The group was formed in 1988 by Dr. Alex Paterson (full name Duncan Robert Alex Paterson) and Jimmy Cauty (one half of The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu and later The KLF). The Orb's first release was the acid house anthem "Tripping on Sunshine".
In May 1989, The Orb released the "Kiss EP", which was heavily influenced by New York's KISS FM. Paterson began DJing around London, England at this time when he met Paul Oakenfold. At Oakenfold's behest, Paterson began DJing at Land of Oz, the chill-out room at Heaven.
Paterson mixed samples of BBC nature recordings, NASA space broadcasts and everything in between into the music of ambient pioneers such as Brian Eno. Around this time, Paterson met Steve Hillage and Hillage later contributed guitar to the Orb's "Blue Room" single. In return Paterson worked on Hillage's System 7 project.
In October 1989 The Orb released the 22-minute single "A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From the Centre of the Ultraworld", which contains large chunks of Minnie Riperton's "Loving You". The single managed to reach the lower end of the UK chart. Although Paterson and Cauty had been working on a debut album, the two split in April 1990. Cauty removed Paterson's contributions to the album and released the remainder as "Space".
Killing Joke's Youth, who'd recently found dancefloor success with Blue Pearl assisted with the single "Little Fluffy Clouds", but existing commitments made it impossible for him to be anything more than a part-time member. In his place, Paterson recruited Kris Weston (aka Thrash), a young studio engineer who had worked on "Little Fluffy Clouds" and recently left Fortran 5.
In April, 1991, The Orb's debut album, "Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld" was released in the United Kingdom to critical acclaim. The double-album obtained a top 30 placing in the UK.
"U.F.Orb" was released in July, 1992. It featured the 39 minute 59 second "Blue Room" which was their third single to reach the UK charts, although the album version was only 17 minutes long. Early pressings of the album were available in three differently coloured sealed plastic packs (black (10,000) and blue (5,000) in the UK and green (1,000) in the US) containing an additional disc with the soundtrack from Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld (Patterns & Textures edition), a mail order only long form video released by the Orb.
During 1993 and 1994 The Orb were dismayed by Big Life's intention to re-issue some of the Orb's earlier material. As a result, Paterson and Thrash opted out of their contract and Paterson signed an international deal with Chris Blackwell's Island Records. The double-album "Live '93" soon followed. It was a mix of recordings made in Glastonbury, Copenhagen and Tokyo. The album's credits included, Simon Phillips, Nick Burton, Kris Weston, Fluff and of course Paterson.
In June, 1994, they released their first studio album for Island, "Pomme Fritz (The Orb's Little Album)". The album reached number six on the UK, but critics hated it, even comparing Paterson to Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett.
August, 1994 saw the release of a collaboration between Robert Fripp, Paterson, Weston, and Thomas Fehlmann, hence the name FFWD or Fripp, Fehlmann, Weston and Duncan. Weston's input was already diminishing by this time and following the release of FFWD, he finally parted company with Paterson. He was replaced by Thomas Fehlmann.
"Orbus Terrarum" was released in March, 1995. In February, 1997, following an ambitious world tour, they released "Orblivion".
The retrospective "U.F.Off" came in October, 1998 and was initially available in a Limited Edition double CD.
"Cydonia", although recorded in 1999, was delayed by Island until its release in February, 2001. Several different versions of the album were leaked on the Net some time before the official release.
The 2004 released album "Bicycles & Tricycles" strongly departed from their earlier ambient sound, and incorporated strong hip-hop influenced rhythms, including rap on one of the tracks.
In 2005 The Orb released a new studio album, "Okie Dokie It's The Orb On Kompakt", which focused heavily on the microhouse and pop ambient sounds that the Kompakt label is well known for.
2005 also saw the release of "Orbsessions Volume 1", which was an album of rarities from throughout The Orbs' career.
Sadly, Andy Hughes, long-time mixer and producer of many of The Orb's works, passed away on June 12 2009, following a 'short illness'.
S.A.L.T
The Orb Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Are you not familiar with the Revelations of St.John
The final book of the Bible, prophesied the apocalypse
He forced everyone to receive a mark on his right hand
Or on his forehead so that no one shall be able
To buy or sell unless he has that mark
And the number of the beast is '6 6 6'
What can such a specific prophecy mean?
What is the mark?
Well, the mark is the bar-code
The ubiquitous bar-code that you'll find on every bog roll
And every packet of Johnnies and every poxy-pork-pie
And every bar-code is divided into two parts by three markers
And those three markers are always represented by the number six
'6 6 6'
And what does it say?
No one shall be able to buy or sell without that mark
And now what they're planning to do
In order to eradicate all credit card fraud
And in order to precipitate a totally cashless society?
