title: Woody Guthrie

text: The Grammy Museum held a tribute week in April 2012 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame a tribute in June. A four-disc box "Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions" by Billy Bragg and Wilco, with 17 unreleased songs and a documentary, was planned for April release.


title: Woody Guthrie

text: On July 10, 2012, Smithsonian Folkways released "Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection", a 150-page large-format book with three CDs containing 57 tracks. The set also contains 21 previously unreleased performances and six never before released original songs, including Woody's first known—and recently discovered—recordings from 1937. The box set received two nominations for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, including Best Historical Album and Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package. It also won an Independent Music Award for Best Compilation Album in 2013.


title: Woody Guthrie

text: From February 18 through May 22, 2022, the Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan held an exhibition titled "Woody Guthrie: People Are the Song"


title: Woody Guthrie

text: On September 30, 2022, Dropkick Murphys released "This Machine Still Kills Fascists". The acoustic album consists of ten songs featuring unused lyrics by Guthrie. Nora Guthrie, Woody's daughter, reached out to the band giving them exclusive access to her father's archives. “I collected lyrics on all kinds of topics … lyrics that seemed to be needed to be said — or screamed — today. Ken Casey is a master at understanding Woody’s lyrics, which can be complicated, long, deadly serious, or totally ridiculous. DKM is capable of delivering them all” Nora Guthrie said.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: "Kiki's Delivery Service" was released in Japan on July 29, 1989 by the Toei Company, and won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize. It was the first film released under a 15-year distribution partnership between The Walt Disney Company and Studio Ghibli. Walt Disney Pictures produced an English dub in 1997, which premiered in United States theaters at the Seattle International Film Festival on May 23, 1998. It was released on home video in the U.S. and Canada on September 1, 1998.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: Thirteen-year-old trainee witch Kiki leaves home with her talking black cat Jiji. She flies on her broomstick to the port city of Koriko. While trying to find somewhere to live, Kiki is pursued by Tombo, a geeky boy obsessed with aviation who admires her flying ability.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: In exchange for accommodation, Kiki helps Osono, the kindly owner of a bakery. She opens a business delivering goods by broomstick - the "Witch Delivery Service". Her first delivery goes badly; she is caught in wind and loses the black cat toy she is supposed to deliver. Jiji pretends to be the toy until Kiki can retrieve the real item. She finds it in the home of a young painter, Ursula, who repairs and returns it to Kiki so she can complete the delivery and rescue Jiji.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: Kiki accepts a party invitation from Tombo, but is delayed by her work and, exhausted, falls ill. When she recovers, Osono clandestinely arranges for Kiki to see Tombo again by assigning her a delivery addressed to him. After Kiki apologizes for missing the party, Tombo takes her for a test ride on the flying machine he is working on fashioned from a bicycle. Kiki warms to Tombo but is intimidated by his friends, and walks home.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: Kiki becomes depressed and discovers she can no longer understand Jiji, who has befriended a pretty white cat. She has also lost her flying ability and is forced to suspend her delivery business. Kiki has a surprise visit from Ursula, who determines that Kiki's crisis is a form of artist's block. Ursula suggests that if Kiki can find a new purpose, she will regain her powers.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: While Kiki is visiting a customer, she witnesses an airship accident on television. A strong gust leaves Tombo hanging in mid-air. Kiki regains her flying power and manages to rescue him. She regains her confidence, resumes her delivery service, and writes a letter home saying that she and Jiji are happy.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: A major theme of the film is maturity. After leaving her parents who are supportive of her independence, Kiki has to face problems common to adolescence such as finding a job, seeking acceptance, and taking care of herself. The concept of vulnerability is also examined closely in the film. Critic Mark Schilling notes a scene during Kiki's first night away from home where Kiki rushes back to her room and slams the door behind her to avoid being spotted by Fukuo. Fukuo, however, steps outside simply to stretch his arms, and Kiki's bizarrely shy behavior "expresses [her] youth, vulnerability, and isolation."


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: Another theme is the transition from traditional to contemporary. Kiki is shown to balance both of these qualities. For instance, Kiki observes the tradition of witches wearing black, but adorns her hair with a bright red bow. Kiki also engages in other traditional methods, such as baking with a wood-burning stove and flying her mother's old broom.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: Kiki's loss of her witch powers is considered the worst crisis she has to face during the film. Her loss of flight reflects the harm dealt to Kiki by her own self-doubts. This hardship causes Kiki to realize that being vulnerable does not always lead to failure and can help her learn valuable lessons to better understand herself. Jiji had served as the wiser voice (imaginary companion) to Kiki, and she stopped being able to understand him the moment she struggles with self-doubt. At the end of the film when Kiki overcomes her personal challenges, she is still unable to understand Jiji, signifying her newfound maturity and wisdom.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: In relation to Kiki's portrayal as a witch, some have drawn comparisons to historical or contemporary views on witches and witchcraft. The film incorporates some conventions from fairy-tales such as a black cat companion for Kiki, Kiki's use of a broom for flight, and her black dress. While girls with magical powers are common in Japanese television, Miyazaki noted that, "the witchcraft has always merely been the means to fulfill the dreams of young girls. They have always become idols with no difficulties." In contrast, Kiki cannot use her powers as a means of wish fulfillment.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: Kiki has also been compared to other characters in Miyazaki's films. While there are overt differences in demeanor between Kiki and San from "Princess Mononoke", a character who is motivated by anger, both characters take control over their own lives. This theme of remarkable independence is also seen in Miyazaki's earlier works, such as in Nausicaä in "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind". Kiki is also compared to Chihiro of "Spirited Away" as they are both young girls attempting to seek independence without being rebellious. Both Chihiro and Kiki develop their independence with the help of their friends.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: In 1987, Group Fudosha asked Kadono's publishers for the rights to adapt Kadono's novel into a feature film directed by either Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata of Studio Ghibli. However, both of the chosen directors were busy, working on "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Grave of the Fireflies" respectively. Miyazaki accepted the role of producer while the studio continued to search for a director. Near the end of "Totoro"s production, members of Studio Ghibli were being recruited as senior staff for "Kiki's Delivery Service". The character design position was given to Katsuya Kondo, who was working with Miyazaki on "Totoro". Hiroshi Ohno, who would later work on projects such as "Jin-Roh", was hired as art director at the request of Kazuo Oga.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: Miyazaki chose Sunao Katabuchi as director. Katabuchi had worked with Miyazaki on "Sherlock Hound"; "Kiki's Delivery Service" would be his directorial debut. Studio Ghibli hired Nobuyuki Isshiki as script writer, but Miyazaki was dissatisfied by the first draft, finding it dry and too divergent from his own vision of the film. Since the novel was based in a fictional country in northern Europe, Miyazaki and the senior staff went to research landscapes and other elements of the setting. Their main stops were Stockholm and Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: Upon their return to Japan, Miyazaki and the creative team worked on conceptual art and character designs. Miyazaki began significantly modifying the story, creating new ideas and changing existing ones. "Majo no Takkyūbin", the original children's book by Kadono that the movie was based on, is very different from Miyazaki's finished film. Kadono's novel is more episodic, consisting of small stories about various people and incidents Kiki encounters while making deliveries. Kiki overcomes many challenges in the novel based on "her good heart" and consequently expands her circle of friends. She faces no particular traumas or crises. Many of the more dramatic elements, such as Kiki gets attacked by many crows, losing her powers or the airship incident at the film's climax, are not present in the original story. In order to more clearly illustrate the themes of struggling with independence and growing up in the film, Miyazaki intended to have Kiki face tougher challenges and create a more potent sense of loneliness. One such challenge is Kiki's sudden loss of ability to fly. This event is only loosely paralleled in the novel, in which Kiki's broom breaks and merely requires her to fix it. Miyazaki remarked, "As movies always create a more realistic feeling, Kiki will suffer stronger setbacks and loneliness than in the original". Kadono was unhappy with the changes made between the book and film, to the point that the project was in danger of being shelved at the screenplay stage. Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki, the producer of Ghibli, went to the author's home and invited her to the film's studio. After her visit to the studio, Kadono decided to let the project continue.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: Miyazaki finished the rough draft of the screenplay in June 1988 and presented it in July 1988. It was at this time that Miyazaki revealed that he had decided to direct the film, because he had influenced the project so much. "Kiki's Delivery Service" was originally intended to be a 60-minute special, but expanded into a feature film running 102 minutes after Miyazaki completed storyboarding and scripting it.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: The word in the Japanese title is a trademark of Yamato Transport (which stylized it in non-Japanese languages as "TA-Q-BIN"), though it is used today as a synonym for . The company not only approved the use of its trademark, though its permission was not required under Japanese trademark laws, but also enthusiastically sponsored the film, as the company uses a stylized depiction of a black cat carrying her kitten as its corporate logo.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: The film had a production budget of (), making it one of the most expensive anime films up until then, along with "Akira" (1988) and "" (1987).


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: As with Hayao Miyazaki's other films, Joe Hisaishi composed the soundtrack for this film. Disney's English dub of the film also includes new songs in the soundtrack. These include two original songs written and performed by Sydney Forest: "Soaring" and "I'm Gonna Fly", which respectively replaced "Message of Rouge" and "Wrapped in Kindness" as the opening and ending themes. Paul Chihara also composed new instrumental pieces over scenes that were originally silent in the Japanese version, such as a rendition of "In the Hall of the Mountain King".


