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A Shipwreck in the Sand

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Untitled

A Shipwreck in the Sand is the fourth studio album by Canadian post-hardcore band, Silverstein, released March 31, 2009 through Victory.

Background and recording

A Shipwreck in the Sand was recorded at Metalworks Studios, in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, with producer Cameron Webb, who also engineered and mixed it.[1][nb 1] Silverstein returned to Discovering the Waterfront (2005) producer Cameron Webb, after being disappointed with the recording process of their previous album, Arrivals & Departures (2007),[6][7][8] which was produced by Mark Trombino.[9]

Mixing took place at Maple Studios in Santa Ana, California, U.S.[1] Sergio Chavez provided additional engineering, while Kevin Dietz was assistant engineer at Metalworks Studios.[1] The album was mastered by Brian Gardner at Bernie Grundman Mastering.[1]

Music and lyrics

The album features a much heavier sound. With some tracks that are soft, it also has some very heavy tracks and is considered their heaviest album.[10] The album contains influences from post-hardcore, emo,[11] hardcore punk[12] and heavy metal.[10]

The album features a conceptual storyline, written by lead vocalist Shane Told. Prior to the release of the album, an official album website was revealed,[13] which told the tale of a vessel which set sail to find resources, and begin a new world, but when no new land is to be found, the crew revolts and turns against their captain.

As time passed by, there was no new land to be found. As the days grew shorter, and the nights grew longer and colder, the crew became more and more skeptical about the captain's vision. Originally passionate and committed, true and faithful, they now began to revolt.[13]

The website also carried the tagline, "Betrayal. Arson. Infidelity. True Love.". Upon release of the album, it was revealed the story of the ship and its captain was just a metaphor of betrayal, similar to that faced by the protagonist in the main storyline.

The primary focus of the narrative throughout the album is of a man who discovers his partner is cheating on him with his best friend ("Vices"), and his dreams of a happy life with her are to be extinguished ("American Dream") as she intends to leave him for his best friend. He confronts his best friend ("I Knew I Couldn't Trust You"), before setting his and his partner's house on fire, ("I Am The Arsonist") with his partner and daughter still inside. As he still loves them, he cannot leave them to burn, so he saves them from the burning house ("A Great Fire") and subsequently faces court for his crime, where his partner accuses him of insanity and wins custody of their daughter ("We Are Not The World"). With a lack of evidence to prove he burnt down the house however, the courts have no option but to release him until the next day, so he drives away to sleep at a motel. Realizing he can't live without them, and faced with a lengthy prison sentence he ends up taking his own life in the motel room. ("A Hero Loses Everyday" and "The End"). Many lyrics reinforce this concept, such as;

  • "You can't see me behind the door, I just heard everything you said." taken from "Vices"
  • "You call him, you're saying all these things you used to say to me." taken from "Vices"
  • "How could you do this? My best friend with my bride" taken from "I Am The Arsonist"
  • "They'll see your fire through the dark night sky... I hope you're home when I arrive" taken from "I Am The Arsonist"
  • "I can see through the flames that the fire cleanses me" taken from "A Great Fire"
  • "And now you've taken her away" from "We Are Not The World"
  • "Dead, lying all alone on this motel room floor, I know I'm dying" from "A Hero Loses Everyday"
  • "I didn't want to save you. I set our house on fire to watch it burn. But I couldn't just leave you there" from "The End"

Alongside the main storyline, some songs tackle individual issues, such as "Born Dead", which talks about the problems with the American health system.[8] "The protagonist of the story is sick, terminally ill, and can't get health care," says Told. "That's a big reason for the problems that he's facing in his life."[14] The track, "We Are Not The World" attacks the government and the problems of war.[15]

In an interview filmed for the Decade (Live at the El Mocambo) live album, Shane Told states the following;

The concept of the record "The Shipwreck In The Sand" is complicated, and there's a lot of stuff going on. And I like that about it, that it is not obvious and that a lot of people can take something out of it that's their own. The reason I wanted to do a concept record was because of the way the world is right now, with the economy being messed up, people losing jobs and families losing their life savings, and not knowing what they are going to do in the future. Ten years ago, everything was going so well, people were not as concerned and now it's a really scary time. There's a lot of underlying political issues within the record about what governments all over the world are spending money on, what their focus is on. There's also a lot of social issues I wanted to talk about as well; people that watch reality TV and think Cribs is the way their house needs to look or they need to look like people from a Cosmopolitan magazine. There's just so many problems that face society right now and I really wanted to tackle them all. Each song just dives into a different issue; you know the issue of health care right now in America, and how it's so divided when it should be so obvious.[8]

Release

A demo version of "Broken Stars" had been streamed by the band on their MySpace profile in late 2008, and the song extensively performed on their U.S. tour then. The song was originally written during the sessions for the band's previous album, Arrivals & Departures. On January 29, they released the track listing along with the album cover for the new album, as well as an accompanying story to the album's concept.[16]

On March 5 and on March 13, they also posted a clip of "Born Dead." On March 23, the full album was uploaded for streaming over MySpace Music. On March 17, 2009, they shot a music video for "Vices" with director Robby Starbuck. A Shipwreck in the Sand was released on March 31 on Victory.[17][nb 2] A CD/DVD version was also released.[17][nb 3] Starbuck would also directed their video for "American Dream", released on May 18, 2010.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk(77%) [18]
Allmusic[11]
Sputnikmusic link
DecoyMusic.com[10]
MusicEmissions.com[12]

