The War of Art (album)

The War of Art
Studio album by American Head Charge
Released	August 28, 2001[1]
Recorded	2001, The Mansion in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California
Genre	Industrial metal, alternative metal, nu metal[2]
Length	67:47
Label	American Recordings
Producer	Rick Rubin
American Head Charge chronology
Trepanation (1999) The War of Art (2001) The Feeding (2005)
Singles from The Art of War
"Just So You Know" Released: May 27, 2002

The War of Art is the second album by the industrial metal band American Head Charge, released in 2001.

Album information

The album was recorded at Rick Rubin's allegedly haunted recording studio. The title is a play on words of the Chinese book The Art of War by Sun Tzu.^[3] This is the band's only album with Aaron Zilch and Justin Fouler together on keyboards, and David Rogers and Wayne Kile on guitar. After the departure of Zilch, Fouler remained the band's sole keyboardist.

The album landed American Head Charge a spot at Ozzfest 2001. Their concerts featured some controversy due to the band firing shotguns and burning American flags on stage.^[4] A live version of the song "Reach and Touch" appears on the album Ozzfest 2001: The Second Millennium. A live version of "Seamless" appears on the album Pledge of Allegiance Tour: Live Concert Recording. Music videos were released for "Just So You Know" and "All Wrapped Up".

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
Anti Music	[6]
Kerrang!
Metal Storm	[7]
Metal Observer	8/10
Rough Edge	4/5[8]
Sputnikmusic	[9]
Ultimate Guitar	[10]

The War of Art sold over 250,000 copies and received positive reviews.^[11] Allmusic called the album "brutal, loud, and insanely intense" and that "the band is one of the most intelligent, interesting, and compelling metal bands to surface." CMJ said, "aiming its cannons, grenades and shotguns at point-blank range... its spliced with programming and aggro geetars."^[12] NME called it an "outstanding slab of modern heavy metal."^[13]

Katherine Turman said that "sirens, industrial noise, and ultra-intense vocals kick off The War of Art's aptly titled opening cut A Violent Reaction", and that the band have "deftly produced, well-conceived, and fully realized songs and approach."^[14] Metal Observer called it "an album that forms a unity for itself and wins in power and intensity with each repeated listen." AntiMusic said that "from start to finish The War of Art is an uncompromising heavy album filled with righteous screams, in your face bass and drums and searing guitars." Rough Edge said that the album "is one hour plus of blistering, mind blowing, molten metal" and that "song after song after song is nothing less than a pure metal experience."

Track listing

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"A Violent Reaction"	Hanks, Heacock	4:12
2.	"Pushing The Envelope"	Hanks, Heacock	3:13
3.	"Song For The Suspect"	Hanks, Heacock	4:11
4.	"Never Get Caught"	Hanks, Heacock, Rogers	4:56
5.	"Self"	Hanks, Heacock	4:21
6.	"Just So You Know"	Hanks, Heacock, Kile	5:31
7.	"Seamless"	Hanks, Heacock	4:28
8.	"Effigy 23"	Hanks, Heacock	4:10
9.	"Americunt Evolving Into Useless Psychic Garbage"	Hanks, Heacock	2:33
10.	"Shutdown"	Hanks, Heacock	5:06
11.	"We Believe"	Hanks, Heacock	3:15
12.	"Breathe In, Bleed Out"	Hanks, Heacock, Kile	4:27
13.	"Fall"	Hanks, Heacock, Rogers	4:29
14.	"Reach and Touch"	Hanks, Heacock	3:54
15.	"All Wrapped Up"	Hanks, Heacock	3:27
16.	"Nothing Gets Nothing"	Hanks, Heacock, Kile	5:30

• Track 9 is titled "Title of Song Removed For Your Safety" on the rear cover.

Bonus track
No.	Title	Music	Length
17.	"Pretty Face" (Japanese bonus track)	Hanks, Heacock	11:20

Singles

Date of release	Song Title	Label	U. S. Mainstream Rock Tracks	U. S. Modern Rock Tracks	U. S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play	UK Album Charts
May 27, 2002	Just So You Know	American Recordings

Music videography

Video Still	Release Date	Song	Director	Label	Additional Information
	2001	All Wrapped Up	Tomas Migone	American Recordings	Banned due to visceral images within video.
	2002	Just So You Know	Kevin Kerslake	American Recordings	American Head Charge's first official music video.

Credits

American Head Charge Cameron Heacock – vocals Chad Hanks – bass, guitar, programming Justin Fouler – keyboards, samples David Rogers – guitar Wayne Kile – guitar Aaron Zilch – keyboards, electronics Chris Emery – drums Other personnel Rick Rubin – Producer Billy Bowers – Editing Lindsay Chase – Project Coordinator Rich Costey – Remixing, Mixing Greg Fidelman – Engineer Dean Karr – Photography Steve Mixdorf – Engineer Marc Moreau – Editing Jeremy Parker – Assistant Engineer Gary Richards – Manager Eddy Schreyer – Mastering Justin Smith – Mixing, Remix Assistant

References

1. "War of Art". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2014-09-28.
2. "The 12 Most Underrated Nu Metal Albums". VH1. (15 September 2015). Retrieved on 18 September 2015
3. "American Head Charge interview about 'The War of Art.'". PopEntertainment.com. 2014-04-04. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
4. "Maximum Ink music magazine of Wisconsin | Artist Interviews | American Headcharge". Maximumink.com. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
5. "The War of Art – American Head Charge". Allmusic.
6. Ieg / Ecc (1998-10-30). "antiMUSIC Reviews - The Music site with an attitude". Antimusic.com. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
7. "American Head Charge - The War Of Art review". Metal Storm. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
8. "American Head Charge CD Reviews". Rough Edge. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
9. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/4184/American-Head-Charge-The-War-Of-Art/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
10. http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/compact_discs/american_head_charge/the_war_of_art/index.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
11. "«« American Head Charge »» – Bio". Headcharge.com. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
12. 8/27/01, p. 20
13. 3/2/02, p. 15
14. "American Head Charge - The War of Art : the album description, tracks, reviews". Music-city.org. Retrieved 2014-04-27.

External links

• Music videos of "Just So You Know" and "All Wrapped Up"