# Free Mars > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Free_Mars > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Free_Mars.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Mars > Source revision: 1350908890 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Infobox album | name = Free Mars | type = studio | artist = [Lusk](/source/Lusk_(band)) | cover = Lusk - Free Mars.jpg | alt = | released = April 15, 1997 | recorded = 1996, Contemporary Pimple Studios{{citation needed|date=July 2019}} | venue = | studio = | genre = {{flatlist| * [Psychedelic rock](/source/Psychedelic_rock) * [psychedelic pop](/source/psychedelic_pop) * [experimental rock](/source/experimental_rock) * [shoegazing](/source/shoegazing) }} | length = 66:13 | label = [Zoo](/source/Zoo_Entertainment_(record_label)) / [Volcano](/source/Volcano_Entertainment) | producer = [Paul D'Amour](/source/Paul_D'Amour), [Chris Pitman](/source/Chris_Pitman) | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = | next_year = }} {{Album ratings | rev1 = [Allmusic](/source/Allmusic) | rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r259672}} | noprose = yes }} '''''Free Mars''''' is the only album by the [experimental](/source/Experimental_rock) [psychedelic rock](/source/psychedelic_rock) project [Lusk](/source/Lusk_(band)), released in 1997 in a [Digipak](/source/Digipak)-style case. The album features an appearance by [Tool](/source/Tool_(band)) drummer [Danny Carey](/source/Danny_Carey), as well as an assortment of [artist](/source/artist)s and [musician](/source/musician)s from the [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles) scene. Lusk's members included [Paul D'Amour](/source/Paul_D'Amour) (formerly of [Tool](/source/Tool_(band))), [Brad Laner](/source/Brad_Laner) ([Medicine](/source/Medicine_(band))), [Chris Pitman](/source/Chris_Pitman) ([Guns N' Roses](/source/Guns_N'_Roses)), and [Failure](/source/Failure_(band)) and [Autolux](/source/Autolux) member [Greg Edwards](/source/Greg_Edwards_(musician)) . (D'Amour, Edwards, and Pitman were also members of [Replicants](/source/Replicants_(band)).) It was the final album released by [Zoo Entertainment](/source/Zoo_Entertainment_(record_label)), which was also the label of Tool, as it was absorbed into [Volcano Entertainment](/source/Volcano_Entertainment) that same year.https://variety.com/1997/music/news/austin-czinger-in-biz-duet-1116677938/ A 7" vinyl single for "Backworlds" was also released, backed with "The Hotel Family Affair." The video for "Backworlds" got good reception on MTV. It premiered on [120 Minutes](/source/120_Minutes) in September 1997, and was also the first video placed into heavy rotation on the channel after it received the most votes in four episodes of the short-lived video-rating series [12 Angry Viewers](/source/12_Angry_Viewers). ==Recording and musical style== In addition to having "[prog-rock](/source/progressive_rock) roots",{{cite web|author=Beth Winegarner |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/509619/former-tool-bassist-goes-pop-with-lusk/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726081948/http://www.mtv.com/news/509619/former-tool-bassist-goes-pop-with-lusk/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 26, 2019 |title=Former Tool Bassist Goes Pop With Lusk |publisher=MTV |date=1997-05-12 |accessdate=2019-07-26}} ''Free Mars'' also contained a strong influence from British music. Chris Pitman said in 1997 "[we have] definite love for crafty songwriting via [The Beatles](/source/The_Beatles) and [The Kinks](/source/The_Kinks) and bands like that. But please, don't lump them in with [Oasis](/source/Oasis_(band)). We didn't know about any '[Britpop](/source/Britpop)' stuff." Pitman attributed the album's psychedelic 60s pop sound to the band's recording environment. He