A Shipwreck in the Sand
Encyclopedia
A Shipwreck in the Sand is the fourth studio album by Canadian post-hardcore
band, Silverstein
, released March 31, 2009 through Victory Records
.
For A Shipwreck In The Sand, Silverstein returned to Discovering The Waterfront
producer Cameron Webb, after being disappointed with the recording process of their 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. 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.
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. On March 17 they shot a music video for the first single "Vices" with director Robby Starbuck. Robby Starbuck also directed their video for American Dream, released on May 18, 2010.
. The lyrics are based on a conceptual story written by lead vocalist Shane Told. A spoken verse in the song "A Shipwreck In The Sand" speaks of a vessel which sets 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.
The main storyline throughout the album however, 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 cant live without them, and faced with a lengthy prison
sentence the he ends up taking his own life in the motel room. ("A Hero Loses Everyday and "The End"). The story of the ship and its captain is just a metaphor
of betrayal that alludes to the main story of betrayal and deceit face by the protagonist of the story. Many lyrics reinforce this concept, such as;
Alongside the main storyline, some songs tackle individual issues, such as "Born Dead", which talks about the problems with the American health system.
"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." The track, "We Are Not The World" attacks the government and the problems of war
.
In an interview filmed for the Decade: Live At The El Mocambo
, Shane Told states the following;
album chart, a position higher than 2005's Discovering the Waterfront
, however not reaching the height of its predecessor, Arrivals & Departures
.
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".
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". 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".
Additional musicians
Production
Art
Post-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a genre of music that developed from hardcore punk, itself an offshoot of the broader punk rock movement. Like post-punk, post-hardcore is a term for a broad constellation of groups...
band, Silverstein
Silverstein (band)
Silverstein is a Canadian post-hardcore band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 2000. Their band name is a reference to the famous children's author Shel Silverstein, whom the band had admired and read the stories of as children. They have released a total of five studio albums, three EP's, a...
, released March 31, 2009 through Victory Records
Victory Records
Victory Records is a Chicago-based record label founded by Tony Brummel. It is a privately held corporation. It also operates a music publishing company called "Another Victory, Inc." and is the distributor of several smaller independent record labels....
.
For A Shipwreck In The Sand, Silverstein returned to Discovering The Waterfront
Discovering the Waterfront
Discovering the Waterfront is the second full-length album released by the band Silverstein. The album has three singles; "Smile In Your Sleep", "Discovering The Waterfront", and "My Heroine"; all of which had music videos.-Track listing:...
producer Cameron Webb, after being disappointed with the recording process of their previous album, Arrivals & Departures
Arrivals & Departures
- Personnel :Silverstein*Paul Koehler - drums*Shane Told - lead vocals, rhythm & additional guitars, keyboards*Neil Boshart - lead guitar*Josh Bradford - rhythm guitar*Billy Hamilton - bass, backing vocalsAdditional personnel & production...
. 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. 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.
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. On March 17 they shot a music video for the first single "Vices" with director Robby Starbuck. Robby Starbuck also directed their video for American Dream, released on May 18, 2010.
Concept
The album is a concept albumConcept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
. The lyrics are based on a conceptual story written by lead vocalist Shane Told. A spoken verse in the song "A Shipwreck In The Sand" speaks of a vessel which sets 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.
The main storyline throughout the album however, 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
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
for his crime, where his partner accuses him of insanity
Insanity
Insanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered 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 cant live without them, and faced with a lengthy prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
sentence the he ends up taking his own life in the motel room. ("A Hero Loses Everyday and "The End"). The story of the ship and its captain is just a metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
of betrayal that alludes to the main story of betrayal and deceit face by the protagonist of the story. 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"
- "Light it up, burn it down. Breathe in my addiction" 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 (the daughter) 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.
Health care in the United States
Health care in the United States is provided by many separate legal entities. Health care facilities are largely owned and operated by the private sector...
