System 7
Studio album by
System 7
ReleasedSeptember 1991
Recorded1991
Genre
Length66:27
LabelTen Records (Virgin)
DIXCD 102 CD
DIXG102 2 x 12"
ProducerSystem 7
System 7 chronology
System 7
(1991)		 777
(1993)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Select[1]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music[6]

System 7 is the first studio album by the dance/ambient band System 7.

A somewhat different version was released in the United States as 777 by 777. The running order is different, there are different mixes of two tracks (taken from the "Miracle" single), and it has two tracks from the "Freedom Fighters" single – "Depth Disco" and "Mia". Just to confuse matters, 777 was also the title of System 7's second UK album, with completely different music.

With several vocal tracks, this album has rather a different feel from later System 7 albums. Aniff Cousins appears on "Freedom Fighters" (with Zoë providing chorus vocals) and "Dog", and Olu Rowe on "Habibi", "Bon Humeur" and "Strange Quotations".

Style

Candy Absorption of The Rough Guide to Rock wrote that the album was "accessible, if in retrospect untypical", adding that group leaders Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy "were yet to settle into their after-hours, dreamy, chill-out style, and the record features vocals by Olu Rowe reminiscent of Seal."[7] John Bush of AllMusic writes that the album is a "potent crossover record" that explores "the polished end of ambient house". He wrote that Hillage's guitar solos and the structures of several tracks evoke Hillage's mid-1970s work, considering the album to be "space-rock explorations".[2] Davydd Chong of Music Week describes it as an album of "atmospheric sound collages" which are laced with harder-edged material.[3]

The single "Habibi" was described by Chong as "world music dragged through a sweaty sound system at three in the morning".[3] Hillage explained: "'Habibi' means 'my love' in Arabic. I've had a long-term interest in Arabic music, right back to the mid-seventies. It's quite elevating."[3] "Mia (The Fisherman Mix)", found on the American version of the album, is a washing ambient track which features on the 1993 Excursions in Ambience compilation.[2]

Track listing

System 7

#TrackLengthWritten byProduced byMixed by
1"Sunburst"07:25Alex Paterson, Steve Hillage & Miquette GiraudyYouth & HillageYouth and Thrash
2"Freedom Fighters"05:21Hillage, Aniff Cousins & ZoëHillageHillage, Thrash and Greg Hunter
3"Habibi"06:09Steve Waddington, Hillage, Olu Rowe & GiraudyHillage & WaddingtonThrash
4"Altitude"05:58Derrick May & HillageMay & HillageMay
5"Bon Humeur"07:27Hillage, Rowe & GiraudyHillageThrash
6"Fractal Liaison"02:09May & HillageMay & Hillagemixed live to DAT
7"Dog"05:52Paterson, Hillage, Cousins & GiraudyHillageThrash
8"Thunderdog"02:26Paterson, Hillage & GiraudyHillage & PatersonThe Orb
9"Listen"06:23May & HillageMay & HillageThrash
10"Strange Quotations"06:36Hillage, Michael MacNeil & RoweHillage—
11"Miracle"07:08Paterson, Paul Oakenfold, Hillage, Giraudy & Andy FalconerHillageThrash
12"Over and Out"03:27Hillage & GiraudyHillage & Giraudy—

777

777
Studio album by
777
ReleasedJuly/August 1992
Length78:33
LabelCaroline
CAROL 1727-2
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
#TrackLengthWritten byProduced byMixed by
1"Sunburst (Seahorse Mix)"07:14Paterson, Hillage & GiraudyYouth & HillageYouth and Thrash
2"Miracle (Orb Remix)"06:31Paterson, Oakenfold, Hillage, Giraudy & FalconerHillageThe Orb (Paterson and Thrash)
3"Depth Disco"07:35Hillage, Giraudy & Lewis KeoghHillageHillage and Tyrell
4"Altitude"05:58May & HillageMay & HillageMay
5"Habibi"06:19Waddington, Hillage, Rowe & GiraudyHillage & WaddingtonThrash
6"Strange Quotations"06:16Hillage, MacNeil & RoweHillageHillage and Thrash
7"Bon Humeur"07:00Hillage, Rowe & GiraudyHillageThrash
8"Freedom Fighters"05:18Hillage, Cousins & ZoëHillageHillage, Thrash and Hunter
9"Dog"05:52Paterson, Hillage, Cousins & GiraudyHillageThrash
10"Thunderdog"02:26Paterson, Hillage & GiraudyHillage & PatersonThe Orb
11"Listen"06:25May & HillageMay & HillageThrash
12"Fractal Liaison"02:10mixed live to DAT
13"Over and Out"03:25Hillage & GiraudyHillage & Giraudy—
14"Mia (The Fisherman Mix)"06:09Hillage, Nigel Butler & GiraudyHillage & Butlermix consultant Paterson

References

  1. 1 2 3 Morrison, Dave (November 1991). "Reviews: New Albums". Select: 76–77. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Bush, John. "777 Review by John Bush". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 26 May 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Chong, Davydd (28 September 1991). "DJ Directory" (PDF). Music Week: 18. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  4. ↑ Bush, John. "777 [UK] Review by John Bush". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  5. ↑ "System 7 – System 7". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  6. ↑ Larkin, Colin (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music. London: Virgin Books. p. 331. ISBN 0753502526. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2002.
  7. ↑ Absorption, Candy (2003). "System 7". In Buckley, Peter (ed.). The Rough Guide to Rock. London: Rough Guides. p. 495. ISBN 1843531054. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  8. ↑ Bush, Josh. "777 – System 7". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  • System 7 on the official System 7 website


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