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Your Majesty (album)

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For Your Majesty... We Are Here by Earl Brutus, see Earl Brutus.

Your Majesty
A hand-drawn flower with black-and-white photos of the band members spread around the edges
Studio album by
The Anniversary
ReleasedJanuary 22, 2002
RecordedJune 2001
StudioSonora
Genre
Length46:46
LabelVagrant
ProducerRob Schnapf
The Anniversary chronology
Designing a Nervous Breakdown
(2000) 		Your Majesty
(2002) 		Devil on Our Side: B-Sides & Rarities
(2008)

Your Majesty is the second studio album by American rock band the Anniversary. It was released on January 22, 2002, through Vagrant Records. Following the release of their debut studio album, Designing a Nervous Breakdown in early 2000, the band started writing new material by that August. They later recorded the album in June 2001 at Sonora Recorders in Los Feliz, California, with producer Rob Schnapf.

Your Majesty is a garage rock, neo-psychedelia, pop rock and space rock record that includes slow tempos, guitar solos and a grand piano; comparisons were made to the works of the full-band iteration of Elliott Smith, the New Pornographers, and the Kinks, among others. Leading up to the release of it, the Anniversary completed two US tours. The album was promoted with supporting slots for Guided by Voices, Dashboard Confessional and Cheap Trick, and two headlining tours by the band.

Your Majesty received generally positive reviews from music critics, some of whom commented on the male–female vocals and Schnapf's production. In the US, the album charted on two Billboard component charts. It peaked at number 15 and 17 on the Independent Albums and Heatseekers Albums charts, respectively.

Background and production

The Anniversary released their debut studio album Designing a Nervous Breakdown in January 2000, through Heroes & Villains, an imprint of independent record label Vagrant Records that was owned by the Get Up Kids.[1][2] By August of that year, the Anniversary were working on new material, which vocalist and guitarist Josh Berwanger said was acoustic-based and included electric piano from vocalist and keyboardist Adrianne Pope.[3] The band went on the Heroes & Villains Fall Tour in September and October 2000, then took a two-week break before touring again until Christmas.[3][4] They spent the period after Christmas writing further material for their next album.[5] The Anniversary supported Hey Mercedes on their headlining US tour in February and March 2001.[6][7] A week prior to recording the album, the band worked on pre-production with Rob Schnapf at a practice space; they played him every track and after each performance, the Anniversary went over parts and song structures.[8]

Your Majesty was recorded in two and a half weeks at Sonora Recorders in Los Feliz, California, in June 2001.[8][9] The band members shared a two-bed hotel room near the studio, which led to claustrophobia and frequent brainstorming.[10] The band refrained from recording in their hometown of Lawrence, Kansas, because they felt the presence of their families and friends would be distracting for them.[11] Schnapf acted as producer for the album and recording was handled by Doug Boehm; the recording was assisted by Andrew Boston.[9] The Anniversary spent some downtime at Malibu Beach, where they wrote additional parts and a portion of lyrics.[11] Schnapf and Boehm mixed the recordings with assistance from Pete Magdaleno at King Sound Studios in Los Angeles, California. Don C. Tyler then mastered the recordings at Precision Mastering.[9]

Composition and lyrics

All of the music on Your Majesty is credited to the Anniversary; all of the lyrics are credited to Berwanger and Justin Roelofs.[9] The sound of Your Majesty has been described as garage rock, neo-psychedelia,[12] pop rock[13] and space rock;[14] it also includes influences from progressive rock.[15] The album has also been classified as emo,[13][16] but some reviewers noted the band had moved away from that style.[14][17][18][19] Your Majesty is slower than Designing a Nervous Breakdown, with a straightforward rock sound, off-kilter vocal performances, and guitar solos.[14][20] Parts of it drew comparisons to the works of a full-band iteration of Elliott Smith and Rufus Wainwright, the New Pornographers, and English acts the Kinks and Mott the Hoople.[17][21][22] For the album, Pope switched from playing her Moog synthesizer to a grand piano and an organ.[10][20]

Your Majesty begins with the rock tracks "Sweet Marie" and "Crooked Crown"; the intro of the latter is similar to the works of Weezer. "Peace, Pain & Regret" retains the upbeat energy of Designing a Nervous Breakdown.[14] "Husam Husam" was compared to the music of Pink Floyd with its introduction, spacious keyboard parts and throaty backing vocals.[16] The indie rock track "The Sirens Sings" includes guitar riffs that are similar to those of Neil Young.[15][18] "Never Die Young" is an up-tempo pop song that most resembles the sound of Designing a Nervous Breakdown. "Tu-Whitt Tu-Whoo" is a love song that is followed by the folk-esque "The Ghost of the River".[14][16] "The Death of the King" is a near-six-minute song with an instrumental ending that segues into "Follow the Sun", which consists of two lines.[14][18] "The Death of the King" was written in a hotel bathroom at 1 A.M., with Berwanger and Roleofs playing guitars for the track in the dark.[10] Both tracks are progressive rock-indebted numbers; "The Death of the King" evokes the sound of Pink Floyd.[14][16]

