Delerium
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Delerium is band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, formed in 1987, originally as a side project of the influential industrial music act, Front Line Assembly. Throughout the band’s history, their musical style has encompassed an incredibly broad range; including dark ethereal ambient, voiceless industrial soundscapes, and electronic pop music.
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Members / History
Delerium has traditionally been a two-person project, but the only constant member throughout its history has been Bill Leeb. Leeb was a guest musician and early supporter of industrial dance pioneers Skinny Puppy, but after he left in 1984, he went on to create his own project, Front Line Assembly with collaborator Michael Balch. Later, the two worked on the side project Delerium, and released their first album Faces, Forms, & Illusions. After Balch left both Front Line Assembly and Delerium, Leeb worked with Rhys Fulber, and the two released several albums under the Delerium moniker; these years saw a gradual stylistic change from darker ambient to a more danceable sound. After the release of Karma, Fulber left to pursue other interests, and Leeb teamed up with producer Chris Peterson to release Poem. 2003, however, saw the reunion of Leeb and Fulber for the release of Chimera, Delerium’s most recent album.
In contrast to Leeb and collaborators' other projects, Delerium has included several guest vocalists since the release of Semantic Spaces. These have included mostly women, such as Kristy Thirsk, Sarah McLachlan, Leigh Nash (of Sixpence None the Richer), Lisa Gerrard (sampled only), Jaël (of Swiss band Lunik), Nerina Pallot, and Jacqui Hunt (of Single Gun Theory). The only male, other than Leeb himself, to have contributed vocals on a Delerium album is pop-singer Matthew Sweet.
Although it may be argued that Front Line Assembly has the largest cult following of all Leeb and associates projects, Delerium is undoubtedly the most financially successful. In addition to these two mainstays, related projects of the Leeb, Fulber, Peterson, Balch family include Equinox, Intermix, Noise Unit, Pro-Tech, and Synæsthesia, among others.
Albums
Of their albums, Karma is definitely their most famous, and, many would argue, still their best album. Most listeners know of Delerium only from their work produced on the Nettwerk label, as they were relatively unknown in the pop-music scene for quite some time before the release of Semantic Spaces. Delerium's commercial success has hinged largely on the catchy, ethno-pop single "Silence" featuring vocals by Sarah McLachlan. It is still considered by many to be one of Delerium's greatest songs of all time, and it's easy to see why: the beat, vocals, melody and complexity of the arrangement propelled it instantly to the top of the electronic music charts, where it remains even years later. Now the unofficial anthem of Britain (played to celebrate their Y2K New Year's, as well as several other national events), "Silence" is still as popular as ever, and continues to draw fans to Delerium's unique sound.
Discography
Albums / EPs
- Faces, Forms & Illusions (Dossier, 1987), LP / CD
- Morpheus (Dossier, 1989), LP / CD
- Syrophenikan (Dossier, 1990), LP / CD
- Stone Tower (Dossier, 1991), LP / CD
- Euphoric (Third Mind, 1991), EP / CD
- Spiritual Archives (Dossier, 1991), LP / CD
- Spheres (Dossier, 1994), LP / CD
- Spheres 2 (Dossier, 1994), LP / CD
- Semantic Spaces (Nettwerk, 1994), CD
- Karma (Nettwerk, 1997), CD
- Karma (w / bonus disc) (Nettwerk, 1997, 1999, 2000), 2CD
- Poem (Nettwerk, 2000), CD
- Poem (w / bonus disc) (Nettwerk, 2000), 2CD
- Chimera (Nettwerk, 2003), CD
- Chimera (w / bonus disc) (Nettwerk, 2003), 2CD
Singles
- Flowers Become Screens (Nettwerk, 1994), CDS
- Incantation (Nettwerk, 1994), 12”
- Euphoria (Firefly) (Nettwerk, 1997), CDS
- Duende (Nettwerk, 1997), CDS
- Silence (Nettwerk, 1999, 2000), CDS
- Heaven’s Earth (Nettwerk, 2000), CDS
- Innocente (Nettwerk, 2001), CDS
- Underwater (Nettwerk, 2002), CDS
- After All (Nettwerk, 2003), CDS
- Run For It (Nettwerk, 2003), CDS
- Truly (Nettwerk, 2004), CDS
- Silence 2004 (Nettwerk, 2004), CDS
Compilations
- Reflections I (Dossier, 1995), CD
- Reflections II (Dossier, 1995), CD
- Archives I (Nettwerk, 2002), 2CD
- Archives II (Nettwerk, 2002), 2CD
- Odyssey (Remixes) (Nettwerk, 2002), 2CD
- The Best Of (Nettwerk, 2004), CD
External Links
- http://www.nettwerklabel.com/artist.jsp?artist_id=3 Official Delerium page from Nettwerk.
- http://www.delerium.com Delerium.com unofficial website.
- http://www.mindphaser.com Delerium, Front Line Assembly, Conjure One, Decree and side projects website.de:Delerium