The Tempest (album)
Encyclopedia
The Tempest is the tenth studio album by American
hip hop
duo Insane Clown Posse
. Released in 2007, the album marks the return of producer Mike E. Clark
, who had a falling-out with the duo in 2000. However, he did not collaborate directly with ICP, and would not do so until their 2009 album Bang! Pow! Boom!
The album's concept
compares a violent storm to a roller coaster
; its lyrical themes vary from horrorcore
-based character deconstructions and songs about the supernatural
to humorous and lighter subject matter. Clark's production was appraised by critics, and the album peaked at #20 on the Billboard 200
.
produced much of Insane Clown Posse
's discography, as well as working with other groups on Psychopathic Records
, until having a falling-out with ICP in 2000, after completing ICP's album's Bizaar
and Bizzar
, and beginning production on the Dark Lotus
debut album Tales from the Lotus Pod
.
After becoming a full time producer for Kid Rock
, Clark contracted pneumonia
, but ignored the illness, and began coughing severely as he awoke, leading to a three month stay in Mount Clemens General Hospital, during which one of his lungs collapsed three times. As the result of his near-death experience, Clark decided to reconcile with Bruce and Utsler. Phone conversations between Clark and Insane Clown Posse led to Clark producing Utsler's 2006 solo album F.T.F.O.
. The following year, Clark produced The Tempest; however, in both instances, he did not work with Psychopathic Records directly. Because of this, ICP felt that The Tempest was missing the collaborative element that they felt made their earlier albums enjoyable. Clark would not work directly work with Psychopathic Records until 2009's Bang! Pow! Boom!
, which formed the basis for ICP's "Joker's Cards" series, which began in 1992 with Carnival of Carnage
and concluded with the albums The Wraith: Shangri-La
and Hell's Pit; however, it references themes, concepts and songs from previous albums. Joseph Bruce
(Violent J) said that The Tempest is a concept album
in its own right. Bruce describes the album's concept as relating to both a violent storm which turns into a tornado and pulls people into a hurricane as well as a roller coaster
. According to Bruce, "That's a lot like riding on a violent roller coaster, I'd assume. You get jerked to the left, jerked to the right, sucked way up into the sky, and then you go shooting down to the floor, and then you jerk up to the left and then you whip around to the right. Well, The Tempest is a storm in the form of a roller coaster." As a result of this concept, the album focuses on a variety of different moods.
The Tempest maintains much of the horrorcore
lyrical content ICP is known for, as well as their humorous perspective. Unlike previous albums, this album does not contain any disses
aimed at other rappers or music industry figures. Bruce and Joseph Utsler
(Shaggy 2 Dope)'s rapping
on this album is described by Allmusic reviewer David Jeffries as being delivered in "a carnival barker fashion that fits with their circus motif", and contrasted Bruce and Utsler themselves as being like "Alice Cooper
with a mallrat attitude".
The lyrics of "Growing Again", which describes Violent J growing into a giant
, were inspired by Bruce's weight gain; Bruce also says that the song reflects the feeling of being able to "rap about anything we want [...] I feel we have the right for some songs to be softer and not about killing or Dark Carnival." "The Tower" describes a war veteran and expert marksman climbing a college tower and shooting people with an arsenal of weapons.
Mike E. Clark
's production incorporates elements of rock
and heavy metal
, as well as live instrumentation
. Reviewer Lana Cooper of PopMatters
compares "Ride the Tempest" to Flock of Seagulls, and describes the instrumentation as incorporating elements of synthesizers and calliope. Cooper says that "Growing Again" incorporates power ballad chords. Jeffries describes "I Do This!" as being influenced by psychedelia, and called "Mexico City" "Low Rider
music".
and X-Clan
. The album was released with a bonus poster
. The Tempest debuted at #20 on the U.S. Billboard 200
, selling about 33,000 copies in its first week. Reviews from Allmusic and PopMatters
generally appraised Mike E. Clark's production as the album's most appealing element. Allmusic's David Jeffries wrote, "there's no denying that Clark's vision does wonders for the duo." PopMatters' Lana Cooper said that "[Insane Clown Posse's] theatrics have to be given their due."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
duo Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. The group is composed of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform under the respective personas of the "wicked clowns" Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Insane Clown Posse performs a style of hardcore hip hop known as horrorcore...
. Released in 2007, the album marks the return of producer Mike E. Clark
Mike E. Clark
Mike Earl Clark is an American record producer and DJ from Detroit, Michigan currently signed to Hatchet House.Clark is best known for his work with Insane Clown Posse, for which he has produced nine studio albums...
, who had a falling-out with the duo in 2000. However, he did not collaborate directly with ICP, and would not do so until their 2009 album Bang! Pow! Boom!
Bang! Pow! Boom!
