REPLICANTS - Replicants 1995 (Zoo/BMG: US) cd: 72445-11117-2

This month's feature is Zoo Records artist, Replicants.
Using this link, you can listen to audio files and purchase this recording.

Replicants: [as pictured above]
drums, percussion, guitar, and keyboards - Greg Edwards
guitar and lead vocals - Paul D'Amour
keyboards, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, and lead vocals - Chris Pitman
lead vocals, bass, guitar, backing vocals, and programming - Ken Andrews

When it was announced in October 1995 that Paul D'Amour was leaving Tool, fans already knew that he had been working on another project called Replicants with members of Failure (www.failure.org) due for release in November that year.

Replicants were then rumoured to have formed as a result of D'Amour's audition for permanent second guitarist in Failure. Ken Andrews and Greg Edwards, the creative core of Failure had formed the band in 1991 and opened for Tool on their 1993-94 tour supporting Undertow. Andrews had also directed Tool's video for "Hush" and edited the video for "Prison Sex".

Along with Chris Pitman, a member of Zaum (predating Tool and featuring Danny Carey on drums), the group set out to make an album's worth of covers of 1960s-1980s songs by The Cars, Wings, T. Rex, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, John Lennon, Missing Persons, Syd Barrett, Gary Numan, Steely Dan, David Bowie, and Pink Floyd.

D'Amour's contribution to the band is the significant role of primary guitarist--an ability hinted at only in interviews and the occasional Tool show--and as lead vocalist on the cover of "Ibiza Bar". The song was written by David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Rick Wright and recorded by their band, Pink Floyd. The original can be found on Pink Floyd - More (1969).

Seemingly lending proof to the belief that D'Amour had left Tool on good terms, Maynard Keenan provides guest lead vocals on the reworking of "Silly Love Songs". The song was written by Paul McCartney and recorded by his band, Wings. The original can be found on Wings - At the Speed of Sound (1976).

Although D'Amour did not ultimately join Failure, he and Pitman went on to form Lusk, releasing Free Mars in 1997, the same year that Failure broke up. He has since moved on to supporting his wife's band, Stella Maris and mixed/engineered The Murder City Devils 2001 EP, Thelema. Pitman has become a writing and touring member of Guns N' Roses, significantly contributing to the long-awaited Chinese Democracy. Andrews went on to form ON (www.onmusic.org) and Edwards formed Autolux (www.autolux.net). There are no plans for another Replicants recording.

Replicants - Replicants was released on November 21, 1995 in the United States, surfacing in Canada and other countries in early 1996. It was released on Zoo Records, the independent label Tool and Lusk also recorded for, and distributed by BMG records. It is still in print though not particularly easy to find.

Artists mentioned in this feature: Failure, Guns N' Roses, Lusk, The Murder City Devils, ON, and Tool.

Credits: Band photo by Mitch Tobias. Source material from tdn, CDNow, and the All Music Guide.