The Crackdown

The Crackdown was Cabaret Voltaire's first full studio album following founding member Chris Watson's departure, and their first release for Virgin Records via Some Bizzare. This album marks a turning point in the band's discography, straddling their early experimental work with their later more conventional electronic dance-funk output. It was recorded and mixed at Trident Studios, London, England in late 1982.

AllMusic wrote that the album "features the band working a number of menacing electronic textures into a basic dance/funk rhythm".

{{album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-crackdown-mw0000526918 |title=The Crackdown – Cabaret Voltaire | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |website=AllMusic |accessdate=23 November 2018}}

| rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev2score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last=Larkin |first=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |publisher=Omnibus Press |date=27 May 2011 |isbn=9780857125958 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NNmFiUnSmUC&dq=%22cabaret+voltaire%22+%22body+and+soul%22&pg=PA3008 |accessdate=23 September 2024}}

| rev3 = Record Mirror

| rev3score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{Cite magazine |last=Page |first=Betty |date=6 August 1983 |title=Hi Volt-age |magazine=Record Mirror |page=18}}

| rev4 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev4score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Cabaret Voltaire |last=Considine |first=J. D. |author-link=J. D. Considine |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/128 128–29]}}

| rev5 = Smash Hits

| rev5score = 8/10{{cite magazine|last=Martin |first=Peter |title=Albums |magazine=Smash Hits |date=18-23 August 1983 |page=23}}

| rev6 = Sounds

| rev6score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{Cite magazine |last=Henderson |first=Dave |date=6 August 1983 |title=When the whip comes down |magazine=Sounds |page=33}}

| rev7 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

| rev7score = 8/10{{cite book |last=Sinker |first=Mark |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor1-link=Eric Weisbard |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |chapter=Cabaret Voltaire |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide |publisher=Vintage Books |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-75574-8 |pages=67–68}}

}}

Upon its release, the album was given a 8 out of 10 rating by Smash Hits reviewer Peter Martin who wrote that The Crackdown put the band's earlier experimental sound into practice: "Dense, hard-edged sequencer pulsebeats now swamp a strange strangled voice. The sound is panic-stricken and the effect is hypnotic."

It was ranked at number 11 in NME's "Albums of the Year" list for 1983.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.nme.com/bestalbumsandtracksoftheyear/1983-2-1045394 |title=Albums and Tracks of the Year |date=2016 |magazine=NME |accessdate=13 March 2018 }} Trouser Press, meanwhile, was less enthusiastic, accusing the album of being "rather staid-sounding" while clarifying that their indifference "shouldn't be taken as a blanket panning."{{cite journal |last1=Payes |first1=Robert |title=Cabaret Voltaire: The Crackdown |journal=Trouser Press |date=December 1983 |volume=10 |issue=10 |page=78 |publisher=Ira A. Robbins |location=New York, NY |issn=0164-1883|url=https://trouserpress.com/app/themes/trouserpress/resources/vendor/pdfjs/dist/92.pdf}}

Retrospectively, The Quietus reviewer Albert Freeman wrote: "The production is noticeably cleaner than their underfinanced independent recordings, but it’s hardly less dark, and the added clarity serves to show off the diverse, layered productions, which draw equally from dub, funk, and early electro. Mallinder’s vocals are easier to cipher than they had been before, but the pop tones they would later take on are evident on a few tracks from the album: the title track, ‘Taking Time’, ‘Animation’ and the cynically comical ‘Why Kill Time (When You Can Kill Yourself)’."{{cite web|url=https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/cabaret-voltaire-8385-collected-works-1983-1985-box-set-review/ |last=Freeman |first=Albert |title=Cabaret Voltaire #8385 (Collected Works 1983-1985) |publisher=The Quietus |date=22 November 2013 }}

AllMusic described The Crackdown as "one of Cabaret Voltaire's strongest albums" and "one of their most distinctive, challenging records."

{{track listing

| headline = Side A

| all_writing = Richard H. Kirk and Stephen Mallinder

| title1 = 24-24

| length1 = 5:55

| title2 = In the Shadows

| length2 = 4:36

| title3 = Talking Time

| length3 = 5:25

| title4 = Animation

| length4 = 5:33

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side B

| title1 = Over and Over

| length1 = 4:30

| title2 = Just Fascination

| length2 = 4:04

| title3 = Why Kill Time (When You Can Kill Yourself)

| length3 = 3:56

| title4 = Haiti

| length4 = 3:20

| title5 = Crackdown

| length5 = 6:31

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Bonus 12": Doublevision EP

| title1 = Diskono

| length1 = 5:49

| title2 = Double Vision

| length2 = 4:15

| title3 = Moscow

| length3 = 5:28

| title4 = Badge of Evil

| length4 = 4:53

}}

: Note: Some discographies and CD releases of the album swap the titles of the last two tracks of the Doublevision EP.

The original LP came with a bonus 12" of four tracks, comprising the EP Doublevision.

• Stephen Mallinder – vocals, bass guitar, trumpet, grand piano
• Richard H. Kirk – synthesiser, guitar, clarinet, saxophone, & shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute), grand piano
• Alan Fish – drums, percussion

• David Ball – keyboards and drum programming

• Executive Producer: Stevo Pearce (for Some Bizzare)
• Arranged by Cabaret Voltaire
• Produced by Flood and Cabaret Voltaire
• Engineered and mixed by Flood
• Tape Operation on "Animation" and "Crackdown" by David Ball
• Single remix by John Luongo
• Mastered by George Peckham
• Sleeve Typography by Ken Prust and Neville Brody
• Sleeve Illustration by Phil Barnes

{{reflist}}

• {{Discogs master|2762}}

{{Cabaret Voltaire}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crackdown, The}}

Category:1983 albums

Category:Cabaret Voltaire (band) albums

Category:Albums produced by Flood (producer)

Category:Electro-industrial albums

Category:Electronic body music albums

Category:Some Bizzare Records albums

Category:Albums recorded at Trident Studios