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Heavy Load | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1993 | |||
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New Kingdom chronology | ||||
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Heavy Load is the first album by the musical duo New Kingdom, released in 1993.[2][3]
The singles "Good Times" and "Cheap Thrills" made the top 100 on the UK Singles Chart.[4] The group supported the album with several live dates, including shows with Royal Trux.[5]
The album was produced by Scott Harding, New Kingdom, and the Lumberjacks.[6][7] It was recorded in Manhattan.[8] "Mother Nature" examines ecological themes.[9]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [10] |
Calgary Herald | B[11] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [12] |
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [13] |
Vibe called the album "a celebration of the black-light world of the subconscious," noting the "drug-induced lyrics swimming through a jazzmospheric haze."[14] Spin thought that the group "could be Cypress Hill's geeky, inward-peeking younger brothers."[15] The Santa Fe New Mexican noted that Heavy Load features some "newer elements which have entered into hip-hop, namely black noise, a term used by some critics to describe experimental jazz sounds and various industrial, electronic soundscapes pulsing over the requisite skewed bass lines and funky beats."[16]
The Calgary Herald deemed the album "a happenin' hip-hop funky fury."[11] The Province considered it "a record that favors low, thick, swinging rhythms over big beats, storytelling over boasting, characterization over gangsta posturing."[17] The Boston Herald wrote that the group "turn a pop-music grab bag, with samples of Miles Davis, Grand Funk and others, into ... metallic R&B."[18]
AllMusic wrote that "songs like 'Mad Mad World' and 'Mighty Maverick' work especially well, with Sebastian's trippy spoken-word poetry matching the psychedelic musical backgrounds to create the drugged-out feel the band seems to strive for."[10] In a retrospective article, The Village Voice praised the "dusty sonic patina that was fond of incorporating reverse reverb," writing that "at times, New Kingdom resonated like a psychedelic Wu-Tang."[19]
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Good Times" | 2:38 |
2. | "Headhunter" | 2:25 |
3. | "Frontman" | 3:08 |
4. | "Mad Mad World" | 1:43 |
5. | "Mama and Papa" | 3:34 |
6. | "Cheap Thrills" | 4:21 |
7. | "Mars" | 3:20 |
8. | "Are You Alive?" | 3:51 |
9. | "Half Seas Over" | 3:45 |
10. | "Mother Nature" | 3:39 |
11. | "Calico Cats" | 2:50 |
12. | "Mighty Maverick" | 5:04 |
13. | "Lazy Smoke" | 3:30 |