If Then Else

if_then_else is the sixth studio album by the Dutch alternative rock band The Gathering. The album was released on 25 July 2000 through Century Media.

if_then_else
Studio album by The Gathering
Released	25 July 2000
Recorded	January to March 2000
Genre	Progressive rock[1] trip hop alternative rock
Length	52:46
Label	Century Media 77298-2
Producer	The Gathering; co-produced by Zlaya Hadzich
The Gathering chronology
How to Measure a Planet? (1998) if_then_else (2000) Black Light District (2002)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Chronicles of Chaos	[3]

Background

The album was recorded at the Koeienverhuurbedrijf Studio, Purmerend, and at S&K Studio, Doetinchem between January and March, 2000, under the band's own guidance with Zlaya Hadzich as co-producer. The album was engineered by Zlaya Hadzich and Dick Kemper, mixed and mastered on Pro Tools by Attie Bauw at Bauwhaus Studio, Amsterdam in April 2000.

Its title combines two frequently used computer programming notations:

• The if, then, else conditional statement
• The use of all lowercase, underscore-separated words

"Colorado Incident" is about a real-life experience of having to cancel a gig in Colorado because of overbooking, exhaustion and the band members' illnesses. Fans were frustrated, and the band was later very apologetic about this "incident".[4] (It is apparently not about the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, as often speculated.)

An excerpt of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, narrated by Willie Rushton, is heard between "Analog Park" and "Herbal Movement".

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Anneke van Giersbergen except when noted; all music is composed by The Gathering.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Rollercoaster"	4:45
2.	"Shot to Pieces"	4:10
3.	"Amity"	5:57
4.	"Bad Movie Scene"	3:49
5.	"Colorado Incident" (René Rutten, van Giersbergen)	4:53
6.	"Beautiful War"	2:33
7.	"Analog Park"	6:06
8.	"Herbal Movement"	4:11
9.	"Saturnine"	5:12
10.	"Morphia's Waltz"	6:37
11.	"Pathfinder"	4:39

Charts

Chart (2000)	Peak position
Dutch Albums Chart[5]	47
German Albums Chart[6]	76

Additional musicians

• Bart van Vegchel - French horn [tracks 1, 6, 11]
• Ad Verspaandonk - Trombon [tracks 6, 11]
• Emmeke Bressers - Oboe [track 6]
• Jasper Slotboom - cello [track 6]
• Marthe Kalkhoven - cello [track 6]
• Jiska ter Bals - violin [tracks 3, 6, 9, 10, 11]

Notes

1. allmusic ((( If_Then_Else > Overview)))
2. Allmusic review
3. "CoC : The Gathering - ifthenelse : Review". www.chroniclesofchaos.com.
4. Rutten, Hans. "The colorado incident". Disable Javascript before following link. Archived from the original on 2002-01-22. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
5. Hung, Steffen. "Dutch Charts - dutchcharts.nl". www.dutchcharts.nl.
6. "Home - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". www.officialcharts.de.