Release and promotion

In July 2001, the Anniversary appeared on the Vagrant Across America tour.[23] On September 3 of that year, the track listing for Your Majesty was announced.[24] Later that month, it was announced Vagrant had postponed the album's release from October 2001 to January 2002 at the band's insistence.[25] In October and November 2001, the Anniversary went on a US tour with Superdrag and the Mars Volta.[26] Your Majesty was delayed several times; with each delay, tension within the band mounted.[8] Your Majesty was eventually released on January 22, 2002; its artwork resembles that of The Beatles' Revolver (1966).[16][22] The Anniversary played three shows with Guided by Voices in the following month, before supporting Dashboard Confessional on an eight-week tour in March and April 2002.[27] In October and November of that year, the band went on a headlining tour with Burning Brides and the Gadjits.[28] On November 19, 2002, Vagrant released a video compilation entitled Another Year on the Screen, which includes the music video for "Sweet Marie".[29]

On March 7, 2003, the Anniversary said they had left Vagrant Records.[30] In response, Vagrant's co-owner Rich Egan made a negative post on the record label's message board that was subsequently deleted. Egan followed the deletion up, saying the "relationship [with the band] had run its course". Berwanger said Vagrant and the Anniversary had "complete opposite ideas of what music should be", and that the record label admittedly had "no idea" how to market Your Majesty, to which Egan replied Vagrant should have had no difficulty promoting the album and that it out-sold Designing a Nervous Breakdown.[31] In March and April 2003, the band supported Cheap Trick on their US headlining tour.[30] In October and November of that year, they went on tour; the Natural History and the Vexers supported the first half, while the second was supported by Carrier and Apollo Sunshine.[32] In late November 2003, towards the end of the tour, the Anniversary broke up.[33]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic73/100[34]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[16]
E! OnlineB[35]
No Ripcord4/10[36]
Pitchfork2/10[13]
Rolling Stone[37]

Your Majesty was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 73, based on 9 reviews.[34]

Chart Attack writer Steve Servos said: "[g]one are the emo labels and in their place the band show off an appreciation for the classic pop-influences-rock sound". He was not surprised to hear "the full band version" of Elliott Smith because the Anniversary were working with Schnapf, "with a little Rufus Wainwright thrown in for good measure".[17] CMJ New Music Report's Amy Sciarretto called the album an "ambitious, left-of-center" release with keyboard melodies that were used "in a different way" to the ones on Designing a Nervous Breakdown. She complimented Berwanger's and Pope's "absolutely lush vocal harmonies".[15] The staff of E! Online said Your Majesty moves from the "tight, catchy end of the pop spectrum to airy, dreamy tunes", opining that Berwanger's and Pope's vocals keep the album from sounding "too same-y", and that in spite of the influences, the band "retain[s] its own personality, with a laid-back style and pizzazz that keeps this party a pleasant one".[35]

AllMusic reviewer Heather Phares said the Anniversary expanded on "some of their artier tendencies and keeping the playful, hooky songwriting that made their debut so refreshing". Phares praised Schapf's "aptly lush" production work and said the band's "inherent, slightly awkward earnestness shines through at every turn".[16] Stephen Rauch of PopMatters said that while Your Majesty retains the male–female vocals and keyboard from Designing a Nervous Breakdown, it is "a very different album" and the tracks are "more straight-forward". According to Rauch, despite the loss of up-tempo material in favor of "slower, more deliberate songs", it is "still a very good album".[14] Rolling Stone writer Jenny Eliscu said Schnapf's and Boehm's work with Elliott Smith is apparent on Your Majesty, on which "a twinge of sadness turns even sunny tunes such as 'Never Die Young' slightly sour". Eliscu said the band "occasionally piles on a few too many layers of sounds" to some songs and that the lyrics often "sound like some drunken hippie-shaman shit".[37]

Inlander's Mike Corrigan said Pope's "earnest, airy vocals are a nice compliment to the more affected delivery" of Berwanger and Roelofs on the album. He found the Anniversary to be lacking in "genuine passion and emotional depth", and said the album is "full of half-hearted performances, secondhand sentiments, mediocre writing and little, if any real soul".[18] Joachim Hiller of Ox-Fanzine said Schnapf's production brought out the best in other musicians but had failed to do so with the Anniversary. He mentioned the Promise Ring's Wood/Water (2002), calling Your Majesty "only third rate" by comparison, saying it is "not a really bad record, just a pretty boring one".[38] Pitchfork writer Brad Haywood said the music, "while pretending to be candy-coated pop-rock, shares all of emo's key indicators, including melodramatic vocal delivery, seamless production, and shameless overambition".[13]

Commercially, Your Majesty reached number 15 on the US Billboard Independent Albums chart,[39] and number 17 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.[40]

Track listing

All music by the Anniversary, all lyrics written by Justin Roelofs and Josh Berwanger. All songs produced by Rob Schnapf.[9]

