Apologies to the Queen Mary
Encyclopedia
Apologies to the Queen Mary is the highly-acclaimed first full-length album by Canadian
indie rock
band Wolf Parade
.
and keyboardist Spencer Krug
.
According to interviews with the band, the album is named after an incident in which the band was removed from the ocean liner
Queen Mary
for breaking down the door of a ballroom and staging a violent séance.
The album achieved a score of 83 out of 100 on Metacritic, appeared in the Canadian edition of Time
magazine's list of "Canada's Most Anticipated Indie Albums of the Year", and was shortlisted for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize
.
The song "Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts" refers to Preta
s of Buddhist mythology
. The "Hungry Ghosts" – beings who, because of actions in their past lives, are always hungry and thirsty, but cannot eat or drink – are used by Krug as a reference to his generation.
The songs "Killing Armies" and "Modern World (Original Version)" were added to the iTunes Music Store release.
The songs "Fancy Claps", "Same Ghost Every Night", and "This Heart's On Fire" were not originally from an EP. All of the other songs, including "Killing Armies", came from the three previous EPs, except "I'll Believe In Anything". This song appeared on the album Snake's Got a Leg
by Sunset Rubdown
(another Spencer Krug project), which was recorded in 2004 and released in July 2005.
Krug has stated that "You Are a Runner" is "more about who I am in relation to my family, my father. That song is just about, well, I'm not going to get into great detail, but my father is a certain way, and there are days when it's obvious to me that I could turn out that way, and that's not a way I want to be, and it has a certain effect on the people who are close to him, and then I see the people that are close to me getting affected in the same way. That's it on a basic level, I sort of…I don't want to get into it beyond those vague terms. "Grounds for Divorce" is just about breaking up. The divorce is symbolic, it's not a real divorce."
The music video for "I'll Believe in Anything" was named "Music Video of the Year" at the PLUG Awards.
Pitchfork Media
placed Apologies to the Queen Mary at number 89 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s. Cokemachineglow named it the 5th greatest album of the 2000s.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band Wolf Parade
Wolf Parade
Wolf Parade is an indie rock band formed in 2003 from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The band is currently on an indefinite hiatus as of May 31, 2011.-History:...
.
Track listing
- "You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son" (Krug) – 2:54
- "Modern World" (Boeckner) – 2:52
- "Grounds for Divorce" (Krug) – 3:25
- "We Built Another World" (Boeckner) – 3:15
- "Fancy Claps" (Krug) – 2:51
- "Same Ghost Every Night" (Boeckner) – 5:44
- "Shine a Light" (Boeckner) – 3:47
- "Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts" (Krug) – 3:39
- "I'll Believe in Anything" (Krug) – 4:36
- "It's a Curse" (Boeckner) – 3:12
- "Dinner Bells" (Krug) – 7:34
- "This Heart's on Fire" (Boeckner) – 3:59
About the album
Songwriting and vocals are split between guitarist Dan BoecknerDan Boeckner
Dan Boeckner is a Canadian singer, songwriter and guitarist. He currently fronts the indie rock bands Wolf Parade and Handsome Furs and was previously a member of Atlas Strategic.-Overview:...
and keyboardist Spencer Krug
Spencer Krug
Spencer Krug is a Canadian musician. He is currently the singer, songwriter and keyboardist for the indie rock bands Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown. He has also performed with other Canadian bands including Swan Lake, Frog Eyes, Fifths of Seven, and ska band the Two Tonne Bowlers, playing various...
.
According to interviews with the band, the album is named after an incident in which the band was removed from the ocean liner
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
Queen Mary
RMS Queen Mary 2
RMS Queen Mary 2 is a transatlantic ocean liner. She was the first major ocean liner built since in 1969, the vessel she succeeded as flagship of the Cunard Line....
for breaking down the door of a ballroom and staging a violent séance.
The album achieved a score of 83 out of 100 on Metacritic, appeared in the Canadian edition of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine's list of "Canada's Most Anticipated Indie Albums of the Year", and was shortlisted for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize
2006 Polaris Music Prize
The inaugural edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize presented on September 18, 2006, at Toronto's Phoenix Concert Theatre. The winning album was Final Fantasy's He Poos Clouds.-Nominees:...
.
The song "Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts" refers to Preta
Preta
Preta, प्रेत or Peta is the name for a type of being described in Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, and Jain texts that undergoes more than human suffering, particularly an extreme degree of hunger and thirst...
s of Buddhist mythology
Buddhist mythology
Buddhist mythology operates within the Buddhist belief system. It is a relatively broad mythology, as it was adopted and influenced by several diverse cultures such as Gandhara which was the capital of Bactria. Later on, it also came to incorporate aspects from countries such as China and Japan...
. The "Hungry Ghosts" – beings who, because of actions in their past lives, are always hungry and thirsty, but cannot eat or drink – are used by Krug as a reference to his generation.
The songs "Killing Armies" and "Modern World (Original Version)" were added to the iTunes Music Store release.
The songs "Fancy Claps", "Same Ghost Every Night", and "This Heart's On Fire" were not originally from an EP. All of the other songs, including "Killing Armies", came from the three previous EPs, except "I'll Believe In Anything". This song appeared on the album Snake's Got a Leg
Snake's Got a Leg
Snake's Got a Leg is the debut album of Sunset Rubdown. It was released in July 2005 on the Global Symphonic label.Most of the material on this album was recorded by Spencer Krug using a cheap microphone connected to a standard PC in his bedroom...
by Sunset Rubdown
Sunset Rubdown
Sunset Rubdown is an art rock band from Montreal, Canada. The band began as a solo project for Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade, who released his debut, Snake's Got a Leg, in early 2005...
(another Spencer Krug project), which was recorded in 2004 and released in July 2005.
Krug has stated that "You Are a Runner" is "more about who I am in relation to my family, my father. That song is just about, well, I'm not going to get into great detail, but my father is a certain way, and there are days when it's obvious to me that I could turn out that way, and that's not a way I want to be, and it has a certain effect on the people who are close to him, and then I see the people that are close to me getting affected in the same way. That's it on a basic level, I sort of…I don't want to get into it beyond those vague terms. "Grounds for Divorce" is just about breaking up. The divorce is symbolic, it's not a real divorce."
The music video for "I'll Believe in Anything" was named "Music Video of the Year" at the PLUG Awards.
Reception
Online music magazineOnline magazine
An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with online newspapers, but can usually be distinguished by its approach to editorial control...
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
placed Apologies to the Queen Mary at number 89 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s. Cokemachineglow named it the 5th greatest album of the 2000s.
Personnel
- Dan BoecknerDan BoecknerDan Boeckner is a Canadian singer, songwriter and guitarist. He currently fronts the indie rock bands Wolf Parade and Handsome Furs and was previously a member of Atlas Strategic.-Overview:...
– guitar, vocals - Spencer KrugSpencer KrugSpencer Krug is a Canadian musician. He is currently the singer, songwriter and keyboardist for the indie rock bands Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown. He has also performed with other Canadian bands including Swan Lake, Frog Eyes, Fifths of Seven, and ska band the Two Tonne Bowlers, playing various...
– piano, keyboards, vocals - Arlen Thompson – drums
- Hadji Bakara – keyboards, electronics
- Tim KingsburyTim KingsburyTim Kingsbury is a Canadian musician and member of the indie rock band Arcade Fire. He plays bass guitar, guitar, and occasionally keyboards.He spent his early years living in and around Guelph, Ontario. His peers would become indie names such as Gentleman Reg and Jim Guthrie...
– guitar (tracks 4 and 5), bass (track 7)