What they're planning to do
And they've already tested it on the American troops
They're gonna subcutaneously laser-tattoo
That mark onto your right hand or onto your forehead
They're going to replace plastic with flesh, fact
In the same book of Revelations
When the Seven Seals are broken open on the Day of Judgment
And the seven angels blow their trumpets
When the third angel blows her trumpet
Wormwood will fall from the sky
And wormwood will poison a third part of all the waters
And a third part of all the land and many, many, many people will die
And you know what the Russian translation of wormwood is?
Chernobyl, fact
On August the 18th, 1999
The planets of our solar system
Are going to line up into the shape of a cross
They're going to line up in the big signs
Of Aquarius, Leo, Taurus and Scorpio
Which just happen to correspond
To the four beasts of the apocalypse
As mentioned in the book of Daniel, another fact
Do you think that the amoeba ever dreamed
That it would evolve into the frog?
And when that first frog shimmied out of the water
And employed its vocal chords in order to attract a mate
[Incomprehensible] a predator
Do you think that that frog ever imagined
That incipient croak would evolve
Into all the languages of the world
Into all the literature of the word, possibly?
And just as that froggie could never have possibly
Conceived of Shakespeare
So we can never possibly imagine our destiny
Look, if you take the whole of time represented by one year
But only in the first few moments of the 1st of January
It's a long way to go
And no, we're not going to sprout extra limbs and wings and things
Because evolution itself is evolving
When it comes, the apocalypse itself will be a part of the process
Of that leap of evolution
By the very definition of Apocalypse
Mankind must cease to exist, at least in a material form
We'll have evolved into something that transcends matter
Into a species of pure thought, are you with me?
The lyrics of The Orb's S.A.L.T. are a deeply complex and provocative take on the idea of the end of the world, informed by religious themes and contemporary technological developments. The song refers extensively to the Book of Revelations, specifically to an apocalyptic prophecy which states that no one will be able to buy or sell without having the mark of the beast, which is represented by the number 666. The lyrics suggest that this mark is, in fact, the ubiquitous bar code used to track items in consumer society. The song further states that plans are being made to replace credit cards and cash with subcutaneously laser-tattooed marks on the right hand or forehead.
The song then moves on to discussing an alignment of planets on August 18th, 1999, which is believed to be a significant event in astrology, as it supposedly foretells the beginning of a new era. The lyrics also refer to the Chernobyl disaster, using it as an example of how prophetic events can come to pass in unforeseen ways. The song finishes by stating that the apocalypse will not simply be the end of the world, but a part of a larger process of evolution, where humans will transcend the material world and become a species of pure thought.
Overall, The Orb's S.A.L.T. is an evocative and thought-provoking song that touches on the deeply held cultural and religious beliefs around the end of the world and how it might come to pass.
Line by Line Meaning
Are you not familiar with the Revelations of St.John
Do you have knowledge of the final book of the Bible called Revelations which prophesized the apocalypse?
He forced everyone to receive a mark on his right hand
Everyone must get a mark on their right hand or forehead to buy or sell; the mark is the name of the beast and the number of his name (which is '666')
What can such a specific prophecy mean?
What is the meaning behind the prophecy of the mark?
Well, the mark is the bar-code
The mark mentioned in the prophecy is the bar-code found on every product with three markers that represent the number six ('666')
No one shall be able to buy or sell without that mark
Without the mark, one cannot engage in buying or selling
And now what they're planning to do
What is their plan to eradicate credit card fraud and move towards a cashless society?
They're gonna subcutaneously laser-tattoo
They will laser-tattoo the mark onto people's right hand or forehead, replacing plastic with flesh
When the Seven Seals are broken open on the Day of Judgment
In the book of Revelations, the Day of Judgment is depicted with the breaking open of the Seven Seals
Wormwood will fall from the sky
When the third angel blows her trumpet in Revelations, Wormwood will fall from the sky and poison a third of all waters and lands, killing many people
And you know what the Russian translation of wormwood is?
The translation of wormwood in Russian is Chernobyl, which is a fact
The planets of our solar system
On August 18th, 1999, the planets in our solar system will line up to form a cross shape
Do you think that the amoeba ever dreamed
Did the amoeba ever imagine it would evolve into the frog?
And when that first frog shimmied out of the water
And when the first frog jumped out of the water and used its vocal chords to attract a mate
Do you think that that frog ever imagined
Did the frog consider that this incipient croak would evolve into all the languages and literature of the world?
