Stay What You Are Explained

Stay What You Are
Type:Album
Artist:Saves the Day
Cover:Saves the Day - Stay What You Are cover.jpg
Released:July 10, 2001
Recorded:March–April 2001
Studio:Sunset Sound and Sound Factory, Hollywood, California; Sonora Sound, Los Feliz, California
Length:33:33
Label:Vagrant
Producer:Rob Schnapf
Prev Title:Through Being Cool
Prev Year:1999
Next Title:In Reverie
Next Year:2003

Stay What You Are is the third studio album from American rock band Saves the Day, released in 2001. The album received positive reviews from critics at the time of its release and remains an influential album in the emo and pop punk genres. It has been described as "channel[ling] the thrill of pop punk, the intellect of indie rock, and the raw emotion of emo all at once."[1] Lead single "At Your Funeral" charted in the United Kingdom and Scotland.

Background and production

While on tour, in March 2000, the band got into a van accident that almost ended the band's career.[2] The van accident was somewhat of an inspiration for the band's song writing.[2] By this point, vocalist Chris Conley "really felt confident" and subsequently had "a lot more fun" while writing.[3] Conley had a personal recording studio set-up where he would "spend the entire day" in "building songs in my own little world."[3] In April, it was announced the band had signed to Vagrant Records[4] due to the success of Through Being Cool (1999).[5] Later that month, Punknews.org reported that the group would release their next album in early 2001.[6] In January 2001, Punknews.org reported that the band was recording with Steve Evetts,[7] who had produced the group's previous two albums.[8]

Recording began on March 17, 2001[9] and continued into April, lasting thrice as long as their preceding two records.[10] Conley described producer Rob Schnapf as "a really mellow, laid back guy. Him being relaxed just made for a nice, creative environment in the studio."[11] Recording was spread over three studios: Sunset Sound and Sound Factory in Hollywood, California, and Sonora Sound in Los Feliz, California. Doug Boehm recorded the proceedings with assistance from Steven Rhodes and Seth Mclain. Josh Turner acted as the Pro Tools engineer during the sessions. Productivity was initially slow due to, as the band explains, "some difficulty we're having with tuning guitars".[12] Richard Barron performed organ on "Cars & Calories". Schnapf and Boehm mixed the recordings, while Don C. Tyler mastered them at Precision Mastering. 13 tracks were recorded in total, including two outtakes "Ups and Downs" and "For Erminie".[12]

Composition

While Stay What You Are has been tagged as post-hardcore, power pop[13] and pop punk, it saw the band move into post-punk territory, alongside the mixing of emo with the aggressiveness of post-grunge. It was a more mellow, darker and melodic effort than their preceding two albums, drawing comparison to the Promise Ring and Seaweed. Conley said the slower sound was intentional, as the band didn't want to perform fast-paced music anymore and wished to let the melodies carry the songs.[10]

The opening track "At Your Funeral" talks about the death of a friend. "Cars & Calories" talks about celebrity culture. Conley explained that he "felt sort of mildly alienated at different points in my life just looking at culture, especially this hectic, modern culture."[14] Conley wrote the song in an empty room at Vagrant Records' offices. He played open chords, and the rest of the song soon followed.[15] "Jukebox Breakdown" talks about taking liberties when making music and the resultant backlash that comes with it.[16] "As Your Ghost Takes Flight" is about a friend's heroin addiction.[17] "Nightingale" uses distorted vocals. "All I'm Losing Is Me" tackles problems facing Generation X and asks several questions. The ballad "This Is Not an Exit" was compared to "Out of Reach" by the Get Up Kids.

Release

In early June 2001, an MP3 of "See You" was posted on PopPunk.com.[18] The group embarked on a brief two-week US tour,[9] leading into a few shows in Japan later in the month.[12] After initially planned for release on June 5,[9] Stay What You Are was eventually released on July 10 through Vagrant Records.[12] The group was planned to appear on the Warped Tour,[19] however, they instead headlined the Vagrant America Tour[20] between early July and early September.[21] Partway through the trek, the band appeared at Krazy Fest 4 in Louisville, Kentucky.[22] "At Your Funeral" was released as a radio single in September.[23] Also during that month, a music video was filmed for the song in Los Angeles.[24] It features a creative way of motion control, similar to Requiem for a Dream. Following the Vagrant America Tour, drummer Bryan Newman left the band in September to study at college.[25] His position was temporarily filled by Damon Atkinson of Hey Mercedes.

