The Mother, the Mechanic, and the Path is The Early November

The Early November

The Early November is an American rock band from Hammonton, New Jersey. The group formed in 1999 and signed with Drive-Thru Records in 2002. , they have released two EPs , as well as two full-length albums...

's second full-length album. The triple disc concept album

Concept 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...

 was released on July 11, 2006 via Drive-Thru Records

Drive-Thru Records

Drive-Thru Records, established in 1996, was a California-based record label owned by siblings Richard and Stefanie Reines. It has produced various pop punk bands, many with a distinct SoCal sound....

. It currently has a rating of 3.6 "Great" on sputnikmusic

Sputnikmusic

Sputnikmusic, or simply Sputnik, is a music website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites...

.

Production

The recording of the album began on February 28, 2005 and took over a year until its completion due to the nature of a triple disc record, stress, Enders changing the concept of the story several times mid-record, and ultimately the lack of focus which led to a mid-recording nervous breakdown. This forced the album's release to be postponed from its original June 2005 street date to July 2006. The third disc, The Path, which was written by Enders and Jeff Kummer, and co-produced by Enders, was turned down seven times by Drive-Thru Records

Drive-Thru Records

Drive-Thru Records, established in 1996, was a California-based record label owned by siblings Richard and Stefanie Reines. It has produced various pop punk bands, many with a distinct SoCal sound....

 for quality control, although the label still were not totally satisfied with the results, before finally being approved.

Ace Enders also did the artwork for The Mother, the Mechanic and the Path, drawing up a father in a mechanics uniform named Matt, a mother and a son named Dean, for the cover and booklet.

Music and lyrical content

The album is broken down into three chapters:

• The Mechanic – the proclaimed "rock" disc of the album, showcasing the heavier side of the band. According to singer/guitarist
  Guitarist
  A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
  
   Ace Enders, The Mechanic is the group's "safe bet", the album they would have made if it had only been one disc. It represents the technical progression from its predecessor The Room's Too Cold
  The Room's Too Cold
  The Room's Too Cold is the first full length CD released by The Early November. It was co-produced by the lead singer - Arthur 'Ace' Enders. This CD also features a guest appearance from Kenny Vasoli of The Starting Line, who was also signed to Drive-Thru Records at the time...
  
  (2003), hence the title.
• The Mother – a mostly unplugged
  Acoustic music
  Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
  
   effort in the vein of The Early November's The Acoustic EP
  The Acoustic EP (The Early November album)
  The Acoustic EP is the second EP from The Early November, recorded shortly before the band's first full-length CD and released in 2002.-Track listing:# "Ever So Sweet" – 4:15# "I Want to Hear You Sad" – 3:24...
  
  (2003) and Enders' solo CD I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business
  I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business (album)
  I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business is the solo release from The Early November frontman Ace Enders on Drive-Thru Records, released on October 26, 2004.-Track listing:* # "Untitled 1" – 2:07...
  
  (2004). The disc focuses on the band's mellow facet, featuring a more natural sound, conveyed by the use of predominantly acoustic instruments and few effects or filters
  Audio filter
  An audio filter is a frequency dependent amplifier circuit, working in the audio frequency range, 0 Hz to beyond 20 kHz. Many types of filters exist for applications including graphic equalizers, synthesizers, sound effects, CD players and virtual reality systems.Being a frequency dependent...
  
  .
• The Path – an audio theatre of sorts, which mixes dialogue between a young man named Dean and his psychiatrist
  Psychiatry
  Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
  
   with soft background music. The psychiatry sessions that narrate the story are interrupted by short "musical
  Musical theatre
  Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
  
  "-esque songs, also introducing the interaction of other characters. The songs cover a wide range of musical genres, including blues
  Blues
  Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
  
  , country
  Country music
  Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
  
   and folk
  Folk music
  Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
  
  .