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: The first official English dub of "Kiki's Delivery Service" was produced by Carl Macek of Streamline Pictures at the request of Tokuma Shoten for Japan Airlines' international flights. Kiki is portrayed by voice actress Lisa Michelson, who voices Satsuki in the Streamline Dub of "My Neighbor Totoro". This dub is available only in the Ghibli Laserdisc Box Set.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: Kirsten Dunst voices Kiki in Disney's 1997 English dub, released in 1998. This dub was also one of Canadian-American comedian and actor Phil Hartman's last voice-acting performances (as Jiji) as he died on May 28, 1998. The dub is therefore dedicated to his memory. The Disney English dub of "Kiki's Delivery Service" premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival on May 23, 1998. It was released to VHS on September 1, 1998. A few weeks later, Disney released another VHS of the movie, this time with the original Japanese soundtrack and with both English and Japanese subtitles. A bilingual Laserdisc version also became available at this time, containing English PCM Stereo and Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks and Japanese mono audio on the analog left channel. The Region 1 DVD was released on April 15, 2003 alongside the releases of "Spirited Away" and "Castle in the Sky". It was again reissued on Region 1 DVD in March 2010 along with "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Castle in the Sky" as a tribute to the home release of "Ponyo", with this version altered from the original English dub. Two years later, on 1 July 2013, StudioCanal released a Blu-ray, followed by a "Grave of the Fireflies" release except in that same format, only in the United Kingdom. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released "Kiki's Delivery Service" on Blu-ray Disc on November 18, 2014. GKIDS re-issued the film on Blu-ray and DVD on October 17, 2017.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: Disney's English dub of "Kiki's Delivery Service" contained some changes, which have been described as "pragmatic". The changes were approved by Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. There are a number of additions and embellishments to the film's musical score, and several lavish sound effects over sections that are silent in the Japanese original. The extra pieces of music, composed by Paul Chihara, range from soft piano music to a string-plucked rendition of Edvard Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King".


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: The original Japanese opening theme is , and the ending theme is , both performed by Yumi Matsutoya (credited as Yumi Arai). The original opening and ending theme songs are replaced by two new songs, "Soaring" and "I'm Gonna Fly". Both are written and performed for the English dub by Sydney Forest.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: The depiction of the cat, Jiji, is changed significantly in the Disney version. In the Japanese version Jiji is voiced by Rei Sakuma, while in the English version Jiji is voiced by comedian Phil Hartman. In Japanese culture, cats are usually depicted with feminine voices, whereas in American culture their voices are more gender-specific. A number of Hartman's lines exist where Jiji simply says nothing in the original. Jiji's personality is notably different between the two versions, showing a more cynical and sarcastic attitude in the Disney English version as opposed to cautious and conscientious in the original Japanese. In the original Japanese script, Kiki loses her ability to communicate with Jiji permanently, but the American version adds a line that implies that she is once again able to understand him at the end of the film. Miyazaki has said that Jiji is the immature side of Kiki, and this implies that Kiki, by the end of the original Japanese version, has matured beyond talking to her cat. More minor changes to appeal to the different teenage habits of the day include Kiki drinking hot chocolate instead of coffee and referring to "cute boys" instead of to "the disco".


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: However, when Disney re-released the film on DVD in 2010, several elements of the English dub were changed, reverting more towards the original Japanese version. Hartman's ad-libbed lines as Jiji were removed, and Forest's opening and ending songs were replaced with Arai's original Japanese opening and ending songs. Additionally, Jiji does not talk again at the end, implying that Kiki never regains the ability to talk to him, and many of the sound effects added to the original English version have been removed. The English subtitled script used for the original VHS subbed release and the later DVD release more closely adheres to the Japanese script, but still contains a few alterations. Tokuma mistakenly believed the Streamline dub was an accurate translation of the film and offered it to Disney to use as subtitles. As a result, several additions from the dub appear in the subtitles regardless of whether or not they are present in the film. In Spain, Kiki was renamed "Nicky" because in Castilian Spanish the phonetically similar "quiqui" is commonly used in the slang expression "echar un quiqui", which means "to have intercourse". The film was re-titled "Nicky la aprendiz de bruja" ("Nicky the Apprentice Witch").


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: "Kiki's Delivery Service" premiered on July 29, 1989 in Japanese theaters. Its distributor rental income was , with a total box office of () in gross receipts. The film was 1989's highest-grossing film in Japan. It also grossed () in Hong Kong upon release there in 1990. Later re-releases and international releases between 2004 and 2020 grossed US$10,276,218 worldwide, adding up to grossed worldwide .


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: The film became available on home video in the United States in 1994. Buena Vista Home Video's VHS release in 1998 became the 8th most-rented title at Blockbuster stores during its first week of availability. This video release sold over a million copies.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: The Japanese DVD was the best-selling anime DVD for February 7, 2001. The Blu-ray release later grossed over from disc sales in the United States, .


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: In the United Kingdom, it was 2018's seventh best-selling foreign language film on home video, and 2019's fifth best-selling foreign language film (below four other Japanese films, including three Miyazaki anime films).


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: At the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 42 reviews are positive for "Kiki's Delivery Service", and the average rating is 8.1/10. The critics consensus reads, ""Kiki's Delivery Service" is a heartwarming, gorgeously-rendered tale of a young witch discovering her place in the world." Metacritic, another aggregator, collected 15 reviews and calculated an average rating of 83 out of 100, signifying "universal acclaim." On September 4, 1998, "Entertainment Weekly" rated it as Video of the Year, and on September 12, 1998, it was the first video release to be reviewed as a normal film on "Siskel and Ebert" rather than on the "Video Pick of the Week" section. Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" and Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave it "two thumbs up" and Ebert went on to rank it as one of the best animated films released in the U.S. in 1998. The film ranked #12 on "Wizard's Anime" Magazine's list of the "Top 50 Anime released in North America". Other reviews were very positive as well. Andrew Johnston wrote in Time Out New York: "Although the story has a clear moral about learning to develop self-confidence, "Kiki" is never preachy. The story is given time to unfold at a natural pace..., which contributes greatly to the sense of depth it conveys."


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: A manga book series using stills from the film was published in Japan by Tokuma Shoten. An English translation was published in 2006 by Viz Media, in 4 volumes.


title: Kiki's Delivery Service

text: A musical based on the film ran at the Southwark Playhouse in the UK from December 8, 2016 to January 8, 2017. It was adapted by Jessica Sian and directed by Katie Hewitt.


title: Randy Travis

text: Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country music and gospel music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor.


title: Randy Travis

text: Active from 1978 until being incapacitated by a stroke in 2013, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 50 singles on the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs charts, including 16 that reached the No. 1 position. Considered a pivotal figure in the history of country music, Travis broke through in the mid-1980s with the release of his album "Storms of Life", which sold more than four million copies. The album established him as a major force in the neotraditional country movement. Travis followed up his successful debut with a string of platinum and multi-platinum albums. He is known for his distinctive baritone vocals, delivered in a traditional style that has made him a country music star since the 1980s.


title: Randy Travis

text: By the mid-1990s, Travis saw a decline in his chart success. In 1997, he left Warner Bros. Records for DreamWorks Records and then for Word Records, where he began recording more Christian material. Although the career shift produced only one more number-one country hit "Three Wooden Crosses", Travis went on to earn several Dove Awards, including Country Album of the Year five times. Since his stroke, which severely limited his singing and speaking ability, he has released archival recordings and made limited public appearances. In addition to his singing career, he pursued an acting career, appearing in numerous films and television series, including "The Rainmaker" (1997) with Matt Damon, "Black Dog" (1998) with Patrick Swayze, "Texas Rangers" (2001) with James Van Der Beek, "National Treasure 2" (2007) and seven episodes of the "Touched by an Angel" television series. He appeared in two episodes of the crime solving television series, "Matlock".


title: Randy Travis

text: Travis sold over 25 million records and has won seven Grammy Awards, six CMA Awards, eleven ACM Awards, 10 AMA Awards, eight GMA Dove Awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2016, Travis was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.


title: Randy Travis

text: Randy Bruce Traywick was born on May 4, 1959, in Marshville, North Carolina, as the second of six children of Bobbie ("née" Tucker) (May 16, 1937 – May 21, 1998), a textile factory worker, and Harold Traywick (March 31, 1933 – October 8, 2016), a horse breeder, turkey farmer, substitute school teacher, and construction business owner.


title: Randy Travis

text: Travis and his brother, Ricky, were encouraged to pursue their musical talents by their father, who was a fan of Hank Williams, George Jones, and Lefty Frizzell. In 1967, at the age of eight, Randy began playing guitar and sang in his Church of Christ choir. Two years later, he and his brother began performing at local clubs and talent contests, calling themselves the Traywick Brothers. Although his father encouraged Travis in his pursuit of music, the two often quarreled, which was a contributing factor in Travis dropping out of high school; he later became a juvenile delinquent and was arrested for various offenses, including auto theft and burglary. However, Travis has since voiced regret for his past misdeeds.


title: Randy Travis

text: In 1975, Randy won a talent contest at a nightclub, Country City USA, in Charlotte, North Carolina. The club's owner, Elizabeth "Lib" Hatcher, took an interest in the young singer, hired him as a cook, and gave him regular singing jobs at the club. During the late 1970s, Randy worked and sang at Country City USA. Still in his late teens, Travis had one more encounter with the law. At his hearing, the judge told Travis that if he ever saw the singer back in his court, he should be prepared to go to jail for a long time. Travis was released into the guardianship of Hatcher, who also became his manager. The two began to focus on his career full-time.


title: Randy Travis

text: In 1978, he began recording for Paula Records. His first single with the label, "Dreamin'", was released in April 1978 and failed to chart. A second single, "She's My Woman", was released in September 1978 and spent four weeks on the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs chart, peaking at number 91. A full album on Paula Records was never released. Travis moved in with Hatcher, which put further strain on her already fragile marriage. She eventually left her husband and, in 1982, she and Travis moved to Nashville, Tennessee. During this time an unlikely romance began to form between the two. Travis would later comment, "I think we discovered how much we needed each other." He and Hatcher eventually came forward with their relationship and were married in a private ceremony in 1991.


