{{Other uses|The Complex (disambiguation){{!}}The Complex}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = The Complex | type = studio | artist = [[Blue Man Group]] | cover = BlueManGroupTheComplex.jpg | alt = | released = April 22, 2003 | recorded = 2002–2003 | venue = | studio = | genre = | length = 58:41 | label = {{hlist|[[Lava Records|Lava]]|[[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]}} | producer = Todd Perlmutter, Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton, Chris Wink | prev_title = [[Audio (album)|Audio]] | prev_year = 1999 | next_title = Las Vegas 4 Song Sampler | next_year = 2005 | misc = {{Extra chronology | artist = [[Blue Man Group]] studio album | type = studio | prev_title = [[Audio (album)|Audio]] | prev_year = 1999 | title = The Complex | year = 2003 | next_title = [[Three (Blue Man Group album)|Three]] | next_year = 2016 }} {{Singles | name = The Complex | type = studio | single1 = [[The Current (song)|The Current]] | single1date = March 14, 2003 | single2 = I Feel Love | single2date = May 15, 2003 | single3 = Sing Along | single3date = June 6, 2003 }} }} {{Music ratings | MC = 60/100<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/the-complex/blue-man-group|title=Reviews for The Complex by Blue Man Group|website=[[Metacritic]]|access-date=December 1, 2025}}</ref> | rev1 = [[AllMusic]] | rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r627529|pure_url=yes}}</ref> | rev2 = ''[[E! Online|E!]]'' | rev2score = C<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030816033050/http://www.eonline.com/Reviews/Facts/Music/RevID/0,1107,2938,00.html|title=Blue Man Group - The Complex|website=[[E! Online]]|date=August 15, 2003|access-date=December 1, 2025}}</ref> | rev3 = ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' | rev3score = C−<ref>Even emotive guests like Tracy Bonham and Dave Matthews can't heat up The Complex's frosty, dullingly drum-driven aesthetic. [2 May 2003, p.70]</ref> | rev4 = ''[[Now (newspaper)|Now]]'' | rev4score = {{rating|2|5}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050120171725/http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2003-07-03/music_discs2.php|title=BLUE MAN GROUP - THE COMPLEX|website=[[Now (1996–2019 magazine)|Now]]|last=Raynor|first=Brent|date=July 9, 2003|access-date=December 1, 2025}}</ref> | rev5 = ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' | rev5score = {{rating|3.5|5}}<ref>An engagingly quirky rock record. [Oct 2003, p.100]</ref> | rev6 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' | rev6score = {{rating|3.5|5}}<ref>Chic Euro-techno atmospheres that won't wear off even after you've seen the live show. [1 May 2003, p.56]</ref> }}
'''''The Complex''''' is the second studio [[album]] by [[Blue Man Group]], released in 2003. It is a [[concept album]] that takes place in two separate worlds: the world of the rock concert, as in the song "Time to Start," and the alienating world of the modern urban workplace, as in the songs "Sing Along," "The Current", and "The Complex." Both worlds are then tied together in the song "What Is Rock," which contrasts the celebratory "loss of identity" within a rock performance with the dehumanizing "loss of identity" within the workplace. These themes were illustrated during performance by animations that told the story of a faceless worker eventually escaping "up to the roof" and discovering their true self.
''The Complex'' produced three singles, and debuted at #60 on the [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] charts. As with the previous album, a [[DVD-Audio]] version was released, containing a high-definition (96 kHz/24-bit) 5.1 [[surround sound]] mix. [[AllMusic]] reviewer Robert L. Doerschuk states "Although its inspirations, musical and conceptual, trace as far back as [[Kraftwerk]], ''The Complex'' serves as a reminder that modern devices and glistening production values can be applied to the most primal creative instincts, if utilized by the right — blue — hands".<ref>Doerschuk, R. L. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r627529|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic]. Accessed June 29, 2009.</ref>