stated "We were just going to do an experimental record. But we got this rehearsal space where [Fleetwood Mac](/source/Fleetwood_Mac) and [The Beach Boys](/source/The_Beach_Boys) and all these people used to rehearse. It's kept the same way it was back then, and it's really nostalgic. I think that rubbed off into what we were doing." ==Reception== [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)'s Steve Bekkala wrote in his review "Blending lo-fi dime store psychedelia with layered shoegazing soundscapes, ''Free Mars'' stakes out the murky sonic turf located somewhere in the midst of [My Bloody Valentine](/source/My_Bloody_Valentine_(band)), [Olivia Tremor Control](/source/The_Olivia_Tremor_Control), and [Spiritualized](/source/Spiritualized)." He concluded by stating that "the album is mostly an assured, solid collection of songs." ''Free Mars'' would go on to get a [Grammy](/source/Grammy) award nomination for [Best Recording Package](/source/Best_Recording_Package), but lost out to ''Titanic: Music as Heard on the Fateful Voyage''. Paul D'Amour claimed in a May 1997 [MTV](/source/MTV) interview that "Lusk is probably the first thing I've ever done that I'm truly pleased with." In August 1998, ''[The Lantern](/source/The_Lantern)'' named it as one of the "top unheard records of '97".{{Cite web|url=https://www.thelantern.com/1998/08/97s-best-who-was-that-masked-band/|title=97s best: Who was that masked band?|date=2 August 1998}} ==Track listing== #"Backworlds" – 4:49 #"Savvy Kangaroos" – 3:19 #"Gold" – 3:50 #"Free Mars" – 5:58 #"Doctor" – 6:08 #"Mindray" – 4:18 #"The Hotel Family Affair" – 4:28 #"Black Sea Me" – 4:12 #"Undergarden" – 4:21 #"Kill the King" – 5:31 #"My Good Fishwife" – 5:46 / "Blair's Spiders" (hidden track after 10:49) – 19:19 *The case and booklet list "The Hotel Family Affair" and "Black Sea Me" together as one track, but they are separate tracks on the disc itself. ==Personnel== *[Chris Pitman](/source/Chris_Pitman) – [vocals](/source/Singing), [piano](/source/piano), [chamberlin](/source/chamberlin), [harpsichord](/source/harpsichord), [organ](/source/Organ_(music)), [mellotron](/source/mellotron), [guitar](/source/guitar), [bass](/source/Bass_guitar), [synthesizer](/source/synthesizer)s *[Paul D'Amour](/source/Paul_D'Amour) – [vocals](/source/Singing), [guitar](/source/guitar), [bass](/source/Bass_guitar), [synthesizer](/source/synthesizer)s, [percussion](/source/Percussion_instrument), [bells](/source/Bell_(instrument)) and [shakers](/source/Idiophone) *[Greg Edwards](/source/Greg_Edwards_(musician)) – [vocals](/source/Singing), [guitar](/source/guitar), [bass](/source/Bass_guitar), [drums](/source/Drum_kit), [synthesizer](/source/synthesizer)s *[Brad Laner](/source/Brad_Laner) – [vocals](/source/Singing), [guitar](/source/guitar), [bass](/source/Bass_(instrument)), [drums](/source/Drum_kit), [synthesizer](/source/synthesizer)s, [noise](/source/noise), treatments ===Additional personnel=== *Dana Woolard – [cello](/source/cello) *Gilden Tunador – backing [vocals](/source/Singing) *[Korel Tunador](/source/Korel_Tunador) – [horns](/source/horn_section) *Joe Russo – [cello](/source/cello) *Patti Hood – [harp](/source/harp), [concert harp](/source/concert_harp), [laughter](/source/laughter) *Kellii Scott – [drums](/source/Drum_kit) *[Danny Carey](/source/Danny_Carey) – [percussion](/source/Drum_kit) *Blair Blake ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Brad Laner}} {{Authority control}} Category:1997 albums Category:Volcano Entertainment albums Category:Zoo Entertainment (record label) albums --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Free Mars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Mars) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Mars?action=history)). 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