Алан Уайлдердің Recoil жобасы

Musical project created by English musician Alan Wilder

Recoil is a musical project created by English musician and former Depeche Mode member Alan Wilder. Essentially a solo venture, Recoil began whilst Wilder was still in Depeche Mode as an outlet for his experimental, less pop oriented compositions. Once he announced his departure from the group in 1995, Recoil became Wilder's primary musical enterprise.

Recoil began in 1986, when Daniel Miller (record producer and founder of Mute Records) heard some of Alan Wilder's demo recordings, which he had made on a 4 track cassette machine. These recordings were substantially different from anything Depeche Mode had released—whilst they were still created using synthesizers and sampling, they featured little of Depeche Mode's catchy pop songwriting, instead opting for an experimental, John Cage esque style. Due to the primitive and decidedly uncommercial nature of these pieces, Wilder and the record label decided to release the album inconspicuously, naming it 1 + 2. It eventually came out in mid 1986, not long after the release of Depeche Mode's well received Black Celebration. In January 1988, during the middle of Depeche Mode's hugely successful Music for the Masses tour, Mute released the second Recoil album, Hydrology. This followed in a similar vein to the previous Recoil record, consisting of entirely instrumental, synthesized landscapes. Unfortunately, due to Wilder's busy touring schedule, he was unable to effectively promote the record. Recoil's first single was from its third album Bloodline, a cover of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band's "Faith Healer", with Douglas McCarthy from Nitzer Ebb on vocals. McCarthy would later reappear for two songs on the next album, Unsound Methods, including the single "Stalker". 1997's Unsound Methods was the first release after Wilder's decision to leave Depeche Mode. The fifth album, Liquid, was released in 2000.

The cover of 1 + 2 features "1+2" in transparent varnish, covering the front and back of the LP sleeve. Similarly, the cover of the Hydrology LP features a large "3" and "4" in transparent varnish. The back cover of Bloodline features "5 + 6" in pink and grey type.

Although there had been no releases for some time, in 2005 Wilder confirmed that he would start work on a new album. On 20 October 2006, Wilder appeared on a web greeting confirming a Summer 2007 target date for the next Recoil album. On 22 April 2007, Wilder released a statement on his Myspace page that the new album would be entitled subHuman and had been provisionally set for release on 9 July 2007. Included as guest vocalists this time were Carla Trevaskis and Joe Richardson. The latter also delivered the vocals for a track titled "Prey" which was the only single taken from subHuman. A sample from the song was also put on Recoil's MySpace page. "Prey" was released on 27 June 2009 via iTunes and related download portals. In addition, 2007 saw the re release of Bloodline (originally released in 1992) and Hydrology plus 1 + 2 (originally released in 1988). iTunes also prepared a special Recoil pack (similar to the Complete Depeche Mode iTunes pack) holding all Recoil releases. It was the first time that all Recoil material was available via iTunes. The packet didn't hold exclusives but did come in a DRM free high quality download version. A special download only remix of subHuman track "Killing Ground" by the Slips was released on 1 October 2007 on the Slips' Myspace page. Rumours surfaced that Wilder was to start work on a new album pretty soon. Late 2007, IGN, a unit of Fox Interactive Media, Inc., selected Recoil's subHuman album as "Best Electronic Album" for the year 2007. In February 2008, Wilder announced, due to popular demand, a limited edition CD release of the double sided Recoil single "Prey"/"Allelujah" out on 25 February 2008. The CD was issued, with the support of Mute, through the Russian label Gala Records in conjunction with depeche mode. ru and was exclusively available online via their website. Also in February, the ex Depeche Mode member released an open letter on the Side Line magazine website, titled "Music for the Masses – I think not". In the article Wilder handles his vision on today's shifting music market and the position of the artist in this. In the small essay Wilder touches the volume war, the effect of excessive compression, the download spiral, alternative ways to release music, the birth of the fan powered release of the limited enhanced single "Prey"/"Allelujah" in Russia, Mute Records, Depeche Mode and much more. December saw a brand new free bonus mix of "Prey" (taken from the subHuman album) released as a Christmas download on 8 December. The mix was approved by Wilder and remixed by David Husser.