In November and December, the group went on tour with Hey Mercedes, Thursday[26] Whatever It Takes,[27] and Kind of Like Spitting.[28] In late November, the "At Your Funeral" video premiered on MTV2. In December 2001, the band performed on The Late Late Show; the following month, they appeared Late Night with Conan O'Brien.[29] [30] In January 2002, the band supported Weezer[31] on the Hyper Extended Midget Tour in the US.[32] In February and March, the band toured with Small Brown Bike and Piebald,[33] which was followed by a supporting slot for Alkaline Trio on their UK headlining tour.[34] In May, a music video was filmed for "Freakish", featuring Muppet-esque puppets.[35] The band supported on Blink-182 and Green Day on their co-headlining Pop Disaster Tour in May and June.[36] On July 15, it was announced that the band had kicked out guitarist Ted Alexander.[37] In August, the band appeared at Bizarre Festival in Germany.[38] In October and November, the group went on a headlining US tour[39] with support from Ash.[40]

Reception and legacy

Stay What You Are sold 14,970 copies in its first week,[41] and 70,000 copies by the end of the year.[42] By March 2002, the album had sold over 120,000 copies,[43] becoming one of Vagrant's best-selling releases.[44] Stay What You Are reached number 100 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.[45]

In the years since its release, Stay What You Are is widely regarded as a classic and a highly influential piece of music for the emo and pop punk genres.[46] It appeared on best-of emo album lists by Houston Press,[47] Loudwire[48] and NME.[49] Similarly, Paste included the video for "At Your Funeral" at number seven of their 10 Best Emo Music Videos list,[50] and the song appeared on a best-of emo songs list by Vulture.[51] Tim Landers of Transit and Brandon McMaster of The Crimson Armada featured the album on their Five Albums That Changed My Life lists.[52] In 2014, the Holophonics released a ska tribute version of the album.[53] Saves the Day played the album in full at FYF Fest in August 2016.[54]

Track listing

All songs written by Bryan Newman, Chris Conley, David Soloway, Eben D'Amico and Ted Alexander.[55]

  1. "At Your Funeral" – 3:09
  2. "See You" – 2:08
  3. "Cars & Calories" – 2:45
  4. "Certain Tragedy" – 2:27
  5. "Jukebox Breakdown" – 3:04
  6. "Freakish" – 3:47
  7. "As Your Ghost Takes Flight" – 2:25
  8. "Nightingale" – 3:36
  9. "All I'm Losing Is Me" – 3:22
  10. "This Is Not an Exit" – 3:56
  11. "Firefly" – 2:51