Release

Once released, Drive-Thru Records made an effort to boost record sales with various promotion campaigns, bonus offers and price discounts. During the first weeks of sales, purchases of The Mother, the Mechanic, and the Path from Best Buy

Best Buy

Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...

 were accompanied by a bonus DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 (containing the music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 to "Hair" and a 35-minute making-of

Making-of

In cinema, a making-of, also known as behind-the-scenes, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television program...

 documentary), while Target

Target Corporation

Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...

 customers were rewarded with an exclusive bonus track.

, the band has sold 78,669 copies of The Mother, the Mechanic, and the Path.

Track listing

(all songs written by Ace Enders)
The Mechanic

1. "Money in His Hand" – 3:44
2. "The Rest of My Life" – 2:41
3. "Decoration" – 3:21
4. "No Good at Saying Sorry (One More Chance)" – 3:45
5. "This Wasn't in Our Plan" – 4:06
6. "The One That You Hated" – 3:55
7. "Long Talks" – 4:01
8. "Outside" – 4:07
9. "Make a Decision" – 3:51
10. "The Car in 20" – 3:46
11. "Figure It Out" – 4:54
12. "5 Years" (Target
    Target Corporation
    Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
    
     only bonus track) – 3:41

The Mother

1. "My Lack of Skill" – 3:31
2. "A Little More Time" – 3:26
3. "Little Black Heart" – 4:00
4. "Hair" – 3:06
5. "Driving South" – 3:21
6. "Scared to Lose" – 3:17
7. "From Here to L.A." – 3:17
8. "Is It My Fault" – 4:03
9. "I Don't Know How to Say This" – 3:11
10. "The Truth Is" – 4:38
11. "1000 Times a Day" – 5:39

The Path

1. "Intro" – 2:16
2. "We Grew Up the Same" – 4:26
3. "Runaway" – 3:42
4. "Session 01" – 2:37
5. "This Is Love" – 1:17
6. "Session 02" – 0:40
7. "We're Finding Something Out" – 1:31
8. "Session 03" – 1:12
9. "Decoration" – 1:30
10. "Session 04" – 1:16
11. "Uncle" – 0:44
12. "Session 05" – 1:41
13. "Never Coming Back" – 3:03
14. "Guess What" – 1:10
15. "Session 06" – 0:21
16. "You Don't Know What It's Like" – 1:35
17. "Session 07" – 1:57
18. "Look at Me" – 1:58
19. "Session 08" – 3:03
20. "Session 08 Part II" – 2:19
21. "Runaway II" – 3:43
22. "Session 09" – 0:54
23. "I Think This Is Love" – 1:06
24. "A Bigger Meaning" – 6:12

• "No Good At Saying Sorry" and "Decoration" are presented as acoustic renditions on Ace Ender's band I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business's acoustic album, "Dust'n Off the Ol' Gee-Tar."
• The song "1000 Times A Day" has a remix version on the above mentioned album.

Personnel

• Sergio Anello – bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Chris Badami – piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  
• Angela Cordell – French horn
  Horn (instrument)
  The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
  
  
• Lynsie Crespo – background vocals
  Backing vocalist
  A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
  
  
• Richard Dispenziere – trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  
• Arthur Enders
  Arthur Enders
  Arthur Carl "Ace" Enders is an American musician. Enders is the lead singer and guitarist of the band The Early November. He is also the lead musician, songwriter and co-producer in his side project, I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business. He has also released music under the name Ace Enders...
  
   – vocals, guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Arthur Fiacco – cello
  Cello
  The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
  
  
• Elizabeth Hostetter – viola
  Viola
  The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
  
  
• Jeff Kummer – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Bill Lugg – guitar
• Joseph Marro – guitar, keyboards
  Synthesizer
  A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
  
  
• Peter McGuinness – trombone
  Trombone
  The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
  
  
• Brian O'Neal (Roark) – background vocals
• David Rimelis – string and horn arrangement
  Arrangement
  The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
  
  s, nylon guitar, banjo
  Banjo
  In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
  
  
• Andrea Schultz – violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
  
• Kenny Sorenson – harmonica
  Harmonica
  The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...