Crimson (Alkaline Trio Album)
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''Crimson'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band
Alkaline Trio Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band from Chicago. The band's current members are Matt Skiba (guitar, vocals), Dan Andriano (bass, vocals), and Atom Willard (drums). Founded in late 1996 by Skiba, bassist Rob Doran, and drummer Glenn Por ...
. Produced by
Jerry Finn Jermone Gregory Finn (March 31, 1969 – August 21, 2008), sometimes credited as "Huckle" Jerry Finn, was an American record producer and mix engineer. He worked with numerous punk rock and pop-punk artists such as Blink-182, AFI, Sum 41, Alka ...
, it was released on May 24, 2005, by
Vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...
.


Recording

Recording took place at Conway Studios in Los Angeles, California, with producer
Jerry Finn Jermone Gregory Finn (March 31, 1969 – August 21, 2008), sometimes credited as "Huckle" Jerry Finn, was an American record producer and mix engineer. He worked with numerous punk rock and pop-punk artists such as Blink-182, AFI, Sum 41, Alka ...
between November 2004 and January 2005. Ryan Hewitt engineered the sessions with assistance from Seth Waldmann. A few people contributed to the recordings: Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (piano and keyboards), Nolan McGuire (guitar on "Sadie"), Heather Hannoura (spoken word on "Sadie") and
Warren Fitzgerald Warren Fitzgerald (born September 15, 1968) is an American punk rock guitarist, songwriter, and record label owner. He is best known for being the guitarist of The Vandals and Oingo Boingo. He is also co-founder of Kung Fu Records, along wi ...
(additional string arrangements). Finn mixed the recordings, while Dave Collins mastered them at Dave Collins Mastering. A tentative title for the album was ''Church and Destroy''. This album would prove to be the band's final album with Finn involved in any capacity before his death in 2008. Bassist
Dan Andriano Daniel Michael Andriano (born June 27, 1977) is an American musician. He is best known as the co-lead vocalist and bassist of the punk rock band Alkaline Trio; though not a founding member, he has appeared on every studio album to date. Andri ...
described the recording process as below:
It was kind of the same as always. We just spent a little more time in all areas of the recording process. We spent a little more time in pre-production, where we worked on the songs with Jerry. Before we started recording, he came out to
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
and ame to practicesand he was listening to the songs, and we had an opportunity to ask him what he thought. It kind of gave us more time to re-work some stuff that we thought could have been a little better but were a little stumped on, as Jerry had good ideas for the songs. And as far as the actual recording, it was great working with him. It was more like working with a friend. We've known Jerry for a long time, and he's really easy to work with and be around for 12 hours a day. He's got an amazing gear collection. Any kind of guitar you want to use for a song or any kind of amplifier, he probably has it—and he probably has one of the nicest ones of that model. To me, recording was like being in a playground. It's just like, "Let me play this one. Let me try this." Every bass track on the record was recorded with an old Marshall guitar amp.


Songs

The song " Sadie" was written about
Susan Atkins Susan Denise Atkins (May 7, 1948 – September 24, 2009) was an American convicted murderer who was a member of Charles Manson's "Family". Manson's followers committed a series of nine murders at four locations in California over a period ...
(aka Sadie Mae Glutz) a murderer in the
Charles Manson Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934 – November 19, 2017) was an American criminal, cult leader, and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some cult members committed a Manson ...
family, who took part in the
Sharon Tate Sharon Marie Tate Polanski (January 24, 1943 – August 9, 1969) was an American actress and model. During the 1960s, she appeared in advertisements and small television roles before appearing in films as well as working as a model. After receiv ...
murders in 1969. The quotation near the end of the song is a quote from Susan's testimony which is spoken by Heather Gabel, the band's merchandise and artwork creator. The song "Prevent This Tragedy" refers to the
West Memphis Three The West Memphis Three are three freed men convicted as teenagers of the 1993 murders of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, United States. Damien Echols was sentenced to death, Jessie Misskelley Jr. to life imprisonment plus two 20-year ...
, whose trial and conviction for triple homicide in 1993 is considered controversial. Skiba on "Sadie":
That song was actually the first song that we wrote for ''Crimson''. We were still touring on our previous record and I wrote it just on tour. We started playing it at soundcheck and we had planned to do this split with One Man Army on BYO. That’s where that song came from originally. But we knew even then that we were probably wanting to re-record it and putting it on an album, which it was on ''Crimson'' later. So yeah, I think that came from knowing that we were starting to write a new record and wanting to take a different approach. As I said before, you don’t ever want to write the same record twice. So yeah, I think it was just a fresh start and it just had a different kind of feel and sort of set the tone for ''Crimson'', not that there is other songs like it on the record. But it’s definitely a good thing to get the ball rolling.
Andriano on "Smoke":
It's the last song on the record. I actually wrote that song like two years ago. I knew I liked certain aspects of the song, and those were basically the aspects of the song that made it to the final version. For the two years before we recorded it, I had been kind of toiling over this. It was kind of the bane of my writing existence. It scared me, because I knew I liked parts of it but was really unhappy with other parts. I couldn't make the vibe work. There was a time when that song was really soft, actually. I tried to make it like a loud, mid-tempo rock number, but nothing really worked. That was one that we spent a lot of time on actually, making that groove that we wanted that's there now, almost a ballad ikekind of song. It gave us a lot of time to think about cool effects, effects we could use on the chorus and string parts that are in the song.