Personnel

Personnel per sleeve.[56] Saves the Day

Additional musician

Production

References

Citations

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sacher . Andrew . The Year That Emo Broke: The 20 Best Emo Albums of 2001 . 2022-03-27 . BrooklynVegan . December 7, 2021 . en.
  2. Gadino 2001, p. 62
  3. Web site: Saves The Day's Chris Conley talks DIY roots, cult fame and At Your Funeral. MusicRadar. Chamberlain, Rich. May 1, 2014. April 12, 2018. 6. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180412224019/https://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/saves-the-days-chris-conley-talks-diy-roots-cult-fame-and-at-your-funeral-599167. April 12, 2018. Click on the Next button to look through pages.
  4. Web site: Saves the Day are Huge Vagrants.. Punknews.org. Paul, Aubin . April 15, 2000. April 13, 2018.
  5. Keiper 2000, p. 22
  6. Web site: Saves the Day. Punknews.org. Paul, Aubin . April 30, 2000. April 13, 2018.
  7. Web site: Saves the Day in studio. Punknews.org. White, Adam. January 3, 2001. April 24, 2018.
  8. Web site: Saves the day studio report and new collection coming up. Melodic. Roth, Kaj. August 5, 2005. November 3, 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20161104075339/http://melodic.net/?page=news&id=4468. November 4, 2016.
  9. Web site: Saves the Day album news. Punknews.org. White, Adam. March 3, 2001. July 29, 2019.
  10. Harkness 2001, p. 4
  11. Web site: Saves the Day. The Tech. Majumdar, Devdoot. November 20, 2001. May 2, 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160602022831/http://tech.mit.edu/V121/N61/Interview-STD.61a.html. June 2, 2016.
  12. Web site: Saves the Day. https://web.archive.org/web/20010707102112/http://www.savestheday.com/fullnews.html. Saves the Day. July 7, 2001. April 13, 2018. dead.
  13. Griffin 2006, p. D18
  14. Web site: Watch Saves The Day's Buzzworthy Live Acoustic Performance Of 'Ring Pop' And 'Cars And Calories'. MTV. Viacom. Brodsky, Rachel. October 14, 2013. April 12, 2018. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20180413095114/http://www.mtv.com/news/2305661/saves-the-day-ring-pop-cars-calories-acoustic-video/. April 13, 2018.
  15. Web site: Questions and Answers The Official Saves The Day Website. https://web.archive.org/web/20100220095608/http://savestheday.com/question-and-answer.html. Saves the Day. February 20, 2010. April 17, 2018. dead.
  16. Web site: Saves the Day The Art And Leisure Club. https://web.archive.org/web/20200813123157/https://www.ox-fanzine.de/interview/saves-the-day-1163. Ox-Fanzine. Eberhardt, Thomas. March–May 2004. August 13, 2020. August 13, 2020. DE.
  17. Gadino 2001, pp. 62–3
  18. Web site: New Saves The Day Song available!. Punknews.org. Paul, Aubin. June 11, 2001. July 29, 2019.
  19. Web site: Saves the Day Off Warped. Punknews.org. White, Adam. March 14, 2001. April 13, 2018.
  20. Punk Thrives on Vagrant. Rolling Stone. Kot, Greg. September 12, 2001. May 2, 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160610094656/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/punk-thrives-on-vagrant-20010912. June 10, 2016.
  21. Web site: Vagrant America Tour Signed, Sealed, And Set To Explode. The Fader. Tripwire. May 22, 2001. May 2, 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071101/http://www.thefader.com/2001/05/22/vagrant-america-tour-signed-sealed-and-set-to-explode. March 4, 2016.
  22. Web site: Krazyfest 4. 'Nuff Said.. Punknews.org. Heisel, Scott. July 1, 2001. February 10, 2021.
  23. Web site: Saves the Day. https://web.archive.org/web/20011031161410/http://www.savestheday.com/index.html. Saves the Day. October 31, 2001. April 13, 2018. dead.
  24. Ups & Downs: Early Recordings and B-Sides. . 2004. Booklet. Vagrant Records. VRUK001.
  25. Web site: Bryan leaves Saves the Day. Punknews.org. Heisel, Scott. September 26, 2001. February 11, 2021.
  26. Web site: Saves the Day. https://web.archive.org/web/20011204201619/http://savestheday.com/tour.html. Saves the Day. December 4, 2001. April 13, 2018. dead.
  27. Web site: Whatever it Takes opening for Saves The day Tour. Punknews.org. Heisel . Scott. September 10, 2001. August 14, 2020.
  28. Web site: Saves The Day website relaunch. Punknews.org. Heisel, Scott. November 23, 2002. March 1, 2021.
  29. Web site: Lots to look for as indie labels Vagrant and Drive-Thru Records expand with new releases and large fan base. https://web.archive.org/web/20180408220411/http://www.quchronicle.com/2002/01/lots-to-look-for-as-indie-labels-vagrant-and-drive-thru-records-expand-with-new-releases-and-large-fan-base/. The Quinnipiac Chronicle. Kentfield, Matt. January 30, 2002. April 8, 2018. August 14, 2020.
  30. Web site: Saves The Late Night?. Punknews.org. Heisel, Scott. December 6, 2001. February 14, 2021.
