13 Ways to Bleed on Stage explained

13 Ways to Bleed on Stage
Type:studio
Artist:Cold
Cover:Cold - 13 Ways to Bleed on Stage.jpg
Released:September 12, 2000
Recorded:February–June 2000
Studio:
  • Amethyst Digital, Los Angeles, California
  • Studio X, Seattle, Washington[1]
Length:48:31
Label:
Producer:
Prev Title:Cold
Prev Year:1998
Next Title:Year of the Spider
Next Year:2003

13 Ways to Bleed on Stage is the second studio album by American rock band Cold, released on September 12, 2000. With four popular singles, it gained substantial commercial success, achieving gold status, and landed Cold in the mainstream rock scene.

Background and recording

About a year prior to recording 13 Ways, the band enlisted guitarist Terry Balsamo; frontman Scooter Ward, who had sung and played guitar, wanted to focus solely on singing. After trying a few musicians from Los Angeles, Cold chose fellow Jacksonville native Balsamo, who'd played with its members since the age of 18.

The main song structures for 13 Ways were written prior to entering the studio. Using C tuning (the main tuning used in Cold's catalog), the band then experimented with various sounds and dynamics in the studio. Balsamo primarily used an Ibanez RG570 and Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier.[2]

It is often considered as Cold's darkest record. The album has a Parental advisory on the cover art for strong language and dark graphic themes such as drug addiction and its consequences, relationship troubles, and social indifference. Guest vocalists include Aaron Lewis of Staind and Sierra Swan who would also appear on the band's next album.

Album art

Cold's second album marked the first appearance of the band's spider logo and corresponding text. Its CD booklet design depicts a tattered old book held shut with rubber bands. The liner notes feature morbid figure illustrations and imagery of X-Acto knives and other cutting utensils.

Touring and promotion

Following the album's release, Cold toured for a year and a half to promote it. They embarked on a three-week tour with 3 Doors Down and a month with Marilyn Manson before joining Limp Bizkit and DMX on the Anger Management Tour for a few weeks. Cold (along with the Offspring, Weezer, Social Distortion, Incubus and Adema) was on the bill for the first annual Inland Invasion, which took place on August 25, 2001, and was hosted by the Los Angeles radio station KROQ.[3]

Singles for the album included "Just Got Wicked", "End of the World", "No One" and "Bleed". All of the said tracks had music videos which saw moderate airplay on MTV2. The majority of singles from 13 Ways also received significant radio play and were instrumental in launching Cold into the mainstream music scene.

"Just Got Wicked" appears on MTV: The Return of the Rock, Vol. 2, ECW: Extreme Music Vol. 2: Anarchy Rocks, and the soundtrack to the video game Jet Grind Radio. "No One" is featured on the soundtrack to the film A Walk to Remember.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at #174 on the Billboard 200,[4] selling 6,251 copies in its first week.[5] It later peaked at #98, staying on the chart for 27 weeks.[6] Five months after its release, it had sold 81,046 copies according to Nielsen Soundscan.[7]

In February 2002, the album was certified gold by the RIAA for shipments of over 500,000 copies.[8]

As of 2003, the album has sold 467,000 copies in the US.[9]

Personnel

Credits adapted from album's liner notes.[10]

Cold

Additional personnel

Production

Acoustic EP

An acoustic EP was released as a free bonus disc with the purchase of 13 Ways to Bleed on Stage.

Track listing

  1. "No One (Acoustic)" – 3:16
  2. "End of the World (Acoustic)" – 3:37
  3. "Just Got Wicked (Acoustic)" – 3:59

Track 1 & 3

Track 2

Credits

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 13 Ways to Bleed on Stage – Cold . AllMusic.
  2. Web site: Artist Interview - Terry Balsamo . January 1, 2006 . . March 26, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20180927020042/http://www.ibanez.co.jp/artist/interview.php?interview_id=19 . 2018-09-27.
  3. Web site: KROQ Inland Invasion 2001 . KROQ . 2001-08-25 . 2013-03-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131102124204/http://kroq.cbslocal.com/2001/08/25/kroq-inland-invasion-2001/ . 2013-11-02 . dead.
  4. Billboard 200 . 2000-09-30 . Billboard . 112 . 40.
  5. Web site: Cold album has hot debut . John . Snow . May 28, 2003 . . 2022-02-12.
  6. Cold . 2022-02-12 . Billboard . en-US.
  7. Web site: Sludge Scans For February 2001 . Metal Sludge . 2022-02-12 . en-US.
  8. Web site: Gold & Platinum . 2022-02-12 . RIAA . en-US.
  9. 2003-02-12 . Cold Readies New Album, Tour . 2022-02-12 . Billboard . en-US.
  10. 13 Ways to Bleed on Stage . 2000 . booklet . Flip/Geffen.