Porcelain (Sparta Album)
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''Porcelain'' is the second studio album by American
post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...
band
Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...
. It was released on July 13, 2004 by
Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...
and peaked at number 60 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The first single released from the album was "Breaking the Broken."


Critical reception

''Porcelain'' garnered a positive reception from
music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...
s. At
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a
normalized Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an
average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...
score of 62, based on 19 reviews. Johnny Loftus of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
praised the album for maintaining Sparta's "caustic intellectualism" without compromising their musical integrity through "label-side meddling" or adhering to "a cliquey music-fan nation", highlighting "From Now to Never" for crystalizing the band's musicianship: "At nearly nine minutes, it renders each facet of ''Porcelain'' in perfect miniature, and emphasizes Sparta's stance as a group working faithfully within the system, but also staunchly and refreshingly outside of it." ''
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'' contributor Brian Howe noted how the band's sound became "grandiose and questing, with scintillating, spacious atmospheres" throughout the record, praising the "complex and inventive" arrangements found on "While Oceana Sleeps" and "Lines in Sand", concluding that: "''Porcelain'' is food for sheer bodily exaltation. It's an imperative and ornate exhortation to lay open your nerves and unabashedly, unapologetically feel." ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' contributor
Jenny Eliscu Jenny Eliscu is a journalist, radio host, podcaster and producer. She has been an on-air host for Sirius XM since 2007. She was previously a contributing editor for ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, penning features and cover stories on artists includi ...
commended the band's "tight and powerful" musicianship on "While Oceana Sleeps" and "Hiss the Villain" but felt it was "rote emo-core, all predictable quiet-loud shifts and overwrought vocal melodies" that didn't elevate them above
At the Drive-In At the Drive-In was an American post-hardcore band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 1994. The band's most recent line-up consisted of Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals), Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, vocals), Paul Hinojos (bass), Tony Hajjar (drums ...
, concluding: "Mostly, though, it's just kind of boring." Darcie Stevens of ''
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'' criticized the album for lacking the "ragged edges and complicated time changes" from Sparta's predecessor and instead contained lackluster artistry and "
Dashboard Confessional Dashboard Confessional is an American rock band from Boca Raton, Florida, formed in 1999 and led by singer Chris Carrabba. The name of the band is derived from the song "The Sharp Hint of New Tears" off their debut album, '' The Swiss Army Roma ...
lyrics." A writer for ''
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'' was critical of the band not evolving their ''Wiretap Scars'' sound to just "lazily tread" through a modern rock manual that elicits "sticker-on-the-case singles ("Breaking the Broken")" and ventures into "power-ballad turf ("Lines in Sand", "From Now to Never")".


Track listing

* According to Jim Ward, "P.O.M.E" stands for 'Paris Of the Middle East', referring to
Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
, which is Hajjar's birthplace.


Bonus tracks

* "Farewell Ruins" (Japan/UK/iTunes bonus track) – 3:17 * "Bombs & Us" (Japan bonus track) – 3:33


Personnel

Credits adapted from the ''Porcelain'' liner notes. Sparta * Jim Ward – guitar, vocals *
Paul Hinojos Pablo J. Hinojos-Gonzalez (born July 17, 1975), also known as Paul Hinojos, is an American musician best known as the bass guitarist for At the Drive-In, and former touring member of The Mars Volta. He is also a former guitarist of Sparta. Biogr ...
– guitar * Matt Miller – bass *
Tony Hajjar Tony Hajjar (born August 17, 1974) is a Lebanese-born American drummer, best known for playing in At the Drive-In and Sparta. As of 2016, he is playing in the reformed At The Drive-In, as well as the new group, Gone Is Gone. Tony also produced ...
– drums Additional musicians *
Charlie Bisharat Charlie Bisharat (born March 15, 1963) is an American violinist known as a member of Shadowfax and for his work in film and with other new age jazz artists. Life and career He was born in Inglewood, California, in 1963 to Palestinian parents w ...
– violin *Mario de Leon – violin *
Joel Derouin Joel Derouin is a Canadian violinist, concert master, composer and music director. In addition to having worked with many popular musicians, he is also known for his work in film, television and theatre. Biography Born in Cornwall, Ontario, Can ...
– violin *Sara Parkins – violin *Matt Funes – viola *Dan Smith – cello *Larry Corbett – cello *Suzie Takayama – orchestration, string conductor *Jessika Macias – French speaker on "From Now to Never" Artwork *Bill Scoville – graphic design, layout * Jermaine Rogers – original swan illustration Production *Mike Major – producer *Justin Leeah –
ProTools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...
engineer *Ryan Castle – assistant engineer * Andy Wallace – mixing (Soundtrack Studios) *Steve Sisco – assistant mixing *Mike Zinczenco – assistant mixing *Tony Schloss – ProTools engineer *Alan Yoshida – mastering ( Ocean Way Mastering) *Pat Sullivan – editing (
Bernie Grundman Mastering Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chri ...
)


Charts


References

{{Authority control 2004 albums Sparta (band) albums Geffen Records albums Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders