Infinity Within
| Infinity Within | ||||
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| Studio album by Deee-Lite | ||||
| Released | June 23, 1992 | |||
| Recorded | July–December 1991 | |||
| Genre | House | |||
| Length | 60:41 | |||
| Label | Elektra | |||
| Producer | Deee-Lite | |||
| Deee-Lite chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Infinity Within | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
| Entertainment Weekly | B |
| Robert Christgau |  |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Spin | favorable |
Infinity Within is the second studio album by the house and club/dance group Deee-Lite. Released in 1992 on Elektra, the sophomore effort, through its lyrical content, instrumentation, and overall tone, showcases the band's political activism as a more literal part of the music than on their debut album, World Clique (1990).
"Runaway", the lead single from the album, is Deee-Lite's fourth single to top the Billboard dance chart, helping to establish their success in the musical genre beyond World Clique.
With its predecessor subtly focusing on global peace, joy, and unity, Infinity Within is overtly political, as evidenced by the phrase "Let's face it, it's a pro-choice album" appearing on the album cover and more importantly, with outspoken tracks encouraging the protection of the environment ("I Had a Dream I Was Falling through a Hole in the Ozone Layer"), sexual liberation through safe sex ("Rubber Lover"), the failure of the judicial system ("Fuddy Duddy Judge") and the importance of voting ("Vote, Baby, Vote"). The song "Vote, Baby, Vote" was made into a public service announcement which advocated the band's mission for voter registration and their support of the Motor Voter Bill to ease voter registration.
While some music critics may not have recognized it, the move to more heightened social awareness on the second album was not a departure from World Clique, but a natural progression for the band members. Inspired by the I Ching, Infinity Within is meant to be more self-reflective and to counteract the global view of World Clique, which Lady Kier felt was often misunderstood. She explained the idea behind the album and its title by saying:
To further show their support of the environment, Deee-Lite pledged a portion of the album's profits to Greenpeace. Additionally, Infinity Within was the first Warner Music titles that was issued in an eco-friendly package called the Eco-pak. It was designed in 1991 by Ivy Hill Packaging, at the time a subsidiary of Time Warner, as a more environmentally friendly alternative to the longbox which was often discarded after purchase, and to facilitate proper display of CDs in music retail stores. The eco-pack was displayed in stores unfolded, to display titles in the same manner as longboxes. Upon purchasing a title and removing the plastic shrink wrap, the packaging was folded into the shape of a traditional CD jewelcase, similar to a Digipak. By 1993, the use of the longbox was phased out as music retailers began replacing LP-sized sales racks with those to house jewelcase or digipak formats with the locking plastic frames (keepers); thus rendering the Eco-pak, in its original form, obsolete. As a result, Infinity Within is among the few titles ever released with the original Eco-pak design.
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