Obsolete (album)

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Obsolete
Studio album by Fear Factory
Released	July 28, 1998 March 23, 1999 (limited edition digipak)
Recorded	February 21 – May 10, 1998
Studio	Mushroom & Armoury (Vancouver)
Genre	Nu metal[1][2][3] groove metal[4] industrial metal[5]
Length	48:59
Label	Roadrunner
Producer	Fear Factory Rhys Fulber Greg Reely
Fear Factory chronology
Remanufacture (1997) Obsolete (1998) Resurrection (1999)
Fear Factory studio album chronology
Demanufacture (1995) Obsolete (1998) Digimortal (2001)
Singles from Obsolete
"Shock" Released: July 14, 1998 "Resurrection" Released: September 14, 1998 "Descent" Released: April 1999 "Cars" Released: August 31, 1999

Obsolete (styled as °BSΩLE+e) is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Fear Factory, released on July 28, 1998, through Roadrunner Records. It was produced by Fear Factory, Greg Reely and Rhys Fulber, the latter of whom wrote, arranged and performed all of the album's keyboard parts, and was the band's first full album to feature bassist Christian Olde Wolbers, who performed on around half of the tracks of the band's previous album Demanufacture (1995).^[6]

Musically, the album saw Fear Factory experiment with their sound, featuring a more "organic" groove than the band's previous album.^[6] The band's first fully fledged concept album, Obsolete revolves around a story penned by vocalist Burton C. Bell, "Conception 5", set in the year 2076 where machines have taken over mankind.^[6]

With the success of its fourth single, a cover version of "Cars" by Gary Numan, featuring Numan himself on vocals, Obsolete would break Fear Factory into the mainstream and remain their highest selling album.^[7]