title: Randy Travis

text: During the early 1980s, Travis was rejected by every major record label in Nashville. His early demo tapes were criticized by record executives as being "too country." To support them, Hatcher took a job as manager of a nightclub, The Nashville Palace, and hired Travis as a cook and singer, where he performed under the name Randy Ray. In 1982, Travis recorded an independent album "Live at the Nashville Palace", and Hatcher used the album to secure a deal with Warner Bros. Records' Nashville branch. As part of the contract, label executives insisted they keep their romance a secret, and changed his stage name again, to Randy Travis.


title: Randy Travis

text: In 1985, Warner Bros. Records released the single "On the Other Hand" which peaked at No. 67 on the country charts. His next single, "1982", became a Top 10 hit single. In 1986, Warner Bros. re-released "On the Other Hand", and the re-release became Travis's first No. 1 single on that chart. These songs were included on his major-label debut "Storms of Life", which produced another number-one country single in "Diggin' Up Bones", plus "No Place Like Home", which held the No. 2 position on the "Billboard" country charts in early 1987. "On the Other Hand", "Diggin' Up Bones", and "No Place Like Home" were all co-written by Paul Overstreet. "Storms of Life" received its highest Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sales certification in 1992, when it was certified triple-platinum for shipments of 3 million copies. The album's producer was Kyle Lehning, who would also serve in this capacity for nearly all of Travis's subsequent albums. In December 1986, Travis became a member of the "Grand Ole Opry".


title: Randy Travis

text: Travis's second album for Warner Bros. was "Always & Forever". Released in April 1987, it accounted for four singles, all of which made No. 1 at "Billboard": "Forever and Ever, Amen" (also co-written by Overstreet), "I Won't Need You Anymore (Always and Forever)", "Too Gone Too Long", and "I Told You So", the last of which Travis wrote himself. Of these, "Forever and Ever, Amen" held the top position for three weeks. "Always & Forever" won Travis his first Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1987. "Old 8×10", his third album, was issued in July 1988. Its first three singles, "Honky Tonk Moon", "Deeper Than the Holler", and "Is It Still Over?", all reached No. 1 as well, while "Promises" was less successful at No. 17. The album achieved its highest RIAA certification of double-platinum in 1996, and won Travis his second Grammy, for Best Country Vocal Performance, with "Old 8x10" in 1988"." This was followed by Travis's first Christmas album, "An Old Time Christmas", late in 1989.


title: Randy Travis

text: In 1989, Travis recorded a cover of "It's Just a Matter of Time", which was originally recorded by Brook Benton 30 years prior. Travis cut the song for a multi-artist tribute album titled "Rock, Rhythm & Blues" which was also released by Warner Bros., and persuaded the label to include it on what would become his fourth Warner album, "No Holdin' Back". Travis's version of the song, produced by Richard Perry (who also provided bass vocals on it), was the lead single to that album, and charted at No. 1 on Hot Country Songs in December 1989. It was the second time that a rendition of that song had topped the country charts, as Sonny James had previously sent his version to No. 1 in 1970. Two more singles were released from "No Holdin' Back": "Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart", which became Travis's longest-lasting No. 1 single at four weeks in 1990, and "He Walked on Water", which peaked at No. 3. The album included one other cover song, "Singing the Blues", along with the track "Somewhere in My Broken Heart", co-written and later recorded by Billy Dean.


title: Randy Travis

text: Travis's sixth studio album, "Heroes & Friends", consisted almost entirely of duets. It produced two singles: "A Few Ole Country Boys" (featuring George Jones) and the title track, also the only solo cut on the album, both made top 10 on the country music charts in 1991. Other featured artists included B. B. King and Clint Eastwood. Another cut from the album was "We're Strangers Again", a duet with Tammy Wynette. Written by Merle Haggard and Leona Williams, this song originally appeared on their 1983 duets album "Heart to Heart". The rendition by Travis and Wynette later appeared on the latter's "Best Loved Hits" compilation for Epic Records, who issued it as a single in August 1991.


title: Randy Travis

text: Also in 1991, Travis took part in "Voices That Care", a multi-artist project that featured other top names in music for a one-off single to raise money for the allied troops in the Gulf War. He also appeared on "Sesame Street" that same year. The project included fellow singers Garth Brooks, Kenny Rogers, and Kathy Mattea. In addition, Travis recorded the patriotic song "Point of Light" in response to the Thousand points of light program initiated by George H. W. Bush, then President of the United States. This song was also the lead single to his seventh Warner album, "High Lonesome". This album produced three more singles, all of which Travis co-wrote with fellow country singer Alan Jackson: "Forever Together", "Better Class of Losers", and "I'd Surrender All".


title: Randy Travis

text: Warner Bros. released two volumes of a Greatest Hits package in September 1992: "Greatest Hits, Volume 1" and "Greatest Hits, Volume 2". One single from each compilation made No. 1 that year: "If I Didn't Have You" from "Volume 1", and "Look Heart, No Hands" from "Volume 2". Also released from "Volume 1" was "An Old Pair of Shoes", which charted at No. 21. Later in 1992, Travis cut the album "Wind in the Wire", a disc of cowboy-inspired Western music intended to accompany a television movie of the same name in which Travis appeared. This disc was his first not to produce any Top 40 country singles. Due to "Wind in the Wire" and other TV movies in which he starred, Travis took a hiatus from recording and touring for most of 1993. He later told "Billboard" magazine that "There seems to be this perception that I've completely quit".


title: Randy Travis

text: Lehning remarked of Travis's ninth album, "This Is Me", that the singer seemed "reinvigorated", while Travis himself said that the songs on it seemed more "rowdy" than those on previous albums. Four singles from this album made the charts: "Before You Kill Us All", "Whisper My Name" (which peaked at No. 1 in 1994), the title track, and "The Box". His last album for Warner was 1996's "Full Circle", which featured the singles "Are We in Trouble Now" (written by Mark Knopfler), "Would I", and "Price to Pay", the last of which failed to reach the country top 40. Also in 1996, Travis covered Roger Miller's "King of the Road" for the soundtrack to "Traveller". This rendition, issued by Asylum Records, spent 15 weeks on the country charts despite only peaking at No. 51.


title: Randy Travis

text: In 1998, Travis won his third Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for "Same Old Train". He then signed to DreamWorks Records later in 1998, where he issued "You and You Alone". For this album, Travis co-produced with Byron Gallimore (best known for his work with Tim McGraw) and James Stroud. Featured artists on the disc included Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, and Melba Montgomery. Actor Patrick Swayze also contributed backing vocals on the track "I Did My Part". Its singles were "Out of My Bones", "The Hole", "Spirit of a Boy, Wisdom of a Man" (co-written by former Styx member Glen Burtnik), and "Stranger in My Mirror". His only other DreamWorks album, "A Man Ain't Made of Stone", followed in 1999. Also co-produced by Stroud and Gallimore, it produced a Top 20 hit in its title track, but three other singles all failed to make top 40.


title: Randy Travis

text: Travis's career from 2000 onward was dominated by Christian country music. His first full album in the genre, 2000's "Inspirational Journey", was issued via Word Records. One cut from this album, "Baptism", was originally recorded by Kenny Chesney as a duet with Travis on Chesney's 1999 album "Everywhere We Go". The version appearing on "Inspirational Journey", a solo rendition by Travis, charted at No. 75 on the country charts in late 2000. Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Travis recorded the patriotic song "America Will Always Stand", which charted via distribution from Relentless Records.


title: Randy Travis

text: Travis's most successful venture in Christian country music was "Three Wooden Crosses". Released in December 2002 as the lead single to his album "Rise and Shine", that song became his sixteenth and final No. 1 single in early 2003. It was followed by "Worship & Faith", consisting mostly of gospel standards, in 2003. This album earned an RIAA gold certification three years after its release. In addition, "Rise and Shine" and "Worship & Faith" earned Travis his fourth and fifth Grammys in 2003 and 2004, respectively, with Travis taking home the award for Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album in both years. Next came "Passing Through", which accounted for his last solo chart entries in "Four Walls" and "Angels". "" in 2005 also consisted largely of gospel covers, while his second Christmas album, "Songs of the Season", followed in 2007. Travis won his sixth Grammy, for "," for Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album of the year in 2006.


title: Randy Travis

text: "Around the Bend" in 2008 returned Travis to a traditional country style, coinciding with a return to Warner Bros. Nashville. Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted of Travis's career in the preceding years that his turn to Christian music "was fruitful, producing a series of good, heartfelt records, yet they also had a nice side effect of putting commercialism way on the back burner, as the gospel albums were made without the charts in mind" while adding that "Around the Bend" "stands apart from trends, not defiantly but comfortably." In 2009, Carrie Underwood covered "I Told You So" with Travis on duet vocals, and this collaborative version charted at No. 2 on the country charts and won Travis his seventh Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Travis released two more covers albums in 2013 and 2014: "", and "".


title: Randy Travis

text: In 2016, Travis was selected as one of 30 artists to appear in the music video for "Forever Country", a mash-up track of "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "On the Road Again", and "I Will Always Love You", which celebrates 50 years of the CMA Awards.


title: Randy Travis

text: Travis's autobiography, "Forever and Ever Amen", co-written with the assistance of Ken Abraham, was released on May 14, 2019.


title: Randy Travis

text: On February 28, 2020, Travis released "Precious Memories (Worship & Faith)" through Bill Gaither's Music label, which contained 12 songs that were recorded in 2003 at the Calvary Assembly of God Church in Orlando, Florida. In July 2020, Travis released "Fool's Love Affair," using his original demo vocal track from the early 1980s.


title: Randy Travis

text: Travis and Elizabeth Hatcher divorced on October 29, 2010, after a 19-year marriage, and their business relationship ended thereafter. He married Mary Davis on March 21, 2015.


