Before the Poison

Before the Poison is the 17th album by Marianne Faithfull, recorded in 2003 and released in 2005.

Overview

The album has a dark and fatalistic mood, which Faithfull attributes partially to the post-9/11 world.

Faithfull enlisted musicians PJ Harvey and Nick Cave, as well as Damon Albarn and producer Jon Brion, with whom she had collaborated on her previous release, Kissin Time.

Besides producing and performing on five tracks, Harvey gave her three songs ("The Mystery of Love", "My Friends Have" and "No Child Of Mine" -- an excerpt of the last one appears on Harvey's album, Uh Huh Her) and co-wrote another two with Faithfull.

Cave co-produces with Hal Willner the three tracks on which he wrote the music over Faithfull's lyrics ("Crazy Love", "There Is a Ghost" and "Desperanto") and had his supporting band, The Bad Seeds, performing on all of them.

Albarn, who appears with Blur in a song on Faithfull's previous album, Kissin Time, co-wrote "Last Song" with her. Another version of the song, with different lyrics on the verses, was later released as "Green Fields" on his unnamed band's 2007 album, The Good, the Bad and the Queen.

The Poison

The Poison is the debut album by Welsh heavy metal band Bullet for My Valentine. The album was released on 3 October 2005 through Visible Noise Records in the UK, and on February 14, 2006 in the United States through Trustkill Records. The album included 11 new songs and two previously heard songs, "Cries in Vain", which was previously heard from their self-titled UK EP and from their US EP, Hand of Blood, as well as from "4 Words (To Choke Upon)" was previously included on the same US release. Different editions of the album contain the song "Hand of Blood", previously heard from these EPs, replacing "Spit You Out".

Receiving mixed reviews from critics, the album debuted at No. 128 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on the Heatseekers Chart, and as of 30 January 2009, the album has sold 1,000,000 copies worldwide and 500,000 copies in the US. It's the first album released through Trustkill Records to be officially certified gold by the RIAA.

Reception

The album received mixed reviews from the critics, however many fans consider The Poison to be the band's strongest album. Corey Apar of Allmusic awarded the album 3 stars out of 5, stating "Overall, The Poison is a well-produced, solid effort – but seeing as they're now trying to take over American hearts, it would be nice to see future attempts to distinguish themselves more from the new-school pack."Sputnikmusic also gave the album a 3 out of 5 with the explanation that it is "fun to listen to, and the guitar work sure is nice. The vocals are good as well, as main singer has a good voice, melodic and screamed, well supported by the screaming of the bassist." Music Emissions said the album contained very catchy songs, with clean and fast guitar sounds, and "an undertone of pop" which fits with the drumming. Despite its positive points, the reviewer said that the album would not attract people from outside the metalcore subgenre.