(FLA)vour of the Weak

[FLA]vour of the Weak is the first album of the band to feature Chris Peterson. Peterson had already toured with Front Line Assembly for Caustic Grip and Tactical Neural Implant but had never been part of the creative process.{{cite magazine |author=Mr. Tangent |year=1998 |title=Decree |magazine=Culture Shock |publisher=Genocide Project |issue=5 |page=35 |issn=1093-1651}} He also had teamed up with Rhys Fulber in the band Will before Fulber became official member of Front Line Assembly. After Fulber's departure, band leader Bill Leeb asked Peterson to join Front Line Assembly.

The style is somewhat of a departure from previous releases in the FLA catalog, with the group's beat-heavy signature beginning to take heavy cues from styles such as IDM and breakbeat. "We felt we had come as far as we could with

the industrial/metal, all the experimental things.", said singer Bill Leeb, "I think that with 'FLAvour' and with 'Re-Wind', I was trying to do something, not necessarily dance-oriented, but just more 'electronic', almost a low-fi kind of record."{{cite interview |last=Leeb |first=Bill |subject-link=Bill Leeb |interviewer=Karine Semczuk |title=Bill Leeb of Front Line Assembly |work=Last Sigh |date=October 31, 1998 |url=http://www.lastsigh.com/interviews99/fla98.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010710184010/http://www.lastsigh.com/interviews99/fla98.htm |archive-date=July 10, 2001}}

"Sado-Masochist" uses samples of Eazy-E from an interview with hip hop group N.W.A{{cite book | last=Reed | first=S. Alexander | date=2013 | title=Assimilate: a critical history of industrial music | location=New York | publisher=Oxford University Press | page=[https://archive.org/details/assimilatecritic0000reed/page/220 220] | isbn=978-0-19-983260-6 | url=https://archive.org/details/assimilatecritic0000reed/page/220 }}{{cite web | url=http://www.mindphaser.com/archive/samples/ | title=Front Line Assembly samples | publisher=Mindphaser.com | accessdate=June 23, 2013}} while both "Comatose" and "Predator" as well as the B-side "Oblivion" contain samples from 1996 American horror film Hellraiser: Bloodline.{{cite web | url=http://www.vexen.co.uk/hellraiser/samples.html#Front%20Line%20Assembly | title=Hellraiser Samples Used in Music | work=Vexen Crabtree Website | last=Crabtree | first=Vexen | date=January 23, 2014 | accessdate=July 13, 2014}} Non-album track "Electrocution" from the Colombian Necktie single makes use of samples from Daft Punk's "Rollin' & Scratchin'"{{cite web | url=http://www.whosampled.com/sample/79548/Front-Line-Assembly-Electrocution-Daft-Punk-Rollin%27-%26-Scratchin%27/ | title=Front Line Assembly's Electrocution sample of Daft Punk's Rollin' & Scratchin' | publisher=WhoSampled | accessdate=June 23, 2014}} and from The Chemical Brothers' "Block Rockin' Beats".{{cite web | url=http://www.whosampled.com/sample/110855/Front-Line-Assembly-Electrocution-The-Chemical-Brothers-Block-Rockin%27-Beats/ | title=Front Line Assembly's Electrocution sample of The Chemical Brothers's Block Rockin' Beats | publisher=WhoSampled | accessdate=June 23, 2014}}

In 2015, the album saw a limited re-release on vinyl through Canadian label Artoffact.{{cite news |date=October 5, 2015 |title=Exclusive stream re-release Front Line Assembly album 'FLAvour of the Weak' + available as 3X 2LP vinyl set |url=http://www.side-line.com/exclusive-stream-re-release-front-line-assembly-album-flavour-of-the-weak-available-as-3x-2lp-vinyl-set-get-it-here/ |work=Side-Line |location=Belgium |access-date=October 8, 2015}}

[FLA]vour of the Weak spawned two singles. The "Colombian Necktie" single contains an edit as well as a remix by Tim Schuldt of the title track. It also features two non-album tracks, "Deadlock" and "Electrocution".

The second single, "Comatose", contains the "Ketamin 45mg" and "Valium 15mg" mixes by the band themselves. A third version of the title track ("Prozac 75mg") was remixed by Eat Static, who would deliver another, drastically different, remix of "Comatose" on Re-Wind. The single also contains an exclusive mix of "Oblivion".

Most of the tracks from the singles were re-released in 1999 through Off Beat on the compilation album Explosion together with tracks from the "Circuitry" and "Plasticity" singles. This coincided with the release of Implode and the timing of the compilation's release displeased Bill Leeb.{{cite web | url=http://www.mindphaser.com/index.php?page_id=289 | title=Front Line Assembly > Explosion | work=Mindphaser.com | date=April 30, 2005 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531125715/http://www.mindphaser.com/index.php?page_id=289 | archivedate=May 31, 2012 | accessdate=July 15, 2014}}

The band embarked on a two-week tour in support of the album.

{{Track listing

| all_writing = Bill Leeb and Chris Peterson

| title1 = Corruption

| length1 = 8:00

| note1 = instrumental

| title2 = Sado-Masochist

| length2 = 6:24

| title3 = Autoerotic

| length3 = 6:20

| title4 = Colombian Necktie

| length4 = 6:53

| title5 = Evil Playground

| length5 = 8:42

| title6 = Comatose

| length6 = 6:34

| title7 = Life=Leben

| length7 = 6:40

| title8 = Predator

| length8 = 11:43

| note8 = The song "Predator" ends at 7:40. After 30 seconds of silence (7:40 - 8:10), begins the hidden track "Bill in a Box".

}}

• Bill Leeb – production, keyboards, vocals
• Chris Peterson – production, programming, mixing

• Adam Drake – editing
• Dave McKean – design, illustration, photography
• Jamie Griffiths – band photography
• Tom Baker – mastering

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Category:Front Line Assembly albums

Category:1997 albums

Category:Albums with cover art by Dave McKean

Category:Metropolis Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Chris Peterson (producer)