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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
Hai! (Live in Japan) (1982) The Crackdown (1983) Johnny Yesno: The Original Soundtrack From the Motion Picture (1983)

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
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Record Mirror
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Smash Hits	8/10
Sounds
Spin Alternative Record Guide	8/10

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."

It was ranked at number 11 in NME's "Albums of the Year" list for 1983. 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."

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)’."

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

Track listing

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

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

Additional Personnel

• David Ball - keyboards and drum programming

Production

• Executive Producer: Stevo Pearce (for Some Bizzare)
• Arranged by Cabaret Voltaire
• Produced by Flood and Cabaret Voltaire
• Engineered and mixed by Flood
• Tape Operation on "Animation" and "Crackdown" by David Ball
• Single remix by John Luongo
• Mastered by George Peckham
• Sleeve Typography by Ken Prust and Neville Brody
• Sleeve Illustration by Phil Barnes

References

1. Evans, Richard (6 August 2024). "1983.4". Listening to the Music the Machines Make: Inventing Electronic Pop 1978-1983. Omnibus Press. p. 459. ISBN 978-1-915841-45-2.
2. ^ Bradley, Larry (4 November 2014). "The 1980s: Cabaret Voltaire - "Just Fascination". The Alternative Jukebox. Cassell. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-84403-789-6.
3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Crackdown – Cabaret Voltaire | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
4. Larkin, Colin (27 May 2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
5. Page, Betty (6 August 1983). "Hi Volt-age". Record Mirror. p. 18.
6. Considine, J. D. (2004). "Cabaret Voltaire". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 128–29. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
7. ^ Martin, Peter (18–23 August 1983). "Albums". Smash Hits. p. 23.
8. Henderson, Dave (6 August 1983). "When the whip comes down". Sounds. p. 33.
9. Sinker, Mark (1995). "Cabaret Voltaire". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 67–68. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
10. "Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME. 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
11. Payes, Robert (December 1983). "Cabaret Voltaire: The Crackdown" (PDF). Trouser Press. 10 (10). New York, NY: Ira A. Robbins: 78. ISSN 0164-1883.
12. Freeman, Albert (22 November 2013). "Cabaret Voltaire #8385 (Collected Works 1983-1985)". The Quietus.

External links

• The Crackdown at Discogs (list of releases)

• 1983 albums
• Cabaret Voltaire (band) albums
• Albums produced by Flood (producer)
• Electro-industrial albums
• Electronic body music albums
• Some Bizzare Records albums
• Albums recorded at Trident Studios