The Conch Explained

The Conch
Type:	Studio album
Artist:	Moe
Cover:	TheConch.jpg
Released:	January 23, 2007
Recorded:	2005–2006
Genre:	Rock, jam, progressive rock
Label:	Fatboy Records
Producer:	Moe
Prev Year:	2003
Next Year:	2007

The Conch is the eighth studio album by the American rock band Moe. It was released on January 23, 2007, by Fatboy Records. The Conch was Moe's first studio release in four years.

History

Since 2004, the band had been working on the follow-up to their 2003 release Wormwood. The band had debuted well over a dozen new songs since Wormwood, but had indicated in articles and interviews that there were some songs that they had recorded that they hadn't even performed live yet. As with the previous album, the band decided to try to record and then mix in live samples of their new songs from shows on June 10, 2005 and June 11, 2005 in order to create a meld between studio and live settings. The band performed these two special shows in Portland, Maine and recorded the audio for possible inclusion on the new album. For this reason, the band, usually taper-friendly, did not allow audio taping by the fans for these two shows.

• Rob Derhak on the new album (2/24/06):^[1]

In 2006, it was announced that the new album would be released in January 2007 and would be called The Conch.^[2]

From clips that were available at the MTV^[3] and VH1^[4] websites, it was determined that one track, "Y Eaux Massa", would be audio from the aforementioned shows. During intermission at the June 11, 2005 show, Al Schnier led the crowd in a repeating chant of "be on my side, I'll be on your side," which is a line from the chorus of "Wind It Up," the previous track on the album. When the pre-release sale for the album began on November 20, 2006, a free five song live EP was offered with each purchase. The EP included over 65 minutes of music from the shows mentioned above.

Track listing

The Conch

1. "Blue Jeans Pizza" (Derhak) – 5:16
2. "Lost Along the Way" (Schnier) – 6:39
3. "The Conch" (Moe) – 0:54
4. "Tailspin" (Schnier) – 5:00
5. "Tubing the River Styx" -> (Moe) – 0:56
6. "The Pit" (Derhak) – 5:20
7. "Another One Gone" (Derhak) – 3:29
8. "Wind It Up" -> (Garvey) – 7:55
9. "Y Eaux Massa" (Moe) – 1:09
10. "Down Boy" (Derhak) – 5:51
11. "She" (Schnier) – 5:05
12. "Where Does the Time Go?" (Garvey) – 5:54
13. "Summer o i" (Derhak) – 4:16
14. "The Road" (Schnier) – 6:45
15. "MacIntyre Range" (Schnier) – 3:58
16. "The Col" (Moe) – 0:48
17. "Brittle End" (Derhak) – 5:36
18. "McBain" (iTunes Bonus Track) – 6:46

High and Congress

Bonus CD offered during preorder sale.

1. "The Road"
2. "The Pit"
3. "32 Things" (Schnier)
4. "St. Augustine" (Derhak)
5. "Rebubula" (Derhak)

Personnel

Moe

• Chuck Garvey – vocals, guitar, keyboards
• Rob Derhak – vocals, bass guitar, keyboards
• Vinnie Amico – drums, percussion
• Al Schnier – vocals, guitar, keyboards
• Jim Loughlin – percussion, marimba, vibraphone, MalletKat

Charts

Album – Billboard

Year	Chart	Position
2007	Billboard 200 (U.S.)^[5]	120
2007	Billboard Heatseekers (U.S.)	1
2007	Billboard Top Independent Albums (U.S.)	9
2007	Billboard Top Internet Albums (U.S.)	120

Notes and References

1. Web site: moe. at Lakewood Theater.
2. Web site: Touring takes toll, but moe. sees payoffs, like Red Rocks by Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News . June 2, 2006.
3. Web site: Reality TV Shows, Celebrity News, Pop Culture & Music Videos. MTV.
4. https://web.archive.org/web/20071001130754/http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/moe/1376775/album.jhtml moe. | The Conch Album | Download Tracks from this Music Album | VH1.com
5. moe. Artist Chart Position at Billboard