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The Con (album)

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Untitled
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(80/100)[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk(92%)[2]
Allmusic[3]
Billboard(favorable)[4]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[5]
The Observer[6]
Okayplayer(83%)[7]
Pitchfork Media(6.6/10)[8]
Rolling Stone[9]

The Con is the fifth studio album by Canadian rock duo Tegan and Sara, released on July 24, 2007 (February 18, 2008 in the United Kingdom). Guest performers on the album include Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie, Matt Sharp of The Rentals and formerly of Weezer (on Sara's songs), Hunter Burgan of AFI (on Tegan's songs) and Kaki King.[10][11][12]

The album is dedicated to Rita Clement and Burt Harris.

The song "The Con" is featured in the video game Rock Band 3.

Background

The album was written during a period of intense emotional turmoil for both Tegan and Sara. Sara was struggling with Canadian immigration to get her American-born girlfriend a working visa so they could live together, while Tegan was dealing with the breakup of a five year relationship.[13] At that time, they were also mourning after their deceased grandmother, who, according to Tegan, had been like a second mom to them. She also stated that these were the reasons for The Con being "very dark and also very much about reflecting on getting older and long-term relationships and the end of things" [14].

As announced on their MySpace blog, a special edition CD/DVD was released at the same time as the CD-only version. The CD/DVD release has a parental advisory warning for profanity on the DVD, although the CD contains no explicit content.[15]

"Back in Your Head", the first single, and the second single, "The Con," were used heavily for promotional purposes. The vinyl release of this album includes a promotional copy of "The Con" on CD. "Call it Off" is the third single from the album. The music video for "Call It Off" was released September 15, 2008.

According to the DVD edition of the album, Sugar, Spell It Out was a tentative album title.[16] The DVD also reveals the title track "The Con" was tentatively titled "Encircle Me" and "Like O, Like H" was previously titled "SOS."

EE Storey, the band's artistic director, designed the album artwork.

For the United States portion of their world tour of this album, they have posted a series of videos called "Trailer Talk" on their MySpace profile.

1,500 copies of The Con demos were sold for charity at concerts.

Critical reception

The Con received positive reviews from the media, scoring 80 on review aggregator Metacritic.[1] The album debuted at number 34 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 19,000 copies in its first week.[17] On week 2, the album fell out of the top 50, at No. 69, selling about 10,000 that week, totaling at 29,000.

Filter magazine calls The Con "a startlingly dark, yet characteristically vibrant offering, featuring a band that's learned to harness the energy-highs, while tempering pretty (even pastoral) pop-folk with a new, deeply-affecting brand of melancholy." PopMatters gave The Con a score of 8 out of 10, calling it "very, very good. To be more precise, it is one of the best albums so far of 2007 and one of the best recent pop releases." The A.V. Club says that "ultimately even The Con's failings work in its favor, providing a macro version of what the best Tegan And Sara songs do, by stumbling along recklessly, then falling together."[18]

BestEverAlbums.com lists The Con as Tegan and Sara's best album, ranking at number 786 in their list of the best albums ever and number 190 in their list of the best albums of the 2000s.[19]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Was Married"Sara Quin1:36
2."Relief Next to Me"S. Quin3:04
3."The Con"Tegan Quin3:33
4."Knife Going In"S. Quin2:13
5."Are You Ten Years Ago"T. Quin3:21
6."Back in Your Head"S. Quin3:00
7."Hop a Plane"T. Quin1:53
8."Soil, Soil"T. Quin1:27
9."Burn Your Life Down"S. Quin2:26
10."Nineteen"T. Quin3:00
11."Floorplan"S. Quin3:41
12."Like O, Like H"S. Quin2:43
13."Dark Come Soon"T. Quin3:11
14."Call It Off"T. Quin2:25

DVD features

  • The Con: The Movie (Making of the album)
  • Extras
    • Ptosis: Explained
    • Ptosis Outtakes
    • Duct Tape Dreads
    • Feelings Report
    • Video Chapters

Personnel

  • Tegan Quin – guitars, keyboards, piano, vocals
  • Sara Quin – guitars, keyboards, piano, vocals
  • Christopher Walla – guitars (6, 10), keyboards (12), organ (6), shakers (6), cymbals (5), tiny guitars (5, 14), bass (4, 9)
  • Ted Gowans – guitars (2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 14), keyboards (2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13), organ (13)
  • Matt Sharp – bass (1, 2, 6, 9, 11, 12) on all of Sara's songs
  • Hunter Burgan – bass (3, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14) on all of Tegan's songs
  • Kaki King – lap steel (4), guitar (11)
  • Jason McGerr – drums, percussion

References

  1. ^ a b "Tegan and Sara: The Con". Metacritic. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
  2. ^ "Tegan and Sara – The Con – Album Review". AbsolutePunk.net. July 24, 2007. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  3. ^ Brown, Marisa. The Con at AllMusic. Retrieved Jul 22, 2007.
  4. ^ [1][dead link]
  5. ^ Reviewed by Neil Drumming (July 23, 2007). "The Con Review | Music Reviews and News". EW.com. Retrieved February 10, 2012. {{cite web}}: Text "Jul 23, 2007" ignored (help)
  6. ^ "CD: Tegan and Sara, The Con | Music | The Observer". Music.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  7. ^ "Tegan and Sara « Okayplayer | okayplayer.com". okayplayer.com. 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  8. ^ Jessica Suarez. "Tegan and Sara: The Con | Album Reviews | Pitchfork". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved August 9, 2012. {{cite web}}: Text "July 27, 2007" ignored (help)
  9. ^ Christgau, Robert (August 9, 2007). "Tegan and Sara The Con > Album Review". Rolling Stone. No. 1032. p. 90. Archived from the original on August 8, 2007. Retrieved July 25, 2007. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; May 3, 2009 suggested (help)
  10. ^ Tegan & Sara Update – News Article – AbsolutePunk.net
  11. ^ Katie Hasty, "Tegan & Sara Weigh Pros And 'Cons' On New CD", Billboard.com, March 18, 2007.
  12. ^ Filter-Mag.com
  13. ^ Treuen, Jason. "Frankie: Tegan and Sara interview". Frankie magazine. Retrieved December 21, 2007.
  14. ^ http://metroweekly.com/feature/?ak=4882
  15. ^ allmusic ((( The Con [CD/DVD] > Overview )))
  16. ^ YouTube – The Con
  17. ^ Katie Hasty, "'NOW 25' Fends Off 'Hairspray,' Prince To Remain No. 1", Billboard.com, August 1, 2007.
  18. ^ Noel Murray, "Tegan and Sara: The Con", avclub.com, July 24, 2007
  19. ^ "The Con (album) by Tegan And Sara". Best Ever Albums. May 22, 2007. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
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