==Track listing== {{Track listing | headline = ''The Complex'' | title1 = Above | writer1 = Dyas, Goldman, Heinemann, Pai, Perlmutter, Stanton, Wink | length1 = 2:46 | title2 = Time to Start | writer2 = Dyas, Goldman, Stanton, Wink | length2 = 3:43 | title3= Sing Along | writer3 = Dyas, Goldman, Stanton, Wink | length3 = 3:25 | note3 = featuring [[Dave Matthews]] | title4 = Up to the Roof | writer4 = Dyas, Gleitsman, Goldman, Heinemann, Perlmutter, Stanton, Wink | length4 = 3:51 | note4 = featuring [[Tracy Bonham]] | title5 = Your Attention | writer5 = Dyas, Goldman, Heinemann, Pai, Perlmutter, Stanton, Wink | length5 = 4:09 | title6 = Persona | writer6 = Dyas, Gleitsman, Goldman, Stanton, Wink | length6 = 4:30 | note6 = featuring [[Josh Haden]] | title7 = Piano Smasher | writer7 = Dyas, Golden, Goldman, Perlmutter, Stanton, Wink | length7 = 3:00 | title8 = [[White Rabbit (song)|White Rabbit]] | writer8 = [[Grace Slick]] | length8 = 2:54 | note8 = featuring [[Esthero]] | title9 = [[The Current (song)|The Current]] | writer9 = Dyas, Gleitsman, Goldman, Stanton, Wink | length9 = 3:48 | note9 = featuring [[Gavin Rossdale]] | title10 = Shadows, Pt. 2 | writer10 = Dyas, Gleitsman, Goldman, Perlmutter, Stanton, Wink | length10 = 2:56 | note10 = featuring Tracy Bonham and [[Rob Swift]] | title11 = What Is Rock | writer11 = Dyas, Gleitsman, Goldman, Stanton, Wink | length11 = 3:11 | note11 = featuring Arone Dyer and Peter Moore | title12 = The Complex | writer12 = Dyas, Gleitsman, Goldman, Heinemann, Stanton, Wink | length12 = 6:25 | note12 = featuring Peter Moore | title13 = [[I Feel Love]] | writer13 = Bellotte, Moroder, Summer | length13 = 5:13 | note13 = featuring Annette Strean of [[Venus Hum]] | title14 = Exhibit 13 | writer14 = Banks, Dyas, Goldman, Heinemann, Parrulli, Stanton, Wink | length14 = 4:01 | title15 = [[Mandelbrot set|Mandelbrot No. 4]] | length15 = 4:19 | note15 = [[hidden track]] | total_length = 58:41 }}
==Personnel== *Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton, Chris Wink (CMP) - founders *Chris Dyas - baritone guitar, e-bow, guitar, harpsichord, zither *Larry Heinemann - bass, chapman stick, guitar, pressaphonic, tubulum, zither *Todd Perlmutter - drums, narrator (2,5,11), percussion programming *Blue Man - airpoles, anvil, backpack tubulum, big drum, cimbalom, cuica, dogulum, drumulum, dulcimer, dumpster, mandeldrums, mellotron cello, paddle tubulum, percussion, piano smasher, PVC instrument, tubulum, 1981 casiotone and kazoo. *[[Tracy Bonham]] - vocals (4,10) *[[Arone Dyer]] - vocals (11) *[[Esthero]] - vocals (8) *[[Josh Haden]] - vocals (6) *[[Dave Matthews]] - vocals (3) *Peter Moore - vocals (11,12), keyboards (15) *[[Gavin Rossdale]] - vocals (9) *Annette Strean and Venus Hum - vocals and effects (13) *[[Rob Swift]] - turntables (10) *[[Dave Anania]] - percussion (11) *Chris Bowen - tubulum (13), voiceover (11) *[[Nels Cline]] - guitar (6,8-10,13) *[[Dan the Automator]] - programming (3,9) *Jeffrey Doornbos - tubulum (13) *Byron Estep - dobro guitar (5) *Brooke Ferris - start voice (2), "words on the left" (5) *Avram Gleitsman - guitar (9) *[[Spalding Gray]] - "words on the right" (5) *[[Kid Koala]] - samples (11) *Elvis Lederer - zither (5,15) *Ian Pai - percussion (1,2,5,10,15) *Jeff Quay - percussion & double drum kit (5,6,12,15) *Brian Scott - tubulum (13) *Dave Steele - guitar (4,8,9,12), zither (4,12) *Rob Swift - turntable (5,10) *[[Chris Traynor]] - guitar (9) *Jeff Turlik - guitar (1,2,5,8,9,12-15), zither (14,15) *Todd Waetzig - percussion (11) *Jordan Cohen, Matthew Kriemelman, Jeff Tortora, Vince Verderame, Todd Waetzig, Nick White - Vegas Drum Army (1,2,5,6,7 & 13) *Dave Anania, Chris Bowen, Wes Day, Jeffrey Doornbos, Randall Jaynes, Josh Matthews, Ian Pai, Crag Rodriguez, Pete Simpson, Pete Starrett, Clem Waldman - NY Drum Army (2,5,15)
=== Production === *Producers: Todd Perlmutter, Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton, Chris Wink *Executive producer: Jeff Skillen *Engineers: Bill Bookheim, Joe Hogan, Joe O'Connell, Todd Perlmutter, Andrew Schneider *Mixing: Rich Costey, Andrew Schneider *Mastering: Bob Ludwig *Production supervisor: Jeff Levison *Production coordination: Jaime Ramírez *Product development: Michael Quinn, Jeni Ardizzone West *Programming: Dan the Automator, Todd Perlmutter *Computer engineering: Larry Heinemann *Vocal producers: [[Kip Kubin]], Tony Miracle, Venus Hum *Sampling: Kid Koala *Arrangers: Peter Moore, Ian Pai, Dave Steele, Jeff Turlik *Studio assistant: Mike Napolitano *Art consultant: Dan the Automator *Technician: Mike Napolitano *Drum technician: Carl Plaster *Art direction: Marcus Miller, Charles Tyler Ensemble *Design: Jen Graffam Wink *Artwork: David Bell *Cover image: Jen Graffam Wink
==Charts==
===Album=== {|class="wikitable" !Chart (2003) !Peak<br>position |- |[[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] |align="center"|60 |- |Billboard Top Internet Albums |align="center"|60 |- |}
===Songs=== {|class="wikitable" !Year !Song !Chart !Position |- |2003 |"Sing Along" |[[Adult Top 40]] |align="center"|37 |- |2004 |"I Feel Love" |[[Hot Dance Club Play]] |align="center"|7 |- |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{MusicBrainz release group|id=05fab6cb-b3ba-3f02-852e-b6e4cfeca8d4|name=The Complex}}
{{BMG}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Complex, The}} [[Category:Blue Man Group albums]] [[Category:2003 albums]] [[Category:2000s concept albums]]