
Panopticon is the third full-length album by Los Angeles, California, USA-based post-metal band Isis, released on October 19, 2004 by Ipecac Recordings. The album's title derives from philosopher Jeremy Bentham's panopticon prison ideal and philosopher/historian Michel Foucault's later allegorical appropriation of the concept. The liner notes also include quotes from technology writer Howard Rheingold and futurist Alex Steffen. The album artwork shows an almost isometric aerial photograph of South San Francisco and San Bruno, California (to the north and west of San Francisco International Airport), reinforcing the notion of "being watched", or omniscience. This reintroduces the tower theme of past releases through convention; the center of the circular panopticon was designed either for a lone guard or a central tower, with which the surrounding cells/rooms/etc. are governed. The tower links to a major theme of Celestial, which also links to a female character (as featured in the story of Oceanic). Note, however, that the themes and their connections are merely conjecture, and are open to interpretation. (Wikipedia) CD Quality FLAC-PCM lossless
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