| No World Order | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | TR-i |
| Cover: | Todd Rundgren - No World Order.jpg |
| Caption: | The first release of 'No World Order', as the experimental interactive release. |
| Released: | July 6, 1993 June 7, 1994 |
| Genre: | Rock, electronica, hip hop |
| Length: | 53:14 |
| Label: | Rhino/Forward Alchemedia (No World Order Lite) |
| Producer: | Todd Rundgren |
| Prev Title: | 2nd Wind |
| Prev Year: | 1991 |
| Next Title: | The Individualist |
| Next Year: | 1995 |
No World Order is the fourteenth studio album by Todd Rundgren (credited to TR-i). It was released on July 6, 1993, for the Philips CD-i, making it the first interactive album in history.[1] Its music was heavily influenced by electronica and rap.[2]
This CD-only recording was available in an interactive version on Philips' short-lived CD-i format, as well as the Macintosh and Windows operating systems. The interactive version included the ability to alter the playback of the music by selecting a pre-determined sequence by either Rundgren or one of his four guest producers - Don Was, Jerry Harrison, Hal Willner and Bob Clearmountain. The interface allowed the listener to control various aspects of music playback. If the user did nothing, the Rundgren mix would start and play through to the end.
The interactive interface presented standard playback controls and the following major functions, plus a help function:
(TR-i, Hal Willner, Bob Clearmountain, Jerry Harrison, Don Was)
(Very Fast Forward, Fast Forward, Forward, Hold, Reverse)
(Creative, Standard, Conservative)
(Fastest 132 BPM, Faster 126 BPM, Fast 120 BPM, Medium 110 BPM, Slow 100 BPM, Slower 92 BPM, Slowest 96 BPM)
(Bright, Happy, Thoughtful, Sad, Dark)
(Karaoke, Thick, Natural, Spacious, Sparse)
(Blank, Warp, Swarm, Title, Editor)
The material on the disc was 933 4-bar musical segments.[3] Each was a portion of one of the songs, accompanied by metadata describing the character of the segment - tempo in BPM, mood, chorus or verse, etc. Each segment was available in multiple mixes as well, from instrumental to a cappella. As the listener adjusted parameters, the currently playing segment would finish before starting a new segment, ensuring a seamless listening experience.[4]
The interface had the unique (at the time) property of allowing the user to select a range rather than a single value when adjusting a parameter. One could select a fast tempo, reducing the range so only that fast tempo segments were played, or increase the range so medium to fast were played, weighting towards fast.
Rundgren demonstrated No World Order and the Philips CD-i system at record stores and electronics retailers after the release of the disc, and can be found on YouTube: Part 1 and Part 2.
The tour for the album was designed to maximize interactivity with the audience, allowing members to dance on a raised portion of the stage, and even to guest solo on guitar.[5] Rundgren was the only performer on this tour apart from three female dancers.[6]
The interactive program received "Best Composition/Arrangement" from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, and the "Best Interactive Disc of the Year" Award from Video magazine.[7] The editors of Electronic Entertainment presented it with their 1993 "Breakthrough Multimedia Title" award, and praised it as "a preview of a new kind of musical medium."[8]
A non-interactive, audio-only CD was released simultaneously with Rundgren's preferred sequence. Even this version, however, played on the theme of interactivity and lack of order: its nearly continuous flow supported random play, and its paper insert could be refolded and reinserted so as to display any of 16 alternate versions of the cover art.
Another version of the album, No World Order Lite, was released the following year, presenting the same material in a more song-oriented format.
In Japan a promotional disc, NWO (Version 1.01), was released that contains alternate versions of "Fascist Christ," "Property," "Day Job," and "Fever Broke."
An "expanded edition" reissue compiling all of the previous versions, plus four bonus tracks, was released by Esoteric/Cherry Red Records on November 8, 2011. On digital platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify, "Day Job [Club Version]" is missing from this reissue even though its title is included in the track listing; ten tracks on "disc two" are mislabeled, starting with "Proactivity," which is actually "Time Stood Still," and ending with "Day Job [Club Version]," which is "Property [Lost Version]."
A limited-edition DVD of the 1993-'94 "World (No Order) Tour" was issued by Toddstore in 2014. It includes a range of bonus video from the era, including footage of a CD-i demonstration by Rundgren at Tower Records in Chicago and two interviews from the period with Indianapolis TV journalist Ken Owen.
All songs by Todd Rundgren
Disc 1
Disc 2: