The Crackdown

The Crackdown
The Crackdown
Studio album by Cabaret Voltaire
Released	18 August 1983
Recorded	December 1982
Studio	Trident Studios, London, England
Genre	Electro-punk; post-punk; industrial;
Length	43:33
Label	Some Bizzare; Virgin;
Producer	Cabaret Voltaire; Flood;
Cabaret Voltaire chronology

The Crackdown is the fifth studio album by English electronic band Cabaret Voltaire, released in August 1983 jointly through record labels Some Bizzare and Virgin. It was produced by the band themselves and Flood. Mixing their earlier experimental sound with more conventional dance rhythms, the album received positive reviews and was listed on NME's "Albums of the Year" in 1983.

Background and recording

The Crackdown was Cabaret Voltaire's first full studio album following founding member Chris Watson's departure, and their first release for Virgin Records via Some Bizzare. This album marks a turning point in the band's discography, straddling their early experimental work with their later more conventional electronic dance-funk output. It was recorded and mixed at Trident Studios, London, England in late 1982.

AllMusic wrote that the album "features the band working a number of menacing electronic textures into a basic dance/funk rhythm".

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[4]
Record Mirror	^[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	^[6]
Smash Hits	8/10^[7]
Sounds	^[8]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	8/10^[9]

Upon its release, the album was given a 8 out of 10 rating by Smash Hits reviewer Peter Martin who wrote that The Crackdown put the band's earlier experimental sound into practice: "Dense, hard-edged sequencer pulsebeats now swamp a strange strangled voice. The sound is panic-stricken and the effect is hypnotic."^[7]

It was ranked at number 11 in NME's "Albums of the Year" list for 1983.^[10] Trouser Press, meanwhile, was less enthusiastic, accusing the album of being "rather staid-sounding" while clarifying that their indifference "shouldn't be taken as a blanket panning."^[11]

Retrospectively, The Quietus reviewer Albert Freeman wrote: "The production is noticeably cleaner than their underfinanced independent recordings, but it’s hardly less dark, and the added clarity serves to show off the diverse, layered productions, which draw equally from dub, funk, and early electro. Mallinder’s vocals are easier to cipher than they had been before, but the pop tones they would later take on are evident on a few tracks from the album: the title track, ‘Taking Time’, ‘Animation’ and the cynically comical ‘Why Kill Time (When You Can Kill Yourself)’."^[12]

AllMusic described The Crackdown as "one of Cabaret Voltaire's strongest albums" and "one of their most distinctive, challenging records."^[3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Richard H. Kirk and Stephen Mallinder

Side A
No.	Title	Length
1.	"24-24"	5:55
2.	"In the Shadows"	4:36
3.	"Talking Time"	5:25
4.	"Animation"	5:33

Side B
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Over and Over"	4:30
2.	"Just Fascination"	4:04
3.	"Why Kill Time (When You Can Kill Yourself)"	3:56
4.	"Haiti"	3:20
5.	"Crackdown"	6:31

Bonus 12": *Doublevision* EP
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Diskono"	5:49
2.	"Double Vision"	4:15
3.	"Moscow"	5:28
4.	"Badge of Evil"	4:53

Note: Some discographies and CD releases of the album swap the titles of the last two tracks of the Doublevision EP.

Release

The original LP came with a bonus 12" of four tracks, comprising the EP Doublevision.

Personnel

Cabaret Voltaire

Stephen Mallinder – vocals, bass guitar, trumpet, grand piano
Richard H. Kirk – synthesiser, guitar, clarinet, saxophone, & shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute), grand piano
Alan Fish – drums, percussion