title: Randy Travis

text: Travis was arrested in February 2012, when he was found in a parked car outside of a church in Sanger, Texas, with an open bottle of wine and smelling of alcohol. Travis's Chrysalis Ranch is outside Tioga, Texas, about from Sanger.


title: Randy Travis

text: On August 7, 2012, state troopers in Grayson County, Texas, responded to a call that an unclothed man was lying in the road. Troopers reported that they arrived to find Travis unclothed and smelling of alcohol. The Texas Highway Patrol said that Travis crashed his car in a construction zone, and that when they attempted to apprehend him, Travis threatened the lives of the troopers. Travis was subsequently arrested for driving while intoxicated and terroristic threat against a public servant. He posted bail in the amount of $21,500. Earlier in the same evening, just prior to the DUI arrest, Travis allegedly walked into a Tiger Mart convenience store naked, demanding cigarettes from the cashier, who in turn called the authorities. According to the store clerk, Travis left the store upon realizing he did not have any money to pay for the cigarettes.


title: Randy Travis

text: Travis filed a lawsuit to block police dash cam video of the incident from being released. After a five year legal battle, a judge ruled that the video did not violate his right to privacy, and the video was released to the public in December 2017.


title: Randy Travis

text: On January 31, 2013, Travis pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated in the August 7 incident and received two years' probation, a $2,000 fine and a 180-day suspended jail sentence.


title: Randy Travis

text: On July 7, 2013, Travis was admitted to a Dallas-area hospital for viral cardiomyopathy after a viral upper respiratory infection. His condition was classified as critical. Three days later, Travis suffered a massive stroke, then underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his brain. Within the next five days, Travis was awake and alert after undergoing brain surgery, and his heart was pumping without the assistance of machines — an assumption that he would make a full recovery. He was released from Baylor Heart Hospital in Plano, Texas, on July 31, and entered a physical therapy facility. Following his stroke, and despite therapy, Travis suffered from aphasia and used a cane for more than a year. By November 2014, he was recovering, could walk short distances without assistance, and was re-learning to write and play guitar, according to his then-fiancée Mary Travis.


title: Randy Travis

text: In 2016, it was reported he recovered his voice after about three years of rehabilitation and therapy, and could perform again. He attended his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame on October 16, 2016, and performed a rendition of "Amazing Grace". Despite the 2016 reports, it was clear at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony that Travis was far from recovered. In 2017, Travis acknowledged that he had sustained permanent damage including a disabled right hand, limited speech, and severely impacted singing ability. While he continues to make public appearances, Travis no longer sings. He appeared on-stage with Michael Ray during a cover performance of "Forever and Ever Amen" in June 2017, to which Travis contributed the final "Amen." He did the same during his 60th birthday party, thrown by the "Grand Ole Opry" on May 4, 2019.


title: Randy Travis

text: In September 2019, Travis announced his return to touring. The tour features James Dupré as lead vocalist singing the repertoire with Travis's backing band, with Travis having a limited presence similar to his one-off appearances since 2017. Announced as a 12-city tour, it was cut back to three concerts shortly before the tour began in October "due to unexpected production and technical issues related to the elaborate content of the show," with the intent to reschedule the canceled shows after the technical problems are resolved.


title: Randy Travis

text: Travis also released a new song in 2020, "Fools Love Affair". It was recorded near the beginning of his career, but it was his first song to be on the radio since his stroke.


title: Fractal

text: In mathematics, a fractal is a geometric shape containing detailed structure at arbitrarily small scales, usually having a fractal dimension strictly exceeding the topological dimension. Many fractals appear similar at various scales, as illustrated in successive magnifications of the Mandelbrot set. This exhibition of similar patterns at increasingly smaller scales is called self-similarity, also known as expanding symmetry or unfolding symmetry; if this replication is exactly the same at every scale, as in the Menger sponge, the shape is called affine self-similar. Fractal geometry lies within the mathematical branch of measure theory.


title: Fractal

text: One way that fractals are different from finite geometric figures is how they scale. Doubling the edge lengths of a filled polygon multiplies its area by four, which is two (the ratio of the new to the old side length) raised to the power of two (the conventional dimension of the filled polygon). Likewise, if the radius of a filled sphere is doubled, its volume scales by eight, which is two (the ratio of the new to the old radius) to the power of three (the conventional dimension of the filled sphere). However, if a fractal's one-dimensional lengths are all doubled, the spatial content of the fractal scales by a power that is not necessarily an integer and is in general greater than its conventional dimension. This power is called the fractal dimension of the geometric object, to distinguish it from the conventional dimension (which is formally called the topological dimension).


title: Fractal

text: Analytically, many fractals are nowhere differentiable. An infinite fractal curve can be conceived of as winding through space differently from an ordinary line – although it is still topologically 1-dimensional, its fractal dimension indicates that it locally fills space more efficiently than an ordinary line.


title: Fractal

text: Starting in the 17th century with notions of recursion, fractals have moved through increasingly rigorous mathematical treatment to the study of continuous but not differentiable functions in the 19th century by the seminal work of Bernard Bolzano, Bernhard Riemann, and Karl Weierstrass, and on to the coining of the word "fractal" in the 20th century with a subsequent burgeoning of interest in fractals and computer-based modelling in the 20th century.


title: Fractal

text: There is some disagreement among mathematicians about how the concept of a fractal should be formally defined. Mandelbrot himself summarized it as "beautiful, damn hard, increasingly useful. That's fractals." More formally, in 1982 Mandelbrot defined "fractal" as follows: "A fractal is by definition a set for which the Hausdorff–Besicovitch dimension strictly exceeds the topological dimension." Later, seeing this as too restrictive, he simplified and expanded the definition to this: "A fractal is a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole." Still later, Mandelbrot proposed "to use "fractal" without a pedantic definition, to use "fractal dimension" as a generic term applicable to "all" the variants".


title: Fractal

text: The consensus among mathematicians is that theoretical fractals are infinitely self-similar iterated and detailed mathematical constructs, of which many examples have been formulated and studied. Fractals are not limited to geometric patterns, but can also describe processes in time. Fractal patterns with various degrees of self-similarity have been rendered or studied in visual, physical, and aural media and found in nature, technology, art, architecture and law. Fractals are of particular relevance in the field of chaos theory because they show up in the geometric depictions of most chaotic processes (typically either as attractors or as boundaries between basins of attraction).


title: Fractal

text: The term "fractal" was coined by the mathematician Benoît Mandelbrot in 1975. Mandelbrot based it on the Latin , meaning "broken" or "fractured", and used it to extend the concept of theoretical fractional dimensions to geometric patterns in nature.


title: Fractal

text: The word "fractal" often has different connotations for the lay public as opposed to mathematicians, where the public is more likely to be familiar with fractal art than the mathematical concept. The mathematical concept is difficult to define formally, even for mathematicians, but key features can be understood with a little mathematical background.


title: Fractal

text: The feature of "self-similarity", for instance, is easily understood by analogy to zooming in with a lens or other device that zooms in on digital images to uncover finer, previously invisible, new structure. If this is done on fractals, however, no new detail appears; nothing changes and the same pattern repeats over and over, or for some fractals, nearly the same pattern reappears over and over. Self-similarity itself is not necessarily counter-intuitive (e.g., people have pondered self-similarity informally such as in the infinite regress in parallel mirrors or the homunculus, the little man inside the head of the little man inside the head ...). The difference for fractals is that the pattern reproduced must be detailed.


title: Fractal

text: This idea of being detailed relates to another feature that can be understood without much mathematical background: Having a fractal dimension greater than its topological dimension, for instance, refers to how a fractal scales compared to how geometric shapes are usually perceived. A straight line, for instance, is conventionally understood to be one-dimensional; if such a figure is rep-tiled into pieces each 1/3 the length of the original, then there are always three equal pieces. A solid square is understood to be two-dimensional; if such a figure is rep-tiled into pieces each scaled down by a factor of 1/3 in both dimensions, there are a total of 3 = 9 pieces.


title: Fractal

text: We see that for ordinary self-similar objects, being n-dimensional means that when it is rep-tiled into pieces each scaled down by a scale-factor of 1/"r", there are a total of "r" pieces. Now, consider the Koch curve. It can be rep-tiled into four sub-copies, each scaled down by a scale-factor of 1/3. So, strictly by analogy, we can consider the "dimension" of the Koch curve as being the unique real number "D" that satisfies 3 = 4. This number is what mathematicians call the "fractal dimension" of the Koch curve; it is certainly "not" what is conventionally perceived as the dimension of a curve (this number is not even an integer!). In general, a key property of fractals is that the fractal dimension differs from the "conventionally understood" dimension (formally called the topological dimension).


title: Fractal

text: This also leads to understanding a third feature, that fractals as mathematical equations are "nowhere differentiable". In a concrete sense, this means fractals cannot be measured in traditional ways. To elaborate, in trying to find the length of a wavy non-fractal curve, one could find straight segments of some measuring tool small enough to lay end to end over the waves, where the pieces could get small enough to be considered to conform to the curve in the normal manner of measuring with a tape measure. But in measuring an infinitely "wiggly" fractal curve such as the Koch snowflake, one would never find a small enough straight segment to conform to the curve, because the jagged pattern would always re-appear, at arbitrarily small scales, essentially pulling a little more of the tape measure into the total length measured each time one attempted to fit it tighter and tighter to the curve. The result is that one must need infinite tape to perfectly cover the entire curve, i.e. the snowflake has an infinite perimeter.


title: Fractal

text: The history of fractals traces a path from chiefly theoretical studies to modern applications in computer graphics, with several notable people contributing canonical fractal forms along the way.


title: Fractal

text: A common theme in traditional African architecture is the use of fractal scaling, whereby small parts of the structure tend to look similar to larger parts, such as a circular village made of circular houses.


