Pretend I'm Human
Studio album by
Orange 9mm
ReleasedJuly 13, 1999
RecordedMarch–April 1999
StudioMad Dog Studios (Burbank, California)
LabelNg
ProducerNeil Perry
Orange 9mm chronology
Ultraman Vs. Godzilla
(1998)		 Pretend I'm Human
(1999)

Pretend I'm Human is the third and final album by the American band Orange 9mm, released on July 13, 1999.[1][2] It was a commercial disappointment.[3] Pretend I'm Human was rereleased in 2021.[4]

The band supported it by playing the 1999 Warped Tour; they also toured with Machine Head.[5][6]

Production

Recorded in California, Pretend I'm Human was produced by Neil Perry.[7][8] The band abandoned all of its demoed songs once they were in the studio, opting instead to start over.[9] Vocalist Chaka Malik played bass on the album.[10] The lyrics to many of the songs touch on themes of societal power dynamics and class.[11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal6/10[13]
In Music We TrustB–[14]
PopMatters8.5/10[15]
See Magazine[16]
Winnipeg Sun[17]

Exclaim! wrote that "Touching Skies" "may be the best, if not the only, rap-metal power ballad ever."[18] The Telegram & Gazette deemed the album the band's best yet, praising the "rap-inspired grooves, sharper dynamic shifts and overall better chops."[8] The Arizona Daily Star determined that Malik's "words are racy enough to turn a sailor incarnadine, yet his rap is fantastically caustic poetry."[11]

The New York Post noted that Orange 9mm "is still their hard-core selves on this 10-song collection, which taps hip-hop, industrial and good old-fashioned Stairway-to-Hell metal."[19] The Winnipeg Sun concluded that the "NYC trio manages to weld heavy riffs and hip-hop rhythms without getting them all over each other."[17] The San Diego Union-Tribune stated that "the lurching guitars in the Fugazi-like 'Lifeless', the explosive title track and even the slow build-up in 'Touching Skies', a rather preachy song about self-determination, have a raw, punk edge to them that you won't find in other so-called new metal bands."[20]

AllMusic wrote that "even if Malik has a better lyrical flow than most rap-metal singers, the results tend to sound stiff and forced when there are no funky backing rhythms for him to play off of."[12] In 2021, Decibel called Pretend I'm Human "extraordinarily eclectic," noting that the reissue "brings the guitars to the fore [to] make it a perfect ahead-of-its-time candidate for reevaluation."[21]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."When You Lie" 
2."Lifeless" 
3."Facelift" 
4."Touching Skies" 
5."Pretend I'm Human" 
6."Dragons (You Know I Love You)" 
7."Innocence" 
8."Alien" 
9."Tightrope" 
10."Day One" 

References

  1. ↑ "Perfect Sound Forever: Orange 9MM". Perfect Sound Forever.
  2. ↑ Sciarretto, Amy (June 21, 1999). "Must Hear". CMJ New Music Report. Vol. 59, no. 623. p. 3.
  3. ↑ Blush, Steven (October 4, 2016). New York Rock: From the Rise of The Velvet Underground to the Fall of CBGB. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN 9781250083623 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ "HEAR ORANGE 9MM'S NEW REMASTER OF RARE FINAL ALBUM 'PRETEND I'M HUMAN'". Revolver. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  5. ↑ Catlin, Roger (11 July 1999). "Also expected in record stores this week". Hartford Courant. p. G10.
  6. ↑ Skierka, Tom (15 Oct 1999). "Rockin' with energy Clones? Wannabes? Maybe, but these bands are more than noise". Weekend. The Spokesman-Review. p. 8.
  7. ↑ "Orange 9MM". Juice. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  8. 1 2 McLennan, Scott (12 Aug 1999). "The sun has yet to set on the Summer of Metal...". Telegram & Gazette. p. C5.
  9. ↑ "Matthew Cross: Orange 9MM's Stickman Is No Pretender". Modern Drummer. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  10. ↑ Sharpe-Young, Garry (May 21, 2005). New Wave of American Heavy Metal. Zonda Books Limited. ISBN 9780958268400 – via Google Books.
  11. 1 2 Purdy, Jim (October 1, 1999). "Orange 9mm target fat cats". Arizona Daily Star. p. 32E.
  12. 1 2 "Pretend I'm Human - Orange 9mm | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  13. ↑ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 328. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  14. ↑ Steininger, Alex (August 1999). "Orange 9MM: Pretend I'm Human". In Music We Trust. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  15. ↑ Benton, Michael. "Orange 9MM, Pretend I'm Human". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 2000-10-04. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  16. ↑ Lingley, Scott (August 19, 1999). "Spins". See Magazine. No. 299. p. 11 – via Internet Archive.
  17. 1 2 "DISCS". Winnipeg Sun. August 6, 1999. p. F17.
  18. ↑ "Orange 9mm Pretend I'm Human | Exclaim!". exclaim.ca.
  19. ↑ Aquilante, Dan (June 29, 1999). "PRETEND I'M HUMAN; Orange 9MM". News. New York Post.
  20. ↑ Niesel, Jeff (August 26, 1999). "ROCK: Orange 9MM". Entertainment. The San Diego Union-Tribune. p. 9.
  21. ↑ "Pranic Power: Chaka Malik on Orange 9MM reissues, Burn, Ghost Decibels, & the Prophecy and Peace Found In Extreme Art". Decibel. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
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