Bang! Pow! Boom! is the 11th studio album by American hip hop group Insane Clown Posse. Released on September 1, 2009 by Psychopathic Records, it was the group's second album with producer Mike E. Clark since his return to Psychopathic Records, and the first album to focus on the Dark Carnival...
The album's concept
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
compares a violent storm to a roller coaster
Roller coaster
The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...
; its lyrical themes vary from horrorcore
Horrorcore
Horrorcore is a subgenre of hip hop music based in horror-themed lyrical content and imagery. While the style is rarely popular, some performers have sold well in the mainstream scene.-Origins:...
-based character deconstructions and songs about the supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
to humorous and lighter subject matter. Clark's production was appraised by critics, and the album peaked at #20 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
.
History
Mike E. ClarkMike E. Clark
Mike Earl Clark is an American record producer and DJ from Detroit, Michigan currently signed to Hatchet House.Clark is best known for his work with Insane Clown Posse, for which he has produced nine studio albums...
produced much of Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. The group is composed of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform under the respective personas of the "wicked clowns" Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Insane Clown Posse performs a style of hardcore hip hop known as horrorcore...
's discography, as well as working with other groups on Psychopathic Records
Psychopathic Records
Psychopathic Records, also known as "The Hatchet", is an American independent record label based in Farmington Hills, Michigan that specializes in hip hop music. The label was founded in 1991 by Alex Abbiss and hip hop group Insane Clown Posse....
, until having a falling-out with ICP in 2000, after completing ICP's album's Bizaar
Bizaar
Bizaar is the seventh studio album by Insane Clown Posse. Released on October 31, 2000, it is the second half of the Bizzar Bizaar double album, released the same day as its companion album, Bizzar.- Release and reception :...
and Bizzar
Bizzar
Bizzar is the sixth studio album by Insane Clown Posse. Released on October 31, 2000, it is the first half of the Bizzar Bizaar double album, released the same day as its companion album, Bizaar.- Release and reception :...
, and beginning production on the Dark Lotus
Dark Lotus
Dark Lotus is an American hip hop supergroup based in Detroit, Michigan. Formed in 1998, the group consists of Psychopathic Records-associated rappers Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler of Insane Clown Posse, Jamie Spaniolo and Paul Methric of Twiztid, and Chris Rouleau.-History:Dark Lotus made its...
debut album Tales from the Lotus Pod
Tales From The Lotus Pod
Tales from the Lotus Pod is the first album by American hip hop group Dark Lotus. Released in 2001, the album featured the first and only appearance of former member Marz, who was soon dismissed from the group. Mike E. Clark was brought in to produce the album, but left the project after producing...
.
After becoming a full time producer for Kid Rock
Kid Rock
Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...
, Clark contracted pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, but ignored the illness, and began coughing severely as he awoke, leading to a three month stay in Mount Clemens General Hospital, during which one of his lungs collapsed three times. As the result of his near-death experience, Clark decided to reconcile with Bruce and Utsler. Phone conversations between Clark and Insane Clown Posse led to Clark producing Utsler's 2006 solo album F.T.F.O.
F.T.F.O.
F.T.F.O. is the second solo album of American rapper Shaggy 2 Dope. Released in 2006, it is his first full-length solo release.- Reception :F.T.F.O. sold 14,000 copies in its first week in stores.-Track listing:...
. The following year, Clark produced The Tempest; however, in both instances, he did not work with Psychopathic Records directly. Because of this, ICP felt that The Tempest was missing the collaborative element that they felt made their earlier albums enjoyable. Clark would not work directly work with Psychopathic Records until 2009's Bang! Pow! Boom!
Bang! Pow! Boom!
Bang! Pow! Boom! is the 11th studio album by American hip hop group Insane Clown Posse. Released on September 1, 2009 by Psychopathic Records, it was the group's second album with producer Mike E. Clark since his return to Psychopathic Records, and the first album to focus on the Dark Carnival...
Music and lyrics
Unlike previous Insane Clown Posse albums, The Tempest is not connected to the Dark Carnival mythologyDark Carnival (Insane Clown Posse)
The Dark Carnival is the mythology of the concept album series used in much of Insane Clown Posse's discography. It is a concept of the afterlife in which souls are sent to a form of limbo while waiting to be sent to Heaven or Hell based on their individual actions. These concepts are related by...
, which formed the basis for ICP's "Joker's Cards" series, which began in 1992 with Carnival of Carnage
Carnival of Carnage
Carnival of Carnage is the debut album by American hip hop group Insane Clown Posse, released on October 18, 1992, by Psychopathic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place from 1991 to 1992 at Miller Midi Productions and The Tempermill Studio. The album is the first Joker's Card in the...
and concluded with the albums The Wraith: Shangri-La
The Wraith: Shangri-La
The Wraith: Shangri-La is the eighth studio album by American hip hop group Insane Clown Posse, released on November 5, 2002, by Psychopathic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in 2002 at multiple recording studios throughout the United States. The album is the first of two...
and Hell's Pit; however, it references themes, concepts and songs from previous albums. Joseph Bruce
Joseph Bruce
Joseph Frank "Joe" Bruce is an American rapper, record producer, professional wrestler and actor. Bruce is most commonly known as Violent J of the Insane Clown Posse . He is the co-founder of the record label Psychopathic Records, with fellow ICP rapper Joseph Utsler and their former manager,...