title: Fractal

text: According to Pickover, the mathematics behind fractals began to take shape in the 17th century when the mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Leibniz pondered recursive self-similarity (although he made the mistake of thinking that only the straight line was self-similar in this sense).


title: Fractal

text: In his writings, Leibniz used the term "fractional exponents", but lamented that "Geometry" did not yet know of them. Indeed, according to various historical accounts, after that point few mathematicians tackled the issues and the work of those who did remained obscured largely because of resistance to such unfamiliar emerging concepts, which were sometimes referred to as mathematical "monsters". Thus, it was not until two centuries had passed that on July 18, 1872 Karl Weierstrass presented the first definition of a function with a graph that would today be considered a fractal, having the non-intuitive property of being everywhere continuous but nowhere differentiable at the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences.


title: Fractal

text: In addition, the quotient difference becomes arbitrarily large as the summation index increases. Not long after that, in 1883, Georg Cantor, who attended lectures by Weierstrass, published examples of subsets of the real line known as Cantor sets, which had unusual properties and are now recognized as fractals. Also in the last part of that century, Felix Klein and Henri Poincaré introduced a category of fractal that has come to be called "self-inverse" fractals.


title: Fractal

text: One of the next milestones came in 1904, when Helge von Koch, extending ideas of Poincaré and dissatisfied with Weierstrass's abstract and analytic definition, gave a more geometric definition including hand-drawn images of a similar function, which is now called the Koch snowflake. Another milestone came a decade later in 1915, when Wacław Sierpiński constructed his famous triangle then, one year later, his carpet. By 1918, two French mathematicians, Pierre Fatou and Gaston Julia, though working independently, arrived essentially simultaneously at results describing what is now seen as fractal behaviour associated with mapping complex numbers and iterative functions and leading to further ideas about attractors and repellors (i.e., points that attract or repel other points), which have become very important in the study of fractals.


title: Fractal

text: Very shortly after that work was submitted, by March 1918, Felix Hausdorff expanded the definition of "dimension", significantly for the evolution of the definition of fractals, to allow for sets to have non-integer dimensions. The idea of self-similar curves was taken further by Paul Lévy, who, in his 1938 paper "Plane or Space Curves and Surfaces Consisting of Parts Similar to the Whole", described a new fractal curve, the Lévy C curve.


title: Fractal

text: Different researchers have postulated that without the aid of modern computer graphics, early investigators were limited to what they could depict in manual drawings, so lacked the means to visualize the beauty and appreciate some of the implications of many of the patterns they had discovered (the Julia set, for instance, could only be visualized through a few iterations as very simple drawings). That changed, however, in the 1960s, when Benoit Mandelbrot started writing about self-similarity in papers such as "How Long Is the Coast of Britain? Statistical Self-Similarity and Fractional Dimension", which built on earlier work by Lewis Fry Richardson.


title: Fractal

text: In 1975 Mandelbrot solidified hundreds of years of thought and mathematical development in coining the word "fractal" and illustrated his mathematical definition with striking computer-constructed visualizations. These images, such as of his canonical Mandelbrot set, captured the popular imagination; many of them were based on recursion, leading to the popular meaning of the term "fractal".


title: Fractal

text: In 1980, Loren Carpenter gave a presentation at the SIGGRAPH where he introduced his software for generating and rendering fractally generated landscapes.


title: Fractal

text: One often cited description that Mandelbrot published to describe geometric fractals is "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole"; this is generally helpful but limited. Authors disagree on the exact definition of "fractal", but most usually elaborate on the basic ideas of self-similarity and the unusual relationship fractals have with the space they are embedded in.


title: Fractal

text: One point agreed on is that fractal patterns are characterized by fractal dimensions, but whereas these numbers quantify complexity (i.e., changing detail with changing scale), they neither uniquely describe nor specify details of how to construct particular fractal patterns. In 1975 when Mandelbrot coined the word "fractal", he did so to denote an object whose Hausdorff–Besicovitch dimension is greater than its topological dimension. However, this requirement is not met by space-filling curves such as the Hilbert curve.


title: Fractal

text: Because of the trouble involved in finding one definition for fractals, some argue that fractals should not be strictly defined at all. According to Falconer, fractals should be only generally characterized by a gestalt of the following features;


title: Fractal

text: As a group, these criteria form guidelines for excluding certain cases, such as those that may be self-similar without having other typically fractal features. A straight line, for instance, is self-similar but not fractal because it lacks detail, and is easily described in Euclidean language without a need for recursion.


title: Fractal

text: Images of fractals can be created by fractal generating programs. Because of the butterfly effect, a small change in a single variable can have an unpredictable outcome.


title: Fractal

text: Fractal patterns have been modeled extensively, albeit within a range of scales rather than infinitely, owing to the practical limits of physical time and space. Models may simulate theoretical fractals or natural phenomena with fractal features. The outputs of the modelling process may be highly artistic renderings, outputs for investigation, or benchmarks for fractal analysis. Some specific applications of fractals to technology are listed elsewhere. Images and other outputs of modelling are normally referred to as being "fractals" even if they do not have strictly fractal characteristics, such as when it is possible to zoom into a region of the fractal image that does not exhibit any fractal properties. Also, these may include calculation or display artifacts which are not characteristics of true fractals.


title: Fractal

text: Fractal patterns have been reconstructed in physical 3-dimensional space and virtually, often called "in silico" modeling. Models of fractals are generally created using fractal-generating software that implements techniques such as those outlined above. As one illustration, trees, ferns, cells of the nervous system, blood and lung vasculature, and other branching patterns in nature can be modeled on a computer by using recursive algorithms and L-systems techniques.


title: Fractal

text: The recursive nature of some patterns is obvious in certain examples—a branch from a tree or a frond from a fern is a miniature replica of the whole: not identical, but similar in nature. Similarly, random fractals have been used to describe/create many highly irregular real-world objects. A limitation of modeling fractals is that resemblance of a fractal model to a natural phenomenon does not prove that the phenomenon being modeled is formed by a process similar to the modeling algorithms.


title: Fractal

text: Approximate fractals found in nature display self-similarity over extended, but finite, scale ranges. The connection between fractals and leaves, for instance, is currently being used to determine how much carbon is contained in trees. Phenomena known to have fractal features include:


title: Fractal

text: Fractals often appear in the realm of living organisms where they arise through branching processes and other complex pattern formation. Ian Wong and co-workers have shown that migrating cells can form fractals by clustering and branching. Nerve cells function through processes at the cell surface, with phenomena that are enhanced by largely increasing the surface to volume ratio. As a consequence nerve cells often are found to form into fractal patterns. These processes are crucial in cell physiology and different pathologies.


title: Fractal

text: Multiple subcellular structures also are found to assemble into fractals. Diego Krapf has shown that through branching processes the actin filaments in human cells assemble into fractal patterns. Similarly Matthias Weiss showed that the endoplasmic reticulum displays fractal features. The current understanding is that fractals are ubiquitous in cell biology, from proteins, to organelles, to whole cells.


title: Fractal

text: Since 1999 numerous scientific groups have performed fractal analysis on over 50 paintings created by Jackson Pollock's (1912–1956) by pouring paint directly onto horizontal canvasses.


title: Fractal

text: Recently, fractal analysis has been used to achieve a 93% success rate in distinguishing real from imitation Pollocks. Cognitive neuroscientists have shown that Pollock's fractals induce the same stress-reduction in observers as computer-generated fractals and Nature's fractals.


title: Fractal

text: Decalcomania, a technique used by artists such as Max Ernst, can produce fractal-like patterns. It involves pressing paint between two surfaces and pulling them apart.


title: Fractal

text: Cyberneticist Ron Eglash has suggested that fractal geometry and mathematics are prevalent in African art, games, divination, trade, and architecture. Circular houses appear in circles of circles, rectangular houses in rectangles of rectangles, and so on. Such scaling patterns can also be found in African textiles, sculpture, and even cornrow hairstyles. Hokky Situngkir also suggested the similar properties in Indonesian traditional art, batik, and ornaments found in traditional houses.


title: Fractal

text: Ethnomathematician Ron Eglash has discussed the planned layout of Benin city using fractals as the basis, not only in the city itself and the villages but even in the rooms of houses. He commented that "When Europeans first came to Africa, they considered the architecture very disorganised and thus primitive. It never occurred to them that the Africans might have been using a form of mathematics that they hadn’t even discovered yet."


title: Fractal

text: In a 1996 interview with Michael Silverblatt, David Foster Wallace admitted that the structure of the first draft of "Infinite Jest" he gave to his editor Michael Pietsch was inspired by fractals, specifically the Sierpinski triangle (a.k.a. Sierpinski gasket), but that the edited novel is "more like a lopsided Sierpinsky Gasket".


title: Fractal

text: Some works by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher, such as Circle Limit III, contain shapes repeated to infinity that become smaller and smaller as they get near to the edges, in a pattern that would always look the same if zoomed in.


title: Fractal

text: Humans appear to be especially well-adapted to processing fractal patterns with D values between 1.3 and 1.5. When humans view fractal patterns with D values between 1.3 and 1.5, this tends to reduce physiological stress.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: Law Abiding Citizen is a 2009 American vigilante action thriller film directed by F. Gary Gray, written by Kurt Wimmer, and starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler (who also co-produced). The film takes place in Philadelphia, telling the story of a man driven to seek justice while targeting not only his family's killer but also those who have supported a corrupt criminal justice system, intending to assassinate anyone supporting the system. "Law Abiding Citizen" was filmed on location in Philadelphia, and released theatrically by Overture Films in North America on October 16, 2009.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: The film grossed $127 million worldwide and received generally negative reviews from critics. Despite this, it was nominated for a Saturn Award as the Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film of the year, as well as NAACP Image Award nominations for both Foxx (Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture) and Gray (Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture).