Your Majesty track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Sweet Marie"3:35
2."Crooked Crown"3:48
3."Peace, Pain & Regret"3:34
4."Husam Husam"6:45
5."The Siren Sings"4:36
6."Never Die Young"4:01
7."Tu-Whitt Tu-Whoo"2:29
8."The Ghost of the River"6:28
9."Devil on My Side"3:19
10."The Death of the King"5:56
11."Follow the Sun"2:28
Total length:46:56

Personnel

Personnel per sleeve.[9]

Charts

Chart performance for Your Majesty
Chart (2002) Peak
position
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[41] 17
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[42] 15

References

Citations

  1. ^ Phares, Heather. "Designing a Nervous Breakdown - The Anniversary | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Archived from the original on May 27, 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  2. ^ DePasquale, Ron. "The Anniversary | Biography & History". AllMusic. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Bishop, Robert (August 31, 2000). "Happy Anniversary". The Pitch. Archived from the original on August 18, 2019. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  4. ^ "Show Dates". The Anniversary. Archived from the original on October 1, 2000. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  5. ^ "News (December 2000)". The Anniversary. Archived from the original on March 9, 2001. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  6. ^ "Hey Mercedes News". Hey Mercedes. Archived from the original on March 31, 2001. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  7. ^ "Show Dates". The Anniversary. Archived from the original on April 5, 2001. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  8. ^ a b c Niccum 2002, p. 2D
  9. ^ a b c d e f Your Majesty (sleeve). The Anniversary. Vagrant/Heroes & Villains Records. 2002. VR359/HV0011.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ a b c Miller, Andrew (May 23, 2002). "Crown Affair". The Pitch. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  11. ^ a b Niccum 2002, p. 1D
  12. ^ Simon, Leslie (June 7, 2016). "Taste Of Tuesday: Getting the royal treatment with the Anniversary". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on June 27, 2016. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  13. ^ a b c d Haywood, Brad (September 12, 2002). "The Anniversary: Your Majesty Album Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on March 19, 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2002.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h Rauch, Stephen (January 21, 2002). "The Anniversary: Your Majesty". PopMatters. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  15. ^ a b c Sciarretto 2002, p. 4
  16. ^ a b c d e f g Phares, Heather. "Your Majesty - The Anniversary | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 27, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  17. ^ a b c Servos, Steve (February 12, 2002). "CD Reviews: The Anniversary, Megadeth, Misstress Barbara and many more". Chart Attack. Archived from the original on December 6, 2005. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  18. ^ a b c d Corrigan, Mike (April 25, 2002). "CD Review - The Anniversary". Inlander. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  19. ^ Keiper 2002, p. 22
  20. ^ a b Hirshfeld, Josh (June 2008). "Emo Revisted: The White Boy Blues". Perfect Sound Forever. Archived from the original on July 15, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  21. ^ "Lost Classics: The Anniversary 'Your Majesty'". Magnet. February 11, 2009. Archived from the original on January 30, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  22. ^ a b Kundrath 2002, p. 49
  23. ^ "across america.. or parts of it". The Anniversary. Archived from the original on June 19, 2001. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  24. ^ Heisel, Scott (September 3, 2001). "The Anniversary's New CD's Track list released, tour announced". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on December 22, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  25. ^ Heisel, Scott (September 24, 2001). "Vagrant Pushes back The Anniversary's new release". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  26. ^ "Anniversary Fall U.S. Tour". The Anniversary. Archived from the original on January 29, 2002. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  27. ^ Heisel, Scott (January 19, 2002). "Wouldn't it be funny if *your* anniversary was one of these dates? C'mon!". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on May 13, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  28. ^ Heisel, Scott (October 11, 2002). "The Anniversary, Burning Brides, Gadjits to tour". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on January 21, 2015. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  29. ^ White, Adam (October 25, 2002). "Another Year On The Screen". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  30. ^ a b White, Adam (March 7, 2003). "The Anniversary Tour With Cheap Trick". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  31. ^ Harkness, Geoff (April 10, 2003). "Vagrant Foul". The Pitch. Archived from the original on January 18, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  32. ^ Heisel, Scott (October 18, 2003). "The Anniversary back on the road". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  33. ^ Spacek, Nick (September 13, 2016). "The reunited Anniversary heads back to the Bottleneck". The Pitch. Archived from the original on August 18, 2019. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  34. ^ a b "Your Majesty by The Anniversary". Metacritic. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  35. ^ a b "Music - The Anniversary 'Your Majesty'". E! Online. Archived from the original on December 27, 2002. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  36. ^ Coleman, David (June 13, 2002). "Album Review - The Anniversary - "Your Majesty"". No Ripcord. Archived from the original on April 27, 2005. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  37. ^ a b Eliscu, Jenny (March 28, 2002). "Recordings: The Anniversary, Your Majesty, 3 Stars". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 20, 2003. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  38. ^ Hiller, Joachim (March–May 2002). "Reviews: Anniversary, The / Your Majesty CD". Ox-Fanzine (in German). Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  39. ^ "Independent Albums". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 2, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  40. ^ "Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  41. ^ "Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  42. ^ "Independent Albums". Billboard. Retrieved August 12, 2020.

Sources

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