Artwork

The album's cover art features the band's former drummer Derek Grant and
Matt Skiba Matthew Thomas Skiba (born February 24, 1976) is an American musician. He is best known as the vocalist and guitarist of the punk rock band Alkaline Trio, and served as the co-lead vocalist and guitarist of Blink-182 from 2015 to 2022. Skiba's ...
's then-fiancée (and now ex-wife), Monica. According to
Matt Skiba Matthew Thomas Skiba (born February 24, 1976) is an American musician. He is best known as the vocalist and guitarist of the punk rock band Alkaline Trio, and served as the co-lead vocalist and guitarist of Blink-182 from 2015 to 2022. Skiba's ...
, the band were:
"doing the photo shoot and we had a completely different idea of what the record was going to look like. And Monica was there doing our styling; she got a bunch of outfits and she did the styling for pretty much all the new pictures for the record. She was there and the photographer was just doing all these different things and he had her stand in. He was toying with these different ideas with just a small portion of her face in the picture and then, lo and behold, she's our cover star. So we thought it looked cool and the people at the art department are in cahoots with the photographer who is amazing. Everybody who worked on the thing was cool and hands on and saw these pictures of her and were asking “who is that?” I said “that's my girlfriend” and they said “that's perfect, we have to use her." I think it looks very cinematic, and that's what we were going for. Once it was coming together, it was like
film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...
."


Release

On March 16, 2005, ''Crimson'' was announced for release the following month; in the same post, the album's track listing was revealed. The artwork was posted online nine days later. "Time to Waste" premiered through
AOL Music AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc. The service traces its history to an online ...
on April 16, 2005, before it was released as a
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-exclusive single (with "We Can Never Break Up" as its B-side) in early May 2005. Following this, Alkaline Trio appeared at
The Bamboozle The Bamboozle was an annual three-day music festival which was held in New Jersey from 2003 to 2012, and was scheduled for a 2023 revival in Atlantic City by its founder. Every year, new bands competed for spots during the two days. The event ...
festival and went on a short series of East Coast dates with support from Colossal and
Mike Park Michael Brian Park is an American musician and progressive activist. His musical ventures include Skankin' Pickle for whom he both played the saxophone and sang, The Chinkees, The Bruce Lee Band, and Ogikubo Station, as well as an acoustic solo p ...
. The music video for "Time to Waste" was posted online on May 17, 2005, directed by
Joe Hahn Joseph Hahn (born March 15, 1977) is an American musician, DJ, director, and visual artist best known as the DJ and creative director of the rock band Linkin Park, doing the scratching, turntables, sampling, and programming for all eight of ...
; with it, the band wanted to make "something simple, yet atmospheric", opting for Hahn's video treatment that shows timing passing. ''Crimson'' was made available for streaming through
MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision. The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
on May 18, 2005, before being released on May 24 through
Vagrant Records Vagrant Records is an American record label based in California. It was founded in 1995 by Rich Egan and Jon Cohen. The label focuses on rock music, rock, but features artists in a variety of other genres including folk music, folk, soul music, so ...
. The following day, they appeared on ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...
''. In June and July 2005, they went on an Midwest and West Cast tour with
Death by Stereo Death by Stereo (also referred to as D.B.S.) is an American hardcore punk band formed in Orange County, California circa 1998 by frontman Efrem Schulz. They are well known for their energetic performances and intricate guitar work. Their nam ...
,
Rise Against Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rise Against's mu ...
,
Rufio Rufio was an American rock band from Rancho Cucamonga, California, United States, in 2000. They released four studio albums: ''Perhaps, I Suppose'' (2001); ''MCMLXXXV'' (2003); ''The Comfort of Home'' (2005); and'' Anybody Out There'' (2010). ...
and Thieves Like Us. Following this, the band went on a European tour in August and September, which included appearances at the
Pukkelpop Pukkelpop is an annual music festival that takes place near the city of Hasselt, Belgium in mid- to late August. It is held within a large enclosure of fields and woodland—adjacent to a dual carriageway called ''Kempische Steenweg''—in the v ...
, Indoor and
Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fest ...
. Skiba participated in the Plea for Peace Tour in September 2005. The music video for "Mercy Me" was posted on
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's website on September 18, 2005, while the track was released to radio on nine days later. The band supported
My Chemical Romance My Chemical Romance is an American Rock music, rock band from New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way. They are considered one of ...
on their headlining US tour in September and October 2005. Following this, they embarked on a UK tour in the next month with Mike Park. A two-disc deluxe edition was released on December 6, 2005 through Vagrant. The second disc features demo recordings, acoustic versions of songs on the album and music videos. Around its release, the band performed at the FNX Throws a Holiday Show, Next Big Thing, and The Night The Buzz Stole Christmas radio festivals. "Burn" was released as a single on February 20, 2006; across the various CD, 7" vinyl and digital download versions, remixes, radio session and demo versions were included as extra tracks. Remixes by
Tim Armstrong Timothy Ross Armstrong (born November 25, 1965) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. Known for his distinctive voice, he is the singer/guitarist for the punk rock band Rancid (band), Rancid and hip hop/punk rock supergroup T ...
of Rancid and Test Icles were posted online a few days prior to promote it. Alkaline Trio went on a brief tour of Europe to promote the single in February 2006, before appearing at the Independence-D festival in Japan. This was followed by a tour of Australia in early March 2006. From March to May 2006, the group went on The Occult Roots of Alkaline Trio: Early Songs for Eerie People tour, on which the group played material from their back catalog. They were supported by
Against Me! Against Me! is an American punk rock band, formed in 1997 in Naples, Florida, by singer and guitarist Laura Jane Grace. That same year, Grace moved to Gainesville, Florida, which is considered the band's hometown. Since 2001, the band's lineup ...
. The group went on a Canadian tour with
the Lawrence Arms The Lawrence Arms are an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. They have released seven full-length albums and toured extensively. Band history Pre-history Prior to forming the Lawrence Arms, the three band members were active ...
and the Black Maria, which led into a brief US West Coast trek with the Lawrence Arms and
the Draft Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...
.