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: In a Philadelphia home invasion, Clarence Darby murders the wife and daughter of engineer Clyde Shelton, who is forced to watch. Prosecuting attorney Nick Rice is unable to securely convict Darby due to mishandled evidence. Unwilling to risk lowering his high conviction rate, he makes a deal with Darby; in exchange for testifying against his accomplice, Rupert Ames (who only intended to steal from Clyde and flee), Darby will plead guilty to third degree murder and receive a lighter sentence. Ames is convicted and sentenced to death, while Darby is released after a few years. Clyde feels betrayed by Nick and the justice system.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: Ten years later, Ames is executed via lethal injection, but he dies in agonizing pain due to a chemical alteration; evidence implicates Darby, who is alerted by an anonymous caller. The caller, using an electronically distorted voice and knowledge of cocaine and a prostitute in his apartment, warns Darby that he's looking at life in prison. Darby hijacks a police car, forcing a lone officer to drive to a deserted warehouse. The officer reveals that he is Clyde, and was also the caller. His gun paralyzes Darby with tetrodotoxin-coated spikes; Clyde straps Darby to a table, makes medical preparations to prolong Darby's suffering, and then video-records himself slowly dismembering Darby before eventually decapitating him. When Darby's remains are found, evidence ties his death to Clyde; Clyde willingly surrenders and goes to prison.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: In prison, Clyde demands a new mattress in his cell in exchange for a "confession." Nick initially refuses, but after learning that Clyde traumatized Nick's family with the video of Darby's murder, District Attorney Jonas Cantrell orders Nick to make the deal. In court, Clyde represents himself and successfully argues he should be granted bail, but is jailed for contempt of court after berating the judge for accepting the legal precedent he cited, believing her too easily convinced and eager to let madmen and murderers back on the street.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: After giving Nick his confession, Clyde demands an elaborate steak lunch and a music player be delivered to his cell by a specific time, in exchange for the location of Darby's lawyer, who was reported missing. Nick agrees, though the lunch is delayed a few minutes by the warden's security measures. Once he has his meal, Clyde provides the location of the lawyer. Nick is too late to save Darby's lawyer as he was suffocated by time-mechanized materials while Clyde's lunch was delayed. After sharing his meal with a cellmate, Clyde proceeds to kill him with his steak bone, forcing the warden to secure him in solitary confinement.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: Cantrell and Nick meet the former's CIA contact, learning Clyde previously worked with the agency, creating imaginative assassination devices and orchestrating intricate lethal tactics against nearly impossible targets. They are warned Clyde can kill anyone anytime he wishes and that if he is in jail, it is all part of a bigger plan. During a meeting with Nick and Cantrell, the judge is killed by an explosive hidden in her cell phone. Clyde explains to Nick that the murders are not about revenge, but the failures of the justice system. He then demands to be released and all charges against him dropped or he will "kill everyone".


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: Nick takes precautionary measures instead. After Clyde's deadline passes, a number of Nick's assistants die from car bombs. Nick meets with Clyde in private, beats him, and yells at him in frustration that, if they had tried to convict Ames and Darby, they might have gone free. Clyde counters that Nick did not care and that if he had at least tried but failed, Clyde would have accepted it. Nick demands an end to the killings, but Clyde tells him that he is just beginning to destroy the corrupt system and all who believe in it. While leaving the funeral of a colleague, Cantrell is killed by a weaponized bomb disposal robot. Nick is ready for his resignation; however, the irate mayor puts the city on lockdown and promotes Nick to acting District Attorney.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: Nick learns that Clyde owns an auto garage near the prison. A tunnel leads to a cache of guns, disguises, and other equipment below the solitary confinement cells, with secret entrances to each cell. He realizes that Clyde wanted to be in solitary confinement all along; this allowed him to easily leave the prison without detection and carry out his premeditated murders while misleading the police, who assumed his murders to be accomplices' doing. Evidence points to Clyde's next target, City Hall, where the mayor is holding an emergency meeting. Nick and his men cannot find Clyde, but discover a cell-phone-activated suitcase bomb planted in the room directly below the meeting.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: Clyde returns to his cell and is surprised to find Nick waiting for him. Clyde suggests another deal, but Nick, having finally come to understand him, says he no longer makes deals with murderers. Nick tries to reason with Clyde, but Clyde activates the suitcase bomb, causing Nick to leave while locking Clyde's cell behind him. Hearing the ringtone of the detonator, Clyde discovers the bomb underneath his bed and realizes too late that Nick had moved the bomb to his cell. Clyde briefly smiles and returns to his bed. He pulls out and looks at his daughter's bracelet as the bomb explodes.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: The epilogue shows Nick watching his daughter in a musical stage performance, an event which he previously had difficulty finding time to attend.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: Gerard Butler was initially signed on to play the prosecuting attorney, while Jamie Foxx was the criminal mastermind operating from inside prison, a reversal of their roles in the final version.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: Frank Darabont was expected to direct the film, but he left production due to creative differences with the producers.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: Filming began in January 17, 2009 and took place in and around Philadelphia. Filming locations included Philadelphia's City Hall, Laurel Hill Cemetery and the now closed Holmesburg Prison. Holmesburg's "Thunderdome command center" is quite evident in the movie.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: The film was edited after being threatened with an NC-17 rating for violence, with the full version released unrated on Blu-ray.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: The score to "Law Abiding Citizen" was composed by Brian Tyler, who recorded his score with a 52-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage with help from Kieron Charlesworth. The film also uses "Eminence Front" by The Who and "Engine No. 9" by Deftones on Clyde's iPod while he is eating his steak in his cell. While Clyde calls Darby to help him 'escape' the police after Ames' execution, "Bloodline" by Slayer is Darby's ringer.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: The film was released theatrically on October 16, 2009 in the United States. The first theatrical trailer was released on August 14, 2009, and was attached to "District 9".


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: The premiere was held on November 15, 2009, at the Cineworld complex in Glasgow, Butler's home town. Many British tabloids labeled the event as the "Homecoming Premiere", in reference to the Homecoming Scotland 2009 celebrations.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: "Law Abiding Citizen" grossed $73.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $54.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $127.9 million.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: The film took second place in its opening weekend, with $21 million, behind "Where the Wild Things Are". It went on to gross $126.6 million in total worldwide.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported 26% of 159 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 4.3/10. The site's critical consensus states: "Unnecessarily violent and unflinchingly absurd, "Law Abiding Citizen" is plagued by subpar acting and a story that defies reason." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 34 out of 100 based on 26 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: In his review for the "Chicago Sun Times", Roger Ebert said, ""Law Abiding Citizen" is the kind of movie you will like more at the time than in retrospect." He then went on to say, "Still, there's something to be said for a movie you like well enough at the time." Ebert rated the film 3 out of 4 stars.


title: Law Abiding Citizen

text: In May 2022, it was announced that a standalone sequel is in development. Kurt Wimmer was hired to return in his role as screenwriter, while Gerard Butler will serve as producer alongside Alan Siegel, Lucas Foster, Rob Paris, and Mike Witherill. Foster stated in his returning role as a producer that the studios look forward to "revisit[ing] these great characters" stating that the premise "seems even more relevant today than when...the original film" released. The filmmaker stated: "We’re going to blow your mind… again." While the plot has not been revealed, Paris and Witherill jointly stated that the creatives involved, see the movie as a "franchise opportunit[y]." The project will be a joint-venture production between G-Base Productions, Rivulet Films, Warp Films, and Village Roadshow Pictures.


title: Metallica (album)

text: Metallica (commonly known as The Black Album) is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on August 12, 1991, by Elektra Records. Recording sessions took place at One on One Studios in Los Angeles over an eight-month span that frequently found Metallica at odds with their new producer Bob Rock. The album marked a change in the band's music from the thrash metal style of their previous four albums to a slower, heavier, and more refined sound.


title: Metallica (album)

text: Metallica promoted "Metallica" with a series of tours. They also released five singles to promote the album: "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters", "Wherever I May Roam", and "Sad but True", all of which have been considered to be among the band's best-known songs. The song "Don't Tread on Me" was also issued to rock radio shortly after the album's release but did not receive a commercial single release.


title: Metallica (album)

text: "Metallica" received widespread critical acclaim and became the band's best-selling album. It debuted at number one in ten countries and spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the "Billboard" 200, making it Metallica's first album to top the album charts. "Metallica" is one of the best-selling albums worldwide, and also one of the best-selling albums in the United States since Nielsen SoundScan tracking began. The album was certified 16× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2012, and has sold over sixteen million copies in the United States, being the first album in the SoundScan era to do so.


title: Metallica (album)

text: Metallica played "Metallica" in its entirety during the 2012 European Black Album Tour. In 2020, the album was ranked number 235 on "Rolling Stone"s The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. In December 2019, "Metallica" became the fourth release in American history to enter the 550-week milestone on the "Billboard" 200. It also became the second longest-charting traditional title in history only behind Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, and the second to spend 550 weeks on the album charts.


title: Metallica (album)

text: At the time of "Metallica" recording, the band's songs were written mainly by frontman James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, with Hetfield being the lyricist. The duo frequently composed together at Ulrich's house in Berkeley, California. Several song ideas and concepts were conceived by other members of the band, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Jason Newsted. For instance, Newsted wrote the main riff of "My Friend of Misery", which was originally intended to be an instrumental, one of which had been included on every previous Metallica album. The songs were written in two months in mid-1990; the ideas for some of them were originated during the Damaged Justice Tour. Metallica was impressed with Bob Rock's production work on Mötley Crüe's "Dr. Feelgood" (1989) and decided to hire him to work on their album. Initially, the band members were not interested in having Rock producing the album as well, but changed their minds. Ulrich said, "We felt that we still had our best record in us and Bob Rock could help us make it".