"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." The track, "We Are Not The World" attacks the government and the problems of war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
.
In an interview filmed for the Decade: Live At The El Mocambo
Decade (Live at the El Mocambo)
Decade is the first live CD/DVD from the Ontario post-hardcore band Silverstein, released on June 8, 2010. On April 23, 2010, the band announced through their official Facebook page that the live album was to be released on June 8, 2010. It was filmed and recorded during March 18–21, 2010...
, Shane Told states the following;
Reception
A Shipwreck in the Sand received mainly positive reviews from music critics and fans alike. It peaked at number thirty three on the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
album chart, a position higher than 2005's Discovering the Waterfront
Discovering the Waterfront
Discovering the Waterfront is the second full-length album released by the band Silverstein. The album has three singles; "Smile In Your Sleep", "Discovering The Waterfront", and "My Heroine"; all of which had music videos.-Track listing:...
, however not reaching the height of its predecessor, Arrivals & Departures
Arrivals & Departures
- Personnel :Silverstein*Paul Koehler - drums*Shane Told - lead vocals, rhythm & additional guitars, keyboards*Neil Boshart - lead guitar*Josh Bradford - rhythm guitar*Billy Hamilton - bass, backing vocalsAdditional personnel & production...
.
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".
Michael Roberts from Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic, or simply Sputnik, is a music website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites...
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". 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".
Track listing
Bonus DVD
Some versions of the album contained a bonus DVD. It featured the music videos for "Still Dreaming" and "If You Could See into My Soul", along with "Behind The Scenes of Still Dreaming" and "Soul Tour Montage", which was a collection of videos from Silverstein on tour to the song "If You Could See into My Soul". It also contained a gallery of black and white studio photographs, taken by Brooks Reynolds. However the main feature of the DVD is a 43 minute long behind the scenes, for the making of the album. It contains interviews of the band along with studio footage. The camera work was done by band member Josh Bradford, and the DVD was edited by Eric Richter, Mark Smith, Sean Sutton and Kenton Quatman.Personnel
Silverstein- Shane Told – lead vocals, rhythm & additional guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, programming, strings
- Neil Boshart – lead guitar
- Josh Bradford – rhythm guitar
- Billy Hamilton – bass, backing vocals
- Paul KoehlerPaul KoehlerPaul Adam Koehler is a Canadian drummer in the band Silverstein. He is also involved in several business ventures, most notably a clothing company named Liars! Manifesto.-Early life:...
– drums, percussion
Additional musicians
- Liam Cormier (from Cancer BatsCancer BatsCancer Bats are a hardcore punk/sludge metal band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.-Background:Cancer Bats originated in May 2004 with singer Liam Cormier and guitarist Scott Middleton, former member of Toronto heavy metal band At the Mercy of Inspiration...
) – guest vocals on "Vices" - Scott Wade – (ex Comeback KidComeback KidComeback Kid is a Canadian hardcore band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Formed in 2002, the band is currently signed to Facedown Records. Their name comes from a headline in a newspaper about hockey player, Mario Lemieux coming back to the NHL. The band was formed in 2002 by Andrew Neufeld and Jeremy...
) – guest vocals on "Born Dead" - Lights – guest vocals on "The End"
- Anna Jarvis (from The RestThe RestThe Rest is an active Canadian musical group based in Hamilton, Ontario.-History:The Rest was formed in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 2003. The group started as a sextet. During the recording of The Rest's first full-length album, a cellist joined the ensemble...
) – cello - I Am Committing A Sin – additional group vocals
Production
- Cameron Webb – producer, engineer, mixing
- Sergio Chavez – additional engineering
- Kevin Dietz – assistant engineer
- Paul Dickinson – drum technician
- Brian Gardner – mastering
- Pierre Tremblay – management
Art
- Martin Wittfooth – artwork
- Kyle Crawford – artwork
- Vanessa Heins – photography
- Brooks Reynolds – photography