VNV NATION

'VNV Nation' is an electronic music group originally from Dublin and London, now based in Hamburg, that combines elements of trance, synthpop and electronic body music (EBM), into what they call futurepop. Earlier works also include some electro-industrial influences. The members are Ronan Harris and Mark Jackson. The "VNV" in the name stands for 'Victory, not Vengeance', in keeping with the groups' motto,'' One should strive to achieve; not sit in bitter regret.''

Contents

History

Audio samples

Discography

Albums and EPs

Re-releases and miscellaneous

Singles

References

External links

History

The group's first album, ''Advance and Follow'', was released in 1995. This was a mixture of danceable synthesizer melodies and harsh electronic beats firmly in the tradition of middle-era EBM, supplemented with elements of orchestral music. Their next release, 1998's ''Praise the Fallen'', continued largely in this vein, and they began to enjoy a larger degree of commercial success.
During that time Harris also wrote for Side-Line Magazine and was also the webmaster until 1999.
1999's ''Empires'' was their breakthrough album, gaining them widespread commercial success (topping the German DAC charts for seven weeks) and almost single-handedly spawning a genre of similar artists. While in the vein of their previous two works, ''Empires'' expanded the bombastic synthesizer lines and incorporated tighter song organization with verses and catchy choruses. Furthermore, the harsher 'sheet metal instrumentals' of albums like ''Praise the Fallen'' were largely gone, and the music as a whole was far more complex with multiple-layered arpeggios and pads. This album was composed using only one synthesizer (the legendary Access Virus) and two (rather low-quality) samplers.
Their 2002 album, ''Futureperfect'', represented a departure in many ways, largely away from EBM and towards synthpop, even incorporating some elements of trance. Furthermore, some neoclassical instrumental pieces were included in the album. This shift caused their mainstream popularity to increase still further, but alienated some of their fans who preferred their earlier harsher and darker sound, leading to a somewhat weakened reputation in the "underground" music community. Nonetheless, they embarked on several highly successful world tours in 2002 and 2003, including to the United States, where this genre of music does not normally enjoy much commercial success. Notably, the album was produced using mainly software synthesizers instead of hardware synthesizers. Some hardware was used, but the majority of instruments used were software programs.
Their 2005 album, ''Matter + Form'', expanded on the soundscape established with ''Futureperfect'' while also adding a harder and more mechanical sound in some songs. Notable for this harder-edged sound was the first single ''Chrome''. Also of note is the lack of effects applied to the vocals, a departure from previous albums, which allows Ronan Harris' voice more space in the mix. Of course, there were also several songs with a softer and more pensive theme. Some songs even had a slight "rock" feeling to them, mostly with how drum sequences and bass-lines were arranged, the most obvious being the album-closing song ''Perpetual''. The instrument assortment used in the production was much expanded upon from previous albums and everything from the Access Virus to a custom-made analog modular synthesizer and several software synthesizers were used. This album was also the first time the band used an outside producer.
VNV Nation's latest studio album is ''Judgement'' and was released to the world on April 4, 2007. Containing 10 tracks, it continued the evolution of the VNV Nation sound.
On April 25, 2007 at the soldout show at The Metro in Chicago, Ronan Harris has stated that the rumors about ''Judgement'' being the last album were false and that more was to come and that Judgement was just the beginning.

Audio samples

Discography

Albums and EPs

Title	Release date	Notes	Label
''Body Pulse''	May 1990	Extremely rare vinyl release.	n/a
''Strength of Youth''	November 1990	Extremely rare vinyl release.	n/a
''Advance and Follow''	December 1995		Discordia
''Praise the Fallen''	EU: 1998-06-02 US: 1999-05-20		EU: Off-Beat Sweden: Energy US: Wax Trax!/TVT
''Solitary'' EP	1998-09-14		EU: Off-Beat Sweden: Energy
''Empires''	EU: 1999-10-25 US: 2000-05-16		EU: Dependent Sweden: Energy US: Metropolis
''Futureperfect''	EU: 2002-01-28 US: 2002-03-05		EU: Dependent Sweden: Energy US: Metropolis
''Matter + Form''	2005-04-12		EU: Anachron Sweden: SubSpace US: Metropolis
''Reformation''	(2007)	In production.	TBA
''Judgement''	EU:2007-04-06 US: 2007-04-10		EU: Anachron US: Metropolis

Re-releases and miscellaneous

Title	Release date	Notes	Label
''Standing / Burning Empires''	2000-04-03	Two-CD set consisting of the ''Standing'' single and an EP featuring remixes of songs from ''Empires''. Limited to 4,700 copies.	EU: Dependent
''Advance and Follow (v2)''	2001-02-19	Extended and remastered re-release of the original.	EU: Dependent
''Cold (Rated 'R' Mix by MiG-29)''	2001	Released as a downloadable, Web-exclusive MP3 file on the band's website (linked here).	n/a
''Pastperfect'' DVD	2004-05-04	Two-DVD set containing footage from the band's "Futureperfect" tour and various other features.	EU: Anachron US: Metropolis
''Pastperfect'' Limited Edition DVD	2004-05-04	Three-disc set containing the original ''Pastperfect'' DVDs plus a CD containing tracks of live performances and other bonuses.	EU: Anachron US: Metropolis

Singles

Song	Release date	Album	Notes	Label
"Darkangel"	1999-06-28	''Empires''		EU: Dependent US: Metropolis
"Standing"	EU: 2000-04-03 US: 2000-05-09	''Empires''		EU: Dependent US: Metropolis
"Genesis"	EU: 2001-09-03 US: 2001-11-13	''Futureperfect''	There are four versions: a promo edition (''Genesis 0''), two regular (''Genesis 1'' and ''Genesis 2''), and a radio edition.	EU: Dependent US: Metropolis
"Beloved"	2002-03-25	''Futureperfect''	There are four versions: a promo edition (''Beloved 0''), two regular (''Beloved 1'' and ''Beloved 2''), and a vinyl edition with trance remixes (''Beloved 3'').	EU: Dependent US: Metropolis
"Honour 2003"	2003-06-10	Various		EU: Anachron US: Metropolis
"Chrome"	2005-03-07	''Matter + Form''	Released as a downloadable MP3 on the band's website.	n/a
"Homeward"/"Chrome"	2005-05-12	''Matter + Form''	Album released April 12, 2005.	Metropolis Records

References

External links

★ Official VNV Nation website ★ Side-Line Magazine Interview - 2005 ★ VNV Nation at Discogs ★ VNV Nation at Last.fm ★ ★ VNV Nation at MySpace

★ German fan site ★ International fan forum (English) ★ VNV Nation Empire A Yahoo! fan group ★ VNV Nation Lyrics ★ Interview with DJ Starr - 2006