  31. Web site: Weezer To Paint The Towns Green With February Tour. MTV. D'Angelo, Joe. January 8, 2002. July 22, 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160809022406/http://www.mtv.com/news/1451694/weezer-to-paint-the-towns-green-with-february-tour/. August 9, 2016.
  32. Web site: Weezer / Saves The Day tour. Punknews.org. White, Adam. January 3, 2002. April 13, 2018.
  33. Web site: Small Brown Bike keeps on pedaling…. Punknews.org. Heisel, Scott. February 19, 2002. February 16, 2021.
  34. Web site: Tour Diary. https://web.archive.org/web/20020323101040/http://www.b-uniquerecords.com/tourdiary.htm. B-Unique Records. March 23, 2002. November 5, 2020.
  35. Web site: Weezer, Saves The Day Trade Blows In 'Emo Puppet Video War'. MTV. Yago, Gideon. July 3, 2002. July 22, 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160809022325/http://www.mtv.com/news/1455946/weezer-saves-the-day-trade-blows-in-emo-puppet-video-war/. August 9, 2016.
  36. Green Day, Blink Plan 'Pop Disaster'. Billboard. February 14, 2002. May 2, 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160407052557/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/76802/green-day-blink-plan-pop-disaster. April 7, 2016.
  37. Web site: Grindings from the Rumor Mill - July 15th. Punknews.org. White, Adam. July 15, 2002. February 27, 2021.
  38. Web site: Vagrant gets bizarre. Punknews.org. Heisel, Scott. April 3, 2002. February 20, 2021.
  39. Web site: Saves The Day, Dashboard Confessional announce fall tours. Punknews.org. Heisel, scott. August 23, 2002. April 13, 2018.
  40. Paoletta 2002, p. 60
  41. Web site: Saves the Day makes Billboard 100. Punknews.org. Paul, Aubin. July 20, 2001. February 10, 2021.
  42. CMJ New Music Report 2001, p. 11
  43. Punk From the Heart. https://web.archive.org/web/20040305034032/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/newsarticle.asp?nid=15512&cf=10550. Rolling Stone. Sheffield, Rob. March 28, 2002. March 5, 2004 . dead. August 28, 2015.
  44. Web site: Saves The Day Prep For Weezer Tour, Dismiss Detractors. MTV. D'Angelo, Joe. January 28, 2002. July 22, 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160809052906/http://www.mtv.com/news/1451982/saves-the-day-prep-for-weezer-tour-dismiss-detractors/. August 9, 2016.
  45. Artist Chart History via [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=saves the day|chart=all}} Billboard.com]. Retrieved July 2007.
  46. Artist Biography via [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=saves the day|bio=true}} Billboard.com]. Retrieved July 2007.
  47. Web site: A Half-Decade Under the Influence: The Best Emo Albums, 2001-2005. Houston Press. Stuart Folb. Dupree, Alyssa. June 21, 2013. April 12, 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180225125102/http://www.houstonpress.com/music/a-half-decade-under-the-influence-the-best-emo-albums-2001-2005-6757956. February 25, 2018.
  48. Web site: The Best Emo Albums From 1999-2008: A Discussion. Loudwire. Waldman, Scott. February 26, 2020. August 17, 2020.
  49. Web site: 20 Emo Albums That Have Resolutely Stood The Test Of Time. January 14, 2015. NME. Time (UK) Inc. July 29, 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150816064805/http://www.nme.com/photos/20-emo-albums-that-have-resolutely-stood-the-test-of-time/367692#/photo/6. August 16, 2015.
  50. Web site: The 10 Best Emo Music Videos. Paste. Wolfgang's Vault. Laderer, Ashley. February 23, 2017. April 12, 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180318172219/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/02/the-10-best-emo-music-videos.html. March 18, 2018.
  51. Web site: The 100 Greatest Emo Songs of All Time. https://web.archive.org/web/20200213181251/https://www.vulture.com/article/best-emo-songs.html. Vulture. Nelson, Brad. February 13, 2020. February 13, 2020. August 14, 2020.
  53. Web site: A ska band covered Saves The Day's 'Stay What You Are' in full. Alternative Press. Crane, Matt. March 31, 2014. August 14, 2020.
  54. Web site: FYF Fest 2016 Lineup: Kendrick Lamar, LCD Soundsystem, Tame Impala, Grace Jones, and More. Spin. Grebey, James. March 29, 2016. May 2, 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160503134348/http://www.spin.com/2016/03/fyf-fest-2016-lineup-kendrick-lamar-lcd-soundsystem-tame-impala-grace-jones-tickets/. May 3, 2016.
  55. Web site: Repertory Search :: SEASAC. SEASAC. January 23, 2016. Click Artist, then enter Saves the Day in the Search field, then click Search Repertory, then click on the individual entries of the Stay What You Are songs for the writing credits.
  56. Stay What You Are. . 2002. originally released in 2001. Sleeve. Vagrant/B-Unique Records. 422 860 953-2 DG02/BUN 0017.

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