“I wasn’t feeling much of anything by the time it was released.” Failure’s brilliant third album Fantastic Planet should have made them superstars. Instead, it broke their hearts and split the band
Failure’s third album, Fantastic Planet, was released in summer 1996 as an ambitious, self-produced alternative-rock record, but its path to release was damaged by uncertainty at the band’s label. Although it was expected to be a breakthrough, it did not enter the Billboard Top 200, and the disappointment contributed to the Los Angeles trio splitting in 1997. The article presents the album as a major artistic achievement whose commercial failure left the band emotionally exhausted rather than celebrated.
Named after René Laloux’s stop-motion science-fiction film, Fantastic Planet contained 17 tracks and ran for nearly 68 minutes. It was developed in a rented Tujunga house owned by Lita Ford, but the sale of the band’s label meant the finished record sat unreleased for 18 months before Warner Brothers issued it. Its reputation grew after Failure’s break-up, with artists including Tool, Paramore, Cave In and Deftones citing the band as an influence.
- Fantastic Planet was acclaimed artistically but failed commercially.
- Label disruption delayed its release by 18 months.
- Failure split in 1997, before gaining later influence.