''The Monitor'' is the second studio album by American

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

band

Titus Andronicus ''Titus Andronicus'' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593, probably in collaboration with George Peele. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy and is often seen as his attempt to emul ...

, released in March 2010 through

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. Although only releasing an average of six albu ...

. It is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Some ...

loosely based on themes relating to the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

. The album title is a reference to the USS ''Monitor'', the first ironclad warship commissioned by the United States Navy, and the closing track, "The Battle of Hampton Roads", refers to the

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

between the ''Monitor'' and the CSS ''Virginia'', which took place on March 8–9, 1862; according to the band, "Releasing this record is our way of celebrating the 148th anniversary of this historic event." There are numerous references to early

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music i ...

songs such as some lyrics in "A More Perfect Union" and the song "Richard II". "A More Perfect Union" also includes references to the band's New Jersey roots as well as riffs on the lyrics of

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originato ...

, another New Jersey native. ''The Monitor'' features guest appearances by members of Ponytail,

Wye Oak The Wye Oak was the largest white oak tree in the United States and the State Tree of Maryland from 1941 until its demise in 2002. Wye Oak State Park preserves the site where the revered tree stood for more than 400 years in the town of Wye Mi ...

, Hallelujah The Hills, Felice Brothers,

Spider Bags Spider Bags is an alternative rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The band was founded by Daniel McGee and Gregg Levy in 2006 after McGee's old band, the DC Snipers, broke up. Titus Andronicus frontman Patrick Stickles has described Spi ...

Vivian Girls Vivian Girls is an American band based in Brooklyn, New York. The only consistent members have been Cassie Ramone and Katy Goodman, on guitar and bass, respectively; the group has had several drummers throughout its history. They took their n ...

and the Hold Steady.

Reception

''The Monitor'' received a

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

score of 82 out of 100, signaling universal acclaim. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' included the album in their list of top albums of 2010, at #10 while Spectrum Culture gave the album its #1 position. "The Monitor" was named

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

's No. 20 Pop & Rock Album of 2010. The album was recognized as number 30 of The 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far by

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

in August 2014.

Track listing

All tracks written by

Patrick Stickles Patrick Stickles (born July 28, 1985) is an American musician and the lead singer, frontman, and songwriter of New Jersey-based punk rock band Titus Andronicus. Stickles grew up in Glen Rock, New Jersey and graduated from Glen Rock High School as ...

. #" A More Perfect Union" – 7:09 #"Titus Andronicus Forever" – 1:55 #"No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future" – 5:16 #"Richard II or Extraordinary Popular Dimensions and the Madness of Crowds (Responsible Hate Anthem)" – 5:06 #"A Pot in Which to Piss" – 8:53 #"Four Score and Seven" – 8:38 #"Theme from ''Cheers''" – 5:01 #"To Old Friends and New" – 7:00 #"...And Ever" – 2:24 #"The Battle of Hampton Roads" – 14:02

Personnel

Titus Andronicus

* Patrick Stickles – Guitar, harmonica, piano, synthesizer, tape operator, electronics, engineer, vocals * Liam Betson – Guitar, vocals * Ian Graetzer – Bass * Eric Harm – Drums, percussion, vocals

Additional musicians

* Julian Veronesi – Vocals * Dan McGee – Vocals * Matt Miller – Vocals * Brendan Stickles – Vocals * Ryan Walsh – Vocals * Andrew Cedermark – Guitar * Pete Feigenbaum – Guitar * Kevin McMahon – Guitar, mixing, percussion, producer, recording, vocals * Ian O'Neil – Guitar, vocals *

Jenn Wasner Jennifer Lynn Wasner (born April 16, 1986) is an American musician from Baltimore, Maryland. Wasner is best known as one of the founding members of the band Wye Oak, along with Andy Stack. They have performed on tour with notable bands such as ...

– Guitar, vocals * Dustin Wong – Guitar * David Bentley – Cello * Brett Bondar – Highland bagpipes, Scottish small pipes * Peter Buettner – Tenor saxophone * Elio DeLuca – Piano, organ, electric piano, engineer, vocals * Ian Dykstra – Bass drums, sleigh bells, tambourine * Greg Farley – Fiddle * Dean Jones – Trombone * Brian Rutledge – Trumpet * Alex Tretiak – Snare drums, research assistant, vocals * Andy Stack – Engineer * Dustin Miller – Vocal recording

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monitor, The 2010 albums Concept albums Titus Andronicus (band) albums XL Recordings albums