[Recording Details for Weltanschauung.]

[Picture of the CD front cover]


[Album Release Details.]

"Weltanschauung", the band's second studio release, was recorded and mixed at Priority Studios, Sheffield, between August and October 2000. All the material on the CD was written and performed by Libitina. Like "A Closer Communion" before it, the album was engineered and produced by David Lewin and Stephen Singleton (a founder member of ABC).

It was high-end mastered at Sound Recording Technology, St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, on the 8th December 2000.

The CD was released on the band's own label on May 21st, 2001.


[Tracklisting.]

The twelve tracks that comprise "Weltanschauung" are as follows:

Dreams No More, Betrayal, Samskara, Via Dolorosa, Pariah, Farewell My Love, Polemic, Virgins, Voluptuary, Warpaint, Thalatta Thalatta, Something Of A Love Song.


[Album Themes.]

"Weltanschauung" is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "a particular philosophy or view of life; a conception of the world"; it being derived from the German Welt (world) and Anschauung (perception).

The lyrical themes of "Weltanschauung" reflect a desire to set out our perspective on, and perceptions of, life. Thus, the album runs the full gamut of emotions, running from the world-weary disillusionment of the opening track, "Dreams No More", to the intense moral struggle of "Voluptuary". The intervening tracks range from the anger and scorn of "Pariah" and "Betrayal" to the bitter defiance of "Via Dolorosa". Positive emotions, too, have their place in Libitina's world, with this side of the band's character being shown in the euphoria of "Thalatta Thalatta" and the flirtatious metaphysic of "Something Of A Love Song".


[Album sound.]

In many ways, "Weltanschauung" carries on where "A Closer Communion" left off. There is the familiar fusion of guitars and synthesisers, so characteristic of Libitina. However, the album is bigger in sound, with a harder, dancier, and darker edge to reflect the extended subject matter of the band's second album.

From the industrial beats of tracks such as "Virgins" and "Voluptuary" to the gothic punk energy of "Warpaint" and "Pariah", the album provides an eclectic mixture of compositions. "Thalatta Thalatta" and "Via Dolorosa" are in a more dancey vein, whilst the band's gothic rock heritage is to the fore in "Dreams No More" and "Farewell My Love", the two most guitar-orientated tracks of "Weltanschauung".

Reviewers have compared the sound of "Weltanschauung" to that of Rosetta Stone or a modern-day Bauhaus or Sex Gang Children.


[Vocals.]

Lead vocals on the album are by Peter.

Backing vocals were by Peter and Jamie. Stephen Singleton provided additional backing vocals on "Voluptuary".


[Album trivia.]

So far, the CD has been awarded CD of the week by In Perpetual Motion Radio Show/Legends Magazine in the USA and by Backagain in Germany. This is, of course, in addition to the brilliant reviews it has received elsewhere in the press.

Every track from the album has been played either in a club or on the radio somewhere in the world!

"Thalatta Thalatta" also earned the band a mention in Tim Rood's 'The Sea! The Sea! The Shout of the Ten Thousand in the Modern Imagination' (2004; Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd).


This website is written and maintained by Jamie Libitina.
Last updated January 4, 2007.
© Copyright Libitina 1997-2007.
All rights reserved.