LetDownCrush

{{Infobox album|

| name = LetDownCrush

| type = studio

| artist = 16volt

| cover = Letdowncrush_album_cover.jpg

| venue =

| released = {{Start date|1996|8|7}}{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7SwEAAAAMBAJ |title=Just Out |journal=CMJ New Music Monthly |publisher=CMJ Network, Inc. |date=December 1996 |volume=36 |pages=55 |accessdate=July 13, 2020}}{{cite journal |first=Becky |last=Barnhart |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OOwZAQAAIAAJ |title=Schwann Spectrum |journal=Schwann Spectrum |publisher=Stereophile, Incorporated |date=1996 |volume=Winter 1996-1997 |pages=14 |isbn=9781575980386 |accessdate=July 20, 2020}}

| recorded = {{Start date|1996}}

| studio = {{Collapsible list|title=Various|titlestyle=font-weight:normal;font-size:12px;background:transparent;text-align:left|{{Plainlist|

Chicago Trax Recording
{{small|(Chicago, IL)}}
Dead Aunt Thelmas
{{small|(Portland, OR)}}
The Red Light Room
{{small|(Portland, OR)}}
The Litter Box
{{small|(Portland, OR)}}

}}}}

| genre = {{hlist|Industrial rock|industrial metal}}

| length = 40:17

| label = Cargo/Re-Constriction

| producer = {{hlist|Jeff "Critter" Newell|Eric Powell}}

| prev_title = Skin

| prev_year = 1994

| next_title = The Remix Wars: Strike 3

| next_year = 1997

| misc = {{Singles

| name = LetDownCrush

| type = studio

| single1 = The Dreams That Rot in Your Heart

| single1date = July 23, 1996

}}

LetDownCrush is the third studio album by 16volt, released on August 7, 1996, by Cargo and Re-Constriction Records.{{cite web |first=John |last=Bush |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=mn0000499173/biography|pure_url=yes}}|title=16 Volt > Biography |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=July 13, 2020}}{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WrY4AQAAIAAJ |title=16 Volt: LetDownCrush |journal=Option |publisher=Sonic Options Network |date=1997 |issue=72–76 |pages=71 |accessdate=July 13, 2020}}{{cite journal|first=Chris |last=Christian |url=http://sonic-boom.com/interview/16.volt-2.interview.html |title=Interview with Eric Powell of 16 Volt, La Luna, Portland |journal=Sonic Boom |date=February 27, 1997 |volume=5 |issue=3 |accessdate=July 13, 2020}}

Reception

{{Album ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0000186052|pure_url=yes}}|title=16 Volt: LetDownCrush > Overview |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=July 13, 2020}}

|rev2 = Alternative Press

|rev2score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite journal |last=columnist |title=16 Volt: LetDownCrush |journal=Alternative Press |date=February 1997 |page=69 }}

}}

AllMusic awarded LetDownCrush three out of five possible stars. Aiding & Abetting gave the album a mixed review as well, calling LetDownCrush "diverse, and while obviously not a live-to-tape session, more immediate-sounding" and praised the songs for being "tight and vicious."{{cite journal|url=http://www.aidabet.com/archives/archS2.html#16VOLT |title=16 Volt: Letdowncrush |journal=Aiding & Abetting |date=January 15, 1995 |issue=68 |accessdate=July 13, 2020}} Alternative Press gave the album a positive review, saying "Hard beats dominate, and beefy guitar plays right into them, maximizing their power to make you wig." Black Monday noted the band's artistic progression in combining the song structure of Skin with the electronics of Wisdom but criticized the metal influences.{{cite journal |last=Gair |url=http://lundinoir.com/mag/BMv1_4.pdf |title=16 Volt: LetdownCrush |journal=Black Monday |date=1997 |issue=4 |pages=2 |accessdate=August 12, 2020}} Sonic Boom lauded Eric Powell's musical maturation and said "the best musical elements from all of his previous work appear like a trail of footprints down well trod path which ends at the edge of a precipice."{{cite journal|first=Chris |last=Christian |url=http://www.sonic-boom.com/review/16.volt-3.html |title=16 Volt: LetDownCrush |journal=Sonic Boom |date=October 1996 |volume=4 |issue=7 |accessdate=July 13, 2020}}

Track listing

{{Tracklist

| title1 = Swarm

| writer1 = Marc LaCorte, Eric Powell

| length1 = 3:23

| title2 = The Dreams That Rot in Your Heart

| writer2 = Marc LaCorte, Eric Powell

| length2 = 3:28

| title3 = A Cloth Like Gauze

| writer3 = Eric Powell

| length3 = 4:03

| title4 = Something Left

| writer4 = Marc LaCorte, Eric Powell

| length4 = 4:00

| title5 = The Cut Collector

| writer5 = Eric Powell

| length5 = 3:52

| title6 = Crush

| writer6 = Marc LaCorte, Eric Powell

| length6 = 4:47

| title7 = Breed

| writer7 = Eric Powell

| length7 = 3:15

| title8 = Two Wires Thin

| writer8 = Eric Powell

| length8 = 4:00

| title9 = Shameface

| writer9 = Eric Powell

| length9 = 3:09

| title10 = Carla's Tarantulas

| writer10 = Eric Powell

| length10 = 5:59

}}

{{tracklist

| headline = 2012 Remastered CD

| title11 = We Ain't Goin' Out Like That

| note11 = Cypress Hill cover

| writer11 = Louis Freese, Lawrence Muggerud, Richard Todd Ray

| length11 = 4:15

}}

Accolades

class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:0em 1em 1em 0pt"

!Year

!Publication

!Country

!Accolade

!Rank

!class=unsortable|

align=center|1995

CMJ New Music Monthly

United States

| "Dance"

align=center|16

{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PC0EAAAAMBAJ |title=Dance Top 25 |journal=CMJ New Music Monthly |publisher=CMJ Network, Inc. |date=December 1996 |volume=40 |issue=7–12 |pages=52 |accessdate=July 13, 2020}}

class="sortbottom"

|colspan=6 style=font-size:8pt; align=center|"*" denotes an unordered list.

Personnel

Adapted from the LetDownCrush liner notes.{{cite AV media notes |title=LetDownCrush |title-link=LetDownCrush |others=16volt |year=1996 |type=booklet |publisher=Cargo/Re-Constriction |location=San Diego, California}}

16volt

Marc LaCorte – guitar, programming
Eric Powell – lead vocals, programming, guitar, production, engineering, editing, recording (3, 7, 9), mixing (4)

Addition performers

Bryan Barton – loops (8)
Stella Katsoudas – vocals (1)
Dan Pred – live drums (3)
Ed Tinley (10)
William Tucker – additional guitar (10), lead guitar (5)

Production and design

Dave Friedlander – engineering, mixing (7, 9)
Bill Garcelon – engineering
Matt Gibson – engineering
Zlatko Hukic – engineering
Jon Irish – engineering, recording (1, 2, 5, 6, 8), mixing (4)
Rick McMillen – mastering
Esther Nevarez – engineering
Jeff "Critter" Newell – production, engineering, mixing (1, 2, 5, 6, 8), recording (3, 7, 9)
Jordan Nogood – design
Ed Tinley – engineering