A Shipwreck in the Sand received mainly positive reviews from music critics and fans alike. It peaked at number thirty three on the Billboard 200 album chart, a position higher than 2005's Discovering the Waterfront, however not reaching the height of its predecessor, Arrivals & Departures.[19]

Daniel Thompson of Music Emissions suggested the album "may very well be the band's best album to date", and praised the diversity of musical styles present on the album, however criticized the repetitiveness of the lyrics stating, "it gets annoying hearing about the same thing in every song".[20] Michael Roberts from Sputnikmusic wrote that the album contains "conceptual, musical and lyrical faults" but praised the band's "superb combination of heavy and melodic sections, improved song construction and memorable hooks" and dubbed the album "a strong release from the Canadian quintet".[21] Drew Beringer of AbsolutePunk also gave a mainly positive review, calling it an "enjoyable, catchy album that digs deeper than most bands in its genre", giving the album an overall rating of 77% and saying although "musically, the album doesn’t implement a new sound or direction" it is "a refinement and polishing of the things the band has tried over the years".[22]

Track listing

Chapter One – It Burns Within Us All
No.TitleLength
1."A Great Fire"4:00
2."Vices" (featuring Liam Cormier of Cancer Bats[23])3:19
3."Broken Stars"3:30
Chapter Two – Liars, Cheaters and Thieves
No.TitleLength
4."American Dream"3:05
5."Their Lips Sink Ships"1:02
6."I Knew I Couldn't Trust You"3:29
7."Born Dead" (featuring Scott Wade of Comeback Kid[23])2:51
Chapter Three – Fight Fire with Fire
No.TitleLength
8."A Shipwreck in the Sand"4:38
9."I Am the Arsonist"3:08
10."You're All I Have"3:33
Chapter Four – Death and Taxes
No.TitleLength
11."We Are Not the World"3:21
12."A Hero Loses Everyday"3:08
13."The Tide Raises Every Ship"0:46
14."The End" (featuring Lights[23])7:25
Total length:47:15
Chapter Five – Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
15."Help!" (The Beatles cover)2:17
16."Go Your Own Way" (Fleetwood Mac cover)2:30
17."Three Miles Down" (Saves the Day cover)1:45
18."Total Bummer" (NOFX cover)2:15
19."Broken Stars" (demo)3:34

Personnel

Personnel per booklet.[1]

Chart positions

Charts (2009) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard 200[25] 33
U.S. Billboard Alternative Albums[26] 7
U.S. Billboard Digital Albums[27] 33
U.S. Billboard Hard Rock Albums[28] 4
U.S. Billboard Independent Albums[29] 3
U.S. Billboard Rock Albums[30] 10

References

Footnotes
  1. ^ Webb previously worked with the band producing Discovering the Waterfront (2005).[2] He would later work with the band, mixing Decade (Live at the El Mocambo) (2010),[3] Transitions (2010)[4] and Rescue (2011).[5]
  2. ^ U.S. Victory VR458[17]
  3. ^ U.S. Victory VR513[17]
Citations
  1. ^ a b c d e A Shipwreck in the Sand (Booklet). Silverstein. Victory. 2009. VR458.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ^ Discovering the Waterfront (Booklet). Silverstein. Victory. 2005. VR257.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ^ Decade (Live at the El Mocambo) (Booklet). Silverstein. Victory. 2010. VR589.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ^ Transitions (Booklet). Silverstein. Hopeless. 2010. HR726-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ^ Rescue (Booklet). Silverstein. Hopeless. 2011. HR9726-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ "Silverstein: A Shipwreck in the Sand". thedwarf.com.au. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  7. ^ Kiara.Cullen says: (2009-05-12). "Interview With Silverstein Frontman Shane Todd". Thedailyrock.com. Retrieved 2012-03-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  8. ^ a b c "Decade (Live at the El Mocambo) DVD, Victory Records",
  9. ^ Canoe inc. "CANOE - JAM! Silverstein: Post-punks Silverstein unbound". canoe.com. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  10. ^ a b c "Silverstein - A Shipwreck In The Sand Review". Decoy Music.
  11. ^ a b https://www.allmusic.com/album/r1497939
  12. ^ a b "Silverstein - A Shipwreck In The Sand Review". Music Emissions.
  13. ^ a b "Official Album Website". Archived from the original on 2010-01-16. Retrieved 2010-02-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Hardin, Chet. "Colorado Springs Independent". Csindy.com. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  15. ^ "Silverstein - A Shipwreck in the Sand (album review)". Sputnikmusic. 2009-05-31. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  16. ^ Official Album Website, [1], retrieved January 29, 2009.
  17. ^ a b c d "Silverstein Releases". Victory Records. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  18. ^ "Silverstein - A Shipwreck In the Sand". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  19. ^ "T.I. Is Top Dog Again On The Billboard 200". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  20. ^ "Silverstein - A Shipwreck In The Sand Review from". Music Emissions. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  21. ^ "Silverstein - A Shipwreck in the Sand (album review)". Sputnikmusic. 2009-03-31. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  22. ^ "Silverstein - A Shipwreck In the Sand - Album Review". AbsolutePunk.net. 2009-03-31. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  23. ^ a b c DeAndrea, Joe. "Guests on New Silverstein Record" AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved on February 20, 2009.
  24. ^ Silverstein (2009). A Shipwreck in the Sand (DVD). Victory. Event occurs at 42:50. VR513.
  25. ^ "Silverstein - Chart history (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  26. ^ "Silverstein - Chart history (Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  27. ^ "Silverstein - Chart history (Digital Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  28. ^ "Silverstein - Chart history (Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  29. ^ "Silverstein - Chart history (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  30. ^ "Silverstein - Chart history (Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
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