(Violent J) said that The Tempest is a concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
in its own right. Bruce describes the album's concept as relating to both a violent storm which turns into a tornado and pulls people into a hurricane as well as a roller coaster
Roller coaster
The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...
. According to Bruce, "That's a lot like riding on a violent roller coaster, I'd assume. You get jerked to the left, jerked to the right, sucked way up into the sky, and then you go shooting down to the floor, and then you jerk up to the left and then you whip around to the right. Well, The Tempest is a storm in the form of a roller coaster." As a result of this concept, the album focuses on a variety of different moods.
The Tempest maintains much of the horrorcore
Horrorcore
Horrorcore is a subgenre of hip hop music based in horror-themed lyrical content and imagery. While the style is rarely popular, some performers have sold well in the mainstream scene.-Origins:...
lyrical content ICP is known for, as well as their humorous perspective. Unlike previous albums, this album does not contain any disses
Diss track
A diss track or diss song is a song primarily intended to disparage or insult another person or group. While musical parodies and attacks have always existed, the trend became increasingly common in the hip hop genre as part of the hip hop rivalry phenomenon...
aimed at other rappers or music industry figures. Bruce and Joseph Utsler
Joseph Utsler
Joseph William "Joey" Utsler is an American rapper, record producer, DJ, professional wrestler and actor. Utsler is known as Shaggy 2 Dope of the hip hop group Insane Clown Posse. He is the co-founder of the record label Psychopathic Records, with fellow Insane Clown Posse rapper Joseph Bruce and...
(Shaggy 2 Dope)'s rapping
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
on this album is described by Allmusic reviewer David Jeffries as being delivered in "a carnival barker fashion that fits with their circus motif", and contrasted Bruce and Utsler themselves as being like "Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
with a mallrat attitude".
The lyrics of "Growing Again", which describes Violent J growing into a giant
Giant
Giant or Giants may refer to:*Giants *Giant *Giant people; see gigantism, a medical condition*Giants -Arts and entertainment:*Giant , a 1952 novel by Edna Ferber...
, were inspired by Bruce's weight gain; Bruce also says that the song reflects the feeling of being able to "rap about anything we want [...] I feel we have the right for some songs to be softer and not about killing or Dark Carnival." "The Tower" describes a war veteran and expert marksman climbing a college tower and shooting people with an arsenal of weapons.
Mike E. Clark
Mike E. Clark
Mike Earl Clark is an American record producer and DJ from Detroit, Michigan currently signed to Hatchet House.Clark is best known for his work with Insane Clown Posse, for which he has produced nine studio albums...
's production incorporates elements of rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, as well as live instrumentation
Live instrumentation
In music, live instrumentation is the use of acoustic and electronic musical instruments in live music and recording rather than DJing, sampling, and other recording techniques....
. Reviewer Lana Cooper of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
compares "Ride the Tempest" to Flock of Seagulls, and describes the instrumentation as incorporating elements of synthesizers and calliope. Cooper says that "Growing Again" incorporates power ballad chords. Jeffries describes "I Do This!" as being influenced by psychedelia, and called "Mexico City" "Low Rider
Lowrider
]A lowrider is a style of car originated by Chicano communities that sits lower to the ground than most other cars. Many lowriders have their suspension systems modified so that their ride can change height at the flip of a switch...
music".
Release and reception
To promote the album, Insane Clown Posse toured with TwiztidTwiztid
Twiztid is an American hip hop duo from Warren, Michigan. The group is composed of Jamie Spaniolo and Paul Methric, who perform under the respective personas of Jamie Madrox and Monoxide Child...
and X-Clan
X-Clan
X-Clan is a hip hop group from Brooklyn, New York, originally consisting of Grand Verbalizer Funkin' Lesson Brother J, Professor X The Overseer, Paradise the Architect, and Sugar Shaft the Rhythm Provider...
. The album was released with a bonus poster
Poster
A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...
. The Tempest debuted at #20 on the U.S. Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, selling about 33,000 copies in its first week. Reviews from Allmusic and PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
generally appraised Mike E. Clark's production as the album's most appealing element. Allmusic's David Jeffries wrote, "there's no denying that Clark's vision does wonders for the duo." PopMatters' Lana Cooper said that "[Insane Clown Posse's] theatrics have to be given their due."
Track listing
Chart positions
| Chart (2007) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
20 |
| Top Independent Albums | 1 |
| Top Internet Albums | 20 |