Reception

The album sold 42,624 copies, charting at number 25 on the ''Billboard'' 200. By August 2008, the album sold 204,000 copies.


Track listing


Original release

All songs written by Alkaline Trio.


Deluxe edition

# "Time to Waste" (demo) – 3:24 # "The Poison" (demo) – 1:34 # "Burn" (Matt's home demo) – 2:57 # "Mercy Me" (acoustic) – 3:12 # "Dethbed" (demo) – 2:56 # "Settle for Satin" (demo) – 3:31 # "Sadie" (acoustic) – 3:19 # "Fall Victim" (demo) – 3:04 # "I Was a Prayer" (acoustic) – 2:54 # "Prevent This Tragedy" (demo) – 3:40 # "Back to Hell" (Matt's home demo) – 2:56 # "Your Neck" (demo) – 3:14 # "Smoke" (demo) – 3:07 # "Time to Waste" (acoustic) – 4:21 # "Time to Waste" (video) # "Mercy Me" (video) # "Burn" (video)


Personnel

Personnel per booklet. Alkaline Trio *
Dan Andriano Daniel Michael Andriano (born June 27, 1977) is an American musician. He is best known as the co-lead vocalist and bassist of the punk rock band Alkaline Trio; though not a founding member, he has appeared on every studio album to date. Andri ...
– bass, vocals *
Matt Skiba Matthew Thomas Skiba (born February 24, 1976) is an American musician. He is best known as the vocalist and guitarist of the punk rock band Alkaline Trio, and served as the co-lead vocalist and guitarist of Blink-182 from 2015 to 2022. Skiba's ...
– guitars, vocals * Derek Grant – drums, vocals Additional musicians * Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – piano, keyboards * Nolan McGuire – lead guitar (track 7) * Heather Hannoura – spoken word (track 7) *
Warren Fitzgerald Warren Fitzgerald (born September 15, 1968) is an American punk rock guitarist, songwriter, and record label owner. He is best known for being the guitarist of The Vandals and Oingo Boingo. He is also co-founder of Kung Fu Records, along wi ...
– additional string arrangements Production *
Jerry Finn Jermone Gregory Finn (March 31, 1969 – August 21, 2008), sometimes credited as "Huckle" Jerry Finn, was an American record producer and mix engineer. He worked with numerous punk rock and pop-punk artists such as Blink-182, AFI, Sum 41, Alka ...
– producer, mixing * Ryan Hewitt – engineer * Seth Waldmann – assistance * Dave Collins – mastering * David Raccuglia – photos * TODA – art direction * Heather Hannoura – art direction


Certifications


References

Citations Sources *


External links


''Crimson''
at
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
(streamed copy where licensed) {{Authority control Alkaline Trio albums 2005 albums Albums produced by Jerry Finn Vagrant Records albums