title: Metallica (album)

text: Four demos for the album were recorded on August 13, 1990; "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters" and "Wherever I May Roam". The lead single "Enter Sandman" was the first song to be written and the last to receive lyrics. On October 4, 1990, a demo of "Sad but True" was recorded. In October 1990, Metallica began recording at One on One Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, to record the album, and also at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia for about a week. On June 2, 1991, a demo of "Holier than Thou" was recorded. Hetfield stated about the recording: "What we really wanted was a live feel. In the past, Lars and I constructed the rhythm parts without Kirk and Jason. This time I wanted to try playing as a band unit in the studio. It lightens things up and you get more of a vibe."


title: Metallica (album)

text: Because it was Rock's first time producing a Metallica album, he had the band make the album in different ways; he asked them to record songs collaboratively rather than individually in separate locations. He also suggested recording tracks live and using harmonic vocals for Hetfield. Rock was expecting the production to be "easy" but had trouble working with the band, leading to frequent, engaged arguments with the band members over aspects of the album. Rock wanted Hetfield to write better lyrics and found his experience recording with Metallica disappointing. Since the band was perfectionist, Rock insisted they record as many takes as needed to get the sound they wanted.<ref name="AY&½ITLOM (1/2)"></ref> The album was remixed three times and cost . The troubled production coincided with Ulrich, Hammett, and Newsted divorcing their wives; Hammett said this influenced their playing because they were "trying to take those feeling of guilt and failure and channel them into the music, to get something positive out of it".


title: Metallica (album)

text: Rock altered Metallica's familiar recording routine and the recording experience was so stressful that Rock briefly swore never to work with the band again. The tension between band and producer was documented in "A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica" and "Classic Albums: Metallica – Metallica", documentaries that explore the intense recording process that resulted in "Metallica". Despite the controversies between the band and Rock, he continued to work with Metallica through to the 2003 album "St. Anger". After the production of "St. Anger", the fourth and final Metallica record Rock would produce, a petition signed by 1,500 fans was posted online in an attempt to encourage the band to prohibit Rock from producing Metallica albums, saying he had too much influence on the band's sound and musical direction. Rock said the petition hurt his children's feelings; he said, "sometimes, even with a great coach, a team keeps losing. You have to get new blood in there."


title: Metallica (album)

text: According to Robert Palmer of "Rolling Stone", "tempos were often slowed down in exchange for slower BPMs, while they expand its music and expressive range". The album was a change in Metallica's direction from the thrash metal style of the band's previous four studio albums towards a more commercial, heavy metal sound, but still had characteristics of thrash metal. Many fans consider the album to be a transition from the often ostentatious compositions of Metallica's previous releases to the slower, divested style of the band's later albums, where "old" and "new" Metallica are distinguished from one another. Instruments not usually used by heavy metal bands, such as the cellos in "The Unforgiven" and the orchestra in "Nothing Else Matters", were added at Rock's insistence. Rock also raised the volume of the bass guitar, which had been nearly inaudible on the previous album "...And Justice for All". Newsted said he tried to "create a real rhythm section rather than a one-dimensional sound" with his bass. Newsted credited Rock with helping him find a sound that would work without killing the bass drum or messing with the lower end of the guitar, which Newsted claimed had always been a real big problem with him. Ulrich said he tried to avoid the "progressive Peartian paradiddles which became boring to play live" in his drumming and used a basic sound similar to those of the Rolling Stones' Charlie Watts and AC/DC's Phil Rudd.


title: Metallica (album)

text: The band took a simpler approach partly because the members felt the songs on "...And Justice for All" were too long and complex. Hetfield said that radio airplay was not their intention, but because they felt "we had pretty much done the longer song format to death," and considered a good change doing songs with just two riffs and "only taking two minutes to get the point across". Ulrich added that the band was feeling a musical insecurity — "We felt inadequate as musicians and as songwriters. That made us go too far, around "Master of Puppets" and "Justice", in the direction of trying to prove ourselves. 'We'll do all this weird-ass shit sideways to prove that we are capable musicians and songwriters'" – and Hetfield added he wanted to avoid getting stale: "Sitting there and worrying about whether people are going to like the album, therefore we have to write a certain kind of song — you just end up writing for someone else. Everyone's different. If everyone was the same, it would be boring as shit."


title: Metallica (album)

text: The lyrics of "Metallica" written by James Hetfield were more personal and introspective in nature than those of previous Metallica albums; Rock said Hetfield's songwriting became more confident, and that he was inspired by Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, and John Lennon. According to Chris True of AllMusic, "Enter Sandman" is about "nightmares and all that come with them". "The God That Failed" dealt with the death of Hetfield's mother from cancer and her Christian Science beliefs, which kept her from seeking medical treatment. "Nothing Else Matters" was a love song Hetfield wrote about missing his girlfriend while on tour. Hetfield said the album's lyrical themes were more introspective because he wanted "lyrics that the band could stand behind – but we are four completely different individuals. So the only way to go was in."


title: Metallica (album)

text: Metallica had many discussions about the album title; the members considered calling it "Five" or using the title of one of the songs, but eventually chose an eponym because they "wanted to keep it simple." The album's cover depicts the band's logo angled against the upper left corner and a coiled snake derived from the Gadsden flag in the bottom right corner. For the initial release, both emblems were embossed so they could barely be seen against the black background, giving "Metallica" the nickname ""The Black Album"". These emblems also appear on the back cover of the album. For later and current releases, both emblems are dark gray so they stand out more prominently. The motto of the Gadsden flag, "Don't Tread on Me", is also the title of a song on the album. A folded, pageless booklet depicts the faces of the band's members against a black background. The lyrics and liner notes are also printed on a grey background. The cover is reminiscent of Spinal Tap's album "Smell the Glove", which the band jokingly acknowledged in its documentary "A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica". Members of Spinal Tap appeared on the film and asked Metallica about it, with Lars Ulrich commenting that British rock group Status Quo was the original inspiration as that band's "Hello!" album cover was also black.


title: Metallica (album)

text: "Enter Sandman" was released as "Metallica"s lead single on July 29, 1991; it reached number 16 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 singles chart and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The follow-up single, "Don't Tread on Me", was released promotionally but did not chart. The subsequent single, "The Unforgiven", was a Top 40 hit; it peaked in the Top 10 in Australia.


title: Metallica (album)

text: "Metallica" was released on August 12, 1991, and was the band's first album to debut at number one on the "Billboard" 200, selling 598,000 copies in its first week. It was certified platinum in two weeks and spent four consecutive weeks atop the "Billboard" 200. Meanwhile, more singles were released to further success. "Nothing Else Matters" reached number six in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and "Wherever I May Roam" peaked at number two on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks singles chart, although the 1993 single "Sad but True" charted only for one week on the "Billboard" Hot 100 at 98. Almost all singles were accompanied by music videos; the Wayne Isham-directed "Enter Sandman" promotional film won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.


title: Metallica (album)

text: Internationally, "Metallica" was also a success. It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and was certified 2× platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for selling 600,000 copies in the UK. "Metallica" topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. It also reached the top five in Austria, Finland, and Japan, as well as the top 10 in Spain. The album failed to reach the top 20 in Ireland, having peaked at number 27. The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) certified the album 12× platinum. It received diamond plaques from the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) and the Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) for shipping a million and 150,000 copies, respectively.


title: Metallica (album)

text: Logging over 488 weeks on the US "Billboard" 200, "Metallica" proved the third-longest charting album in the Nielsen SoundScan era, behind Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" and Carole King's "Tapestry". In 2009, it surpassed Shania Twain's "Come On Over" as the best-selling album of the SoundScan era. It became the first album in the SoundScan era to pass 16 million in sales, and with 16.4 million copies sold by 2016, "Metallica" is the best-selling album in the United States since Nielsen SoundScan tracking began in 1991. Of that sum, 5.8 million were purchased on cassette. The album never sold fewer than 1,000 copies in a week, and moved a weekly average of 5,000 copies in 2016. "Metallica" was certified 16× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2012 for shipping sixteen million copies in the US. "Metallica" sold 31 million copies worldwide on physical media. All five of "Metallica"s singles, "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters", "Wherever I May Roam" and "Sad but True" charted on the "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: Metallica (album)

text: In 1991, for the fourth time, Metallica played as part of the Monsters of Rock festival tour. The last concert of the tour was held on September 28, 1991, at Tushino Airfield in Moscow; it was described as "the first free outdoor Western rock concert in Soviet history" and was attended by an estimated 150,000 to 500,000 people. Some unofficial estimates put the attendance as high as 1,600,000. The first tour directly intended to support the album, the Wherever We May Roam Tour, included a performance at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, at which Metallica performed a short set list, consisting of "Enter Sandman", "Sad but True", and "Nothing Else Matters", along with Hetfield performed the Queen song "Stone Cold Crazy" with John Deacon, Brian May, and Roger Taylor of Queen and Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath. At one of the tour's first gigs the floor of the stage collapsed. The January 13 and 14, 1992, shows in San Diego were later released in the box set "", while the tour and the album were documented in the documentary "A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica".


title: Metallica (album)

text: Metallica's Wherever We May Roam Tour also overlapped with Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion Tour. Hetfield suffered second and third degree burns to his arms, face, hands, and legs on August 8, 1992, during a Montreal show in the co-headlining Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour. The tour included pyrotechnics, which were installed on-stage. Hetfield accidentally walked into a flame shot from a pyrotechnic during a live performance of the introduction of "Fade to Black".<ref name="AY&½ITLOM (2/2)"></ref> The show was cut short shortly after this accident, so that Guns N' Roses began their concert to malicious reactions from fans. Newsted said Hetfield's skin was "bubbling like on "The Toxic Avenger"". The tour recommenced on August 25 in Phoenix, and although Hetfield could sing, he could not play guitar for the remainder of the tour. Guitar technician John Marshall, who had previously filled in on rhythm guitar and was then playing in Metal Church, played guitar for the recovering Hetfield. Brazilian musician Andreas Kisser from Sepultura was initially considered to join the tour, but Marshall ultimately was chosen.