And just as that froggie could never have possibly
Just like the frog could not have imagined Shakespeare, we too cannot imagine our destiny
Look, if you take the whole of time represented by one year
If one were to represent all of time in one year, only the first few moments of January 1st would have elapsed
And no, we're not going to sprout extra limbs and wings and things
We will not physically evolve with extra limbs or wings because evolution itself is evolving
By the very definition of Apocalypse
Due to the very definition of an apocalypse, mankind must cease to exist in material form
We'll have evolved into something that transcends matter
Humans will evolve into something that surpasses physical matter, becoming a species of pure thought
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management
Written by: ALEX DOCTOR PATERSON, ANDREW PAUL HUGHES, THOMAS FEHLMANN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ZX81v2
"Did you ever get the felling you're being followed?
Are you not familiar with the Revelations of St.John
The final book of the Bible, prophesied the apocalypse
He forced everyone to receive a mark on his right hand
Or on his forehead so that no one shall be able
To buy or sell unless he has that mark
Which is the name of the beast and the number of his name
And the number of the beast is '6 6 6'
What can such a specific prophecy mean?
What is the mark?
Well, the mark is the bar-code
The ubiquitous bar-code that you'll find on every bog roll
And every packet of Johnnies and every poxy-pork-pie
And every bar-code is divided into two parts by three markers
And those three markers are always represented by the number six
'6 6 6'
And what does it say?
No one shall be able to buy or sell without that mark
And now what they're planning to do
In order to eradicate all credit card fraud
And in order to precipitate a totally cashless society
What they're planning to do
And they've already tested it on the American troops
They're gonna subcutaneously laser-tattoo
That mark onto your right hand or onto your forehead
They're going to replace plastic with flesh, fact
In the same book of Revelations
When the Seven Seals are broken open on the Day of Judgment
And the seven angels blow their trumpets
When the third angel blows her trumpet
Wormwood will fall from the sky
And wormwood will poison a third part of all the waters
And a third part of all the land and many, many, many people will die
And you know what the Russian translation of wormwood is?
Chernobyl, fact
On August the 18th, 1999
The planets of our solar system
Are going to line up into the shape of a cross
They're going to line up in the big signs
Of Aquarius, Leo, Taurus and Scorpio
Which just happen to correspond
To the four beasts of the apocalypse
As mentioned in the book of Daniel, another fact
Do you think that the amoeba ever dreamed
That it would evolve into the frog?
And when that first frog shimmied out of the water
And employed its vocal chords in order to attract a mate
[Incomprehensible] a predator
Do you think that that frog ever imagined
That incipient croak would evolve
Into all the languages of the world
Into all the literature of the word, possibly?
And just as that froggie could never have possibly
Conceived of Shakespeare
So we can never possibly imagine our destiny
Look, if you take the whole of time represented by one year
But only in the first few moments of the 1st of January
It's a long way to go
And no, we're not going to sprout extra limbs and wings and things
Because evolution itself is evolving
When it comes, the apocalypse itself will be a part of the process
Of that leap of evolution
By the very definition of Apocalypse
Mankind must cease to exist, at least in a material form
We'll have evolved into something that transcends matter
Into a species of pure thought, are you with me?
S.A.L.T. / NAKED - The Orb
@ascendedworld8302
now this is unfolding before our eyes and yet...many...still think nothing is happening! TIME TO WAKE UP!!!
@purplepurplesaurasne
Muskrat thinking about making Twitter an everything app reminded me of this classic The Orb song that I hadn't heard since middle school. This was some heady stuff at that age.
@hectormugwump5530
16 years old. College trip to Amsterdam. 40 wet grams of Cubensis mushrooms. I assumed my dorm-mates would be up for it but it became apparent that they weren't. I ate the lot and listened to Orblivion on repeat for (6) hours which seemed like (6) days at the time but (6) minutes in retrospect. I'm 30 now and would weep with joy (and likely embarrassment too) were I to find the pages upon pages upon pages of revelations which spewed from my brain that night. The lads I was with thought my bizarre state was hilarious but a particularly lovely girl called Amina stayed with me and watched me scribble until they wore off. I will never hear this album the same way I did before that night. S.A.L.T. in particular almost transports me back there :)
@hectormugwump5530
Fast-forward 12 years or so and I try to explain this story to Dr. Alex Patterson himself but get completely tongue-tied while he politely (yet e-ever so slightly sardonically) nods and smiles. I'm sure he gets total spacecakes spouting off about their trips to The Orb all the time :'D
@pauljohnson3739
666 views. I sympathize. Long nights on acid.
@keatomic
Life. I know this kind of experience. I am richer than all. And just stay silent and smile.
@crazykingbull
Legend
@timc5574
@Jamie Guthrie That's hilarious. The first time I met him I just said "I don't know how many late nights/early mornings I've spent but it's a lot" and he basically said yup indeed.
@mE-zx7pt
Love this movie!
@chippysteve4524
Awesome tunes remain awesome.
FACT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!