Mantra
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 8, 1995
GenreHardcore punk, Krishnacore
Length30:29
LabelRoadrunner, Supersoul
ProducerTom Soares, John "Porcell" Porcelly
Shelter chronology
Attaining The Supreme
(1993)
Mantra
(1995)
Beyond Planet Earth
(1997)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Drowned in Sound9/10[2]

Mantra is an album by New York City hardcore punk band Shelter.[3][4] Released in 1995, it was the band's first album for Roadrunner.[5][6]

Lyrically the album focuses mainly on Hare Krishna religious philosophy and social commentary on Western civilization — including a manifesto entitled Supersoul in the album's booklet, authored by band's frontman Ray Cappo. The first song, "Message of the Bhagavad", is introduced by an excerpt of a Bhagavad Gita verses reading.

Mantra was distributed in Brazil featuring two bonus tracks, expanding the listing from 11 to 13. Howerever, the lyrics for tracks #12 and #13 were not included in the booklet. By the time of the release, the band hadn't played live in the country yet, which happened for the first time in 1996.[7]

Critical reception

Trouser Press wrote that Cappo "is an articulate and principled spokesman for transcendental thought set to a tough 4/4 beat."[5] In a retrospective review, Ox-Fanzine called Mantra "a tame rock album from another time."[8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Shelter except where noted

No.TitleLength
1."Message of the Bhagavat"3:00
2."Civilized Man"2:37
3."Here We Go"2:38
4."Appreciation"2:08
5."Empathy"3:33
6."Not the Flesh"2:45
7."Chance"1:15
8."Mantra"3:09
9."Surrender to Your T.V."2:32
10."Letter to a Friend"3:19
11."Metamorphosis"3:33
Total length:30:29
Brazilian and reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
12."Progressive Man"4:23
13."We Can Work It Out" (Lennon/McCartney)2:23
Total length:37:15

Credits

References

  1. "Mantra - Shelter | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" via www.allmusic.com.
  2. "Album Review: Shelter - Mantra". DrownedInSound.
  3. "Shelter | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  4. Strauss, Neil (December 23, 1995). "POP REVIEW;Hates Meat And Calls Its Fans 'Murderers' (Published 1995)" via NYTimes.com.
  5. 1 2 "Shelter". Trouser Press. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  6. Cogan, Brian (2006). Encyclopedia of Punk Music and Culture. Greenwood Press. pp. 200–201.
  7. "Grupo Shelter deve fazer show no Brasil". Folhateen. 1996. Retrieved May 30, 2014. In Portuguese
  8. "Review". www.ox-fanzine.de.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.