title: Metallica (album)

text: The shows in Mexico City across February and March 1993 during the Nowhere Else to Roam tour were recorded, filmed and later also released as part of the band's first box set, which was released in November 1993 and titled "Live Shit: Binge & Purge". The collection contained three live CDs, three home videos, and a book filled with riders and letters. Pressings of the box set since November 2002 includes two DVDs, the first one being filmed at San Diego on the Wherever We May Roam Tour, and the latter at Seattle on the Damaged Justice Tour. "Binge & Purge" was packaged as a cardboard box resembling that of a typical tour equipment transport box. The box set also featured a recreated copy of an access pass to the "Snakepit" part of the tour stage, as well as a cardboard drawing/airbrush stencil for the "Scary Guy" logo. The Mexico City shows were also the first time the band met future member Robert Trujillo, who was in Suicidal Tendencies at the time.


title: Metallica (album)

text: The final tour supporting the album, the Shit Hits the Sheds Tour, included a performance at Woodstock '94 that followed Nine Inch Nails and preceded Aerosmith on August 13 in front of a crowd of 350,000. Some songs, such as "Enter Sandman", "Nothing Else Matters", and "Sad but True", became permanent staples of Metallica's concert setlists during these and subsequent tours. Other songs though, such as "Holier than Thou", "The God That Failed", "Through the Never", and "The Unforgiven" were no longer included in performances after 1995 and would not be played again until the 2000s, when Metallica began performing a more extensive back catalog of songs with Robert Trujillo on bass after he joined the band upon completion of the album "St. Anger".


title: Metallica (album)

text: After touring duties for the album were finished, Metallica filed a lawsuit against Elektra Records, which tried to force the record label to terminate the band's contract and give the band ownership of their master recordings. The band based its claim on a section of the California Labor Code that allows employees to be released from a personal services contract after seven years. Metallica had sold 40 million copies worldwide upon the filing of the suit. Metallica had been signed to the label for over a decade but was still operating under the terms of its original 1984 contract, which provided a relatively low 14% royalty rate. The band members said they were taking the action because they were ambivalent about Robert Morgado's refusal to give them another record deal along with Bob Krasnow, who retired from his job at the label shortly afterwards. Elektra responded by counter-suing the band, but in December 1994, Warner Music Group United States chairman Doug Morris offered Metallica a lucrative new deal in exchange for dropping the suit, which was reported to be even more generous than the earlier Krasnow deal. In January 1995, both parties settled out of court with a non-disclosure agreement. Metallica played the album in its entirety during the 2012 European Black Album Tour.


title: Metallica (album)

text: "Metallica" was met with widespread acclaim from both heavy metal journalists and mainstream publications, including "NME", "The New York Times", and "The Village Voice". In "Entertainment Weekly", David Browne called it "rock's preeminent speed-metal cyclone", and said, "Metallica may have invented a new genre: progressive thrash". "Q" magazine's Mark Cooper said he found the album's avoidance of metal's typically clumsy metaphors and glossy production refreshing; he said, "Metallica manage to rekindle the kind of intensity that fired the likes of Black Sabbath before metal fell in love with its own cliches". "Select" magazine's David Cavanagh believed the album lacks artifice and is "disarmingly genuine". In his review for "Spin", Alec Foege found the music's harmonies vividly performed and said that Metallica showcase their "newfound versatility" on songs such as "The Unforgiven" and "Holier than Thou". Robert Palmer, writing in "Rolling Stone", said that several songs sound like "hard-rock classics" and that, apart from "Don't Tread on Me", "Metallica" is an "exemplary album of mature but still kickass rock & roll". In his guide to Metallica's albums up to that point, Greg Kot of the "Chicago Tribune" recommended the album as "a great place for Metallica neophytes to start, with its more concise songs and explosive production."


title: Metallica (album)

text: Some reviewers had reservations. Jonathan Gold, in the "Los Angeles Times", said that while Metallica had embraced pop sensibilities "quite well", there was a sense the group was "no longer in love with the possibilities of its sound" on an album whose difficulty being embraced by the "metal cult" mirrored Bob Dylan going electric in the mid-1960s. More critical was Robert Christgau, who wrote in his "Consumer Guide" for "The Village Voice" that he "put James Hetfield out of his misery in under five plays" of the album and that he "found life getting shorter with every song". In his 2000 collection "Christgau's Consumer Guide", Christgau later graded "Metallica" a "dud", indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought".


title: Metallica (album)

text: Retrospective appraisals have been positive. In a retrospective article, "Kerrang!" said "Metallica" is the album that "propelled [the band] out of the metal ghetto to true mainstream global rock superstardom". "Melody Maker" said that as a deliberate departure from the band's thrash style on "...And Justice for All", ""Metallica" was slower, less complicated, and probably twice as heavy as anything they'd done before". In his review for BBC Music, Sid Smith said that although staunch listeners of the band accused them of selling out, Metallica confidently departed from the style of their previous albums and transitioned "from cult metal gods to bona fide rock stars". "Classic Rock" called it "the absolute pinnacle of Metallica's long and successful career", and credited the album for inspiring 1990s post-grunge music and convincing the music industry to embrace heavy metal as a genre with mass appeal. Author and philosopher Thomas Walker wrote in 2020, "Its success at encapsulating...[individualist] ideas in musical form and bringing them to a global audience is truly unique." AllMusic's Steve Huey believed the massive popularity of "Metallica" inspired other speed metal bands to also embrace a simpler, less progressive sound. He deemed it "a good, but not quite great, album, one whose best moments deservedly captured the heavy metal crown, but whose approach also foreshadowed a creative decline [for Metallica.]"


title: Metallica (album)

text: Speaking in "The Independent", Metallica biographer Paul Stenning explained that Metallica created "a sound that had not really been heard in metal before, especially by a thrash band."


title: Metallica (album)

text: Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson said that Metallica should be given huge credit for "grabbing the opportunity when it came up, taking the risk and deservedly reaping the enormous rewards", and that their achievement with the album cannot be underestimated. He also shared his thoughts on it as well, "It's one of those seminal albums that just gets it right. It's extremely well-produced, and every note on that album is totally under control. I admire how they did it, and what they did with the songs, and it was very effective: it undoubtedly did help push metal into the mainstream."


title: Metallica (album)

text: To celebrate the 30th anniversary of "Metallica", a 53-track covers album titled "The Metallica Blacklist" was released on September 10, 2021. The album features covers of songs from "Metallica" from over 50 artists in various styles. All profits from the album are donated to the band's All Within My Hands Foundation as well as charities of each contributing artist's choice.


title: Metallica (album)

text: "Metallica" was voted the eighth best album of 1991 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics nationwide, published by "The Village Voice". "Melody Maker" ranked it number 16 in the magazine's December 1991 list of the year's best albums. In 1992, the album won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. In 2000, it was voted number 88 in Colin Larkin's "All Time Top 1000 Albums". In 2012, "Rolling Stone" ranked "Metallica" number 255 on "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and then number 235 in a 2020 revised edition of the list. It was also ranked 25th on the magazine's "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time" (2017). "Spin" ranked it number 52 in on the "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s" (1999), with its entry reading: "this record's diamond-tipped tuneage stripped the band's melancholy guitar excess down to melodic, radio-ready bullets and ballads". "Metallica" featured in "Q" magazine's August 2000 list of the "Best Metal Albums of All Time"; the magazine said the album "transformed them from cult metal heroes into global superstars, bringing a little refinement to their undoubted power". In 1999, eight years after the album's release, "Metallica" won a Billboard Music Award for Catalog Album of the Year.


title: Metallica (album)

text: On the vinyl record releases, Tracks 1-3 were on Side A, Tracks 4-6 were on Side B, Tracks 7-9 were on Side C, and tracks 10-12 were on Side D.


title: Metallica (album)

text: "Metallica" has been reissued several times, including in 2008, in 2010, and in 2014. To mark its 30th anniversary, a remastered edition was released on September 10, 2021. The album was remastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering, with all content overseen by executive producer Greg Fidelman. A limited edition box set was released, which includes the remastered album on a 180-gram double LP and a CD, as well as three live LPs, 14 CDs and six DVDs featuring unreleased content, and various other physical merchandise.


title: The Fly (1986 film)

text: The Fly is a 1986 American science fiction horror film directed and co-written by David Cronenberg. Produced by Brooksfilms and distributed by 20th Century Fox, the film stars Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis and John Getz. Loosely based on George Langelaan's 1957 short story of the same name and the 1958 film of the same name, "The Fly" tells of an eccentric scientist who, after one of his experiments goes wrong, slowly turns into a fly-hybrid creature. The score was composed by Howard Shore and the make-up effects were created by Chris Walas, along with makeup artist Stephan Dupuis.


title: The Fly (1986 film)

text: "The Fly" was released on August 15, 1986, to massive acclaim by critics and audiences, with praise mainly regarding the special effects and Goldblum's performance. It grossed $60.6 million at the box office against its $9 million budget, becoming the largest commercial success of Cronenberg's career. Walas and Dupuis' work on the film resulted in their winning an Academy Award for Best Makeup, the only Oscar won by a film directed by Cronenberg. A sequel, directed by Walas, was released in 1989.


title: The Fly (1986 film)

text: Brilliant but eccentric scientist Seth Brundle meets science journalist Veronica "Ronnie" Quaife at a meet-the-press event held by Bartok Science Industries, the company funding his work. He takes her back to the laboratory of his warehouse home and asks her to exclusively document his invention: two pods that can teleport objects between them. While the "telepods" can transport inanimate objects perfectly, they are unable to teleport live tissue, as demonstrated when a baboon is turned inside out after being teleported.