The acronym VAST stands for Visual Audio Sensory Theater and is the main creation of singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jon Crosby. The band is signed to 2blo ...

, released on April 28, 1998 by

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

. The album mixed samples of Benedictine monks of the Abbey of Saint-Maur and

Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares ''Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares'' (translated as "The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices") is a compilation album of modern arrangements of Bulgarian folk songs featuring, among others, the Bulgarian State Radio & Television Female Vocal Choir, with s ...

, with an 18-piece orchestra, guitars, and electronics. Jon Crosby originally signed onto Elektra Records when he was only 17, and recorded his demo EP, ''VAST Is...'' which featured certain songs to be featured on their debut in an unfinished form. He also traveled across the world and recorded demos of world choirs that he used in various songs on the album, which gave the album its trademark world-music theme. The first single released from the album was "Pretty When You Cry". Led by a supporting music video, it gained modest success on the music charts. However, the band's and the album's popularity didn't skyrocket until the second single, "Touched", was featured in a film soundtrack and the music video was put in play on MTV. No other singles were released for the disc, and "Touched" is still VAST's most famous song, it being featured in the ''

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

'' soundtrack, '' Angel: Live Fast, Die Never'', the companion CD to the ''

Everworld ''Everworld'' is a fantasy novel series co-authored by Katherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant, writing together under the name K. A. Applegate, and published by Scholastic between 1999 and 2001. It consists of twelve books and a comp ...

'' book series, and as a song featured in

WrestleMania XXV WrestleMania 25, also promoted as The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania, was a 2009 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming supercards, event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the ...

. The track also appears in the movie '' The Beach'' but is not featured in the soundtrack. Other album tracks featured in various media include "Pretty When You Cry" played during the end credits of the German film '' We are the night'' and is included in its soundtrack CD; "Flames", which was used in the German film '' Summer Storm''; and "Here", which has been used in two episodes of ''Angel''. The songs "Here", "Dirty Hole", "I'm Dying", and "Temptation" were also used in the unaired pitch video for ''Angel''. "Touched" contains elements of the song "Pilentze Pee", sung by the

Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir The Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir is an internationally renowned, Grammy-winning musical ensemble that performs modern arrangements of traditional Bulgarian folk melodies. It is most recognized for its contribution to Marcel ...

. "Touched" was featured in the surfing film ''

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''.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

said that "the rich textures created here are quite impressive," and gave the album 3 stars out of 5.

Reception

Track listing

Charts

References