Chrome largely abandoned conventional rock compositions, instead employing cut up and collage techniques and heavily processed sound to create a kind of sci-fi punk sound. They made use of tape loops, samples, noisescapes, synthesizers and strange guitar sounds.
Following Alien Soundtracks, John Lambdin left Chrome, and Gary Spain gradually played less of an active role in the band, leaving a core of Helios Creed and Damon Edge to explore their own experiments with new members. The Creed/Edge collaboration lead to a number of more albums, including Half Machine Lip Moves (making best album lists by Wire Magazine and Julian Cope), Read Only Memory, Red Exposure, Blood On the Moon, 3rd from the Sun and No Humans Allowed.
In 1983 Edge moved to Paris with his wife, where he formed a new lineup of Chrome, releasing a number of albums without Helios Creed, starting with Into the Eyes of the Zombie King, until Edge's death in 1995. Helios Creed formed a new version of Chrome with both new and previous members, shortly after Edge's passing. The Helios-lead Chrome releasing their first album, Retro Transmission, in 1997, and have never officially broken up. They also toured from 1997 to 2001. The last released Chrome album was 2002's Angel of the Clouds, which was pieced together from unused tapes featuring Damon Edge.
Both Damon Edge and Helios Creed have a number of solo, non-Chrome titled albums.
There are other artists with the same name:
2. Chrome is a rapper from North Memphis, Tennessee's Frayser area, the same neighborhood of fellow H.C.P member, Frayser Boy. Chrome is signed to the Hypnotize Minds record label, which is owned by Three 6 Mafia.
Chrome released his first album in the winter of 2005, called Straight To The Pros. The singles off of that album were "So Fresh" and "I Learned".
3. Chrome is a thrash metal band from Kangasniemi, Eastern Finland.
4. Chrome is also a Swedish viking rock band.
5. Chrome is a hip hop artist from Norwich, England.
6. Chrome is an Austrian minimal techno duo. It's a project of Camo and Krooked who are better known for their drum and bass music.
Half Machine Lip Moves
Chrome Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I will now turn you out
Out to win the heroine
Does it hide? Does it prove?
They're moving on to passion times
But does the world for your love resemble mine
I can feel the void of a world surreal
They're going home to a past left behind
So I saw you in the zoo in the parking lot
Can't you see what you need you've already got
The lyrics of Chrome's "Half Machine Lip Moves" create an eerie atmosphere, as they seem to suggest a disconnect between reality and perception. The first line, "I can feel the April haze," sets the tone for an uncertain environment, where the boundaries between what we see and what we feel are blurred. The following verse, "I will now turn you out, out to win the heroine," seems to refer to a desire to escape from this confusion, to find a way out through some sort of heroic act. However, it is not clear what this act is or what it entails. The next lines, "Does it hide? Does it prove?" only add to the enigma, as they suggest that whatever the heroic act is, it might not be as straightforward as it seems.
The chorus of the song seems to be a commentary on society's obsession with nostalgia, as it compares the present ("passion times") to the past ("a past left behind"). The singer of the song feels like an outsider in this world, as he or she senses "the void of a world surreal." The final lines of the chorus, "And I guess the band will be playing with angel fire," suggest that there might be hope in this world, albeit a supernatural one.
The last verse of the song brings the focus back to the individual, as the singer sees someone in a zoo parking lot and urges them to realize that "what you need you've already got." It is unclear who this person is or why they need to be reminded of this fact, but the line seems to encapsulate the message of the song: that sometimes we need to look within ourselves to find the answers we seek.
Overall, "Half Machine Lip Moves" is a song that creates a sense of unease and ambiguity, as it explores the boundaries between reality and perception, and between the present and the past.
Line by Line Meaning
I can feel the april haze
I am sensing the indistinct feeling that comes with April
I will now turn you out
I will now lead you out, show you the way
Out to win the heroine
We will go outside to find the female hero, the savior
Does it hide? Does it prove?
Does it remain concealed or is it visible to be confirmed?
They're moving on to passion times
They are advancing to a time of intense emotion
But does the world for your love resemble mine
Is your perception of the world in love similar to mine?
I can feel the void of a world surreal
I can detect the emptiness of an unreal world
They're going home to a past left behind
They are returning to a past that has been abandoned
And I guess the band will be playing with angel fire
I assume that the band will play with holy energy
So I saw you in the zoo in the parking lot
I sighted you in an urban place teeming with uncultivated behavior
Can't you see what you need you've already got
Can't you realize that you already possess what you need?
Contributed by Callie T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Rob Vonk
Helios Creed is a totally underrated guitar maestro.
no
I know eh,? He's friggin' awesome! 🎸 ✨
Paul Atkins
Not by me. Nothing does it for me like Chrome. When I get my superpowers I'm going to go to America and heal him so he can keep making music.
James Dean Brown
Don't study ratings.
Noise Pollution 🤳
Yeah they're pretty much one song aye? 🦎
Barelyalive
Along with Snakefinger and Keith Levine… He is my favorite
cameron karslake
An absolutely frightening album at the time. Music was consumed with sweet sounds in the 70s. What a statement this wild record made!
Chuck Abbate
Fucking six gun bow shot against the tide of mediocrity
Donald Gallacher
Like I pointed out some where else, Chrome were as punk as fuck. Legends.
Giancarlo Porcu
La prima volta non credevo esistessero gruppi così allucinanti fantastici