Anberlin

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The correct title of this article is anberlin. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.
Anberlin
Anberlin promotional photo
Anberlin promotional photo
Background information
Origin United States
Genre(s) Alternative rock
Christian rock
Years active 2002—present
Label(s) Tooth & Nail Records
Website www.anberlin.com
Members
Stephen Christian
(vocals)
Deon Rexroat
(bass)
Joseph Milligan
(guitar)
Nathan Strayer
(guitar)
Nathan Young
(drums)

Anberlin is an alternative rock band comprised of Christian members that was formed in 2002. Even though their debut album, Blueprints for the Black Market, was released barely a year after the band formed, anberlin were already amassing a dedicated fan-base through steady touring with other bands on their label, Tooth & Nail Records and promotion via their myspace.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Vocalist Stephen Christian had long planned to name his first daughter Anberlin. Struggling to find a name for the band, Stephen suggested it. "We were all sitting around trying to come up with a name. None of us were married or had kids, but one day I was going to name my daughter Anberlin, so I figured we could name the band that until we thought of something better. So we chose Anberlin and no one has though of anything better." [1] He no longer plans to use Anberlin to name his first daughter, however: "If I ever have a daughter and name her Anberlin, she'll think she was named after the band instead of the other way around." [2]

Blueprints for the Black Market was quite successful. Spurred on by popular singles "Readyfuels" and "Change the World," it sold over 60,000 copies and raised Anberlin's profile. They released their second album, Never Take Friendship Personal, in February 2005. The album was praised by critics, garnering favorable reviews and winning the band new fans.

Prior to its release, the band promoted the album by releasing a track per week on their Purevolume and Myspace website accounts, as well as on their own website. So far, two "radio singles" have been released from the album: "A Day Late" and "Paperthin Hymn". Both have been quite successful on alternative rock radio. A video for "A Day Late" has been released and the video for "Paperthin Hymn" was released on March 17, 2006.

Furthermore, Anberlin recorded covers of the Bob Dylan song "Like a Rolling Stone", the Depeche Mode song "Enjoy the Silence," the Cure's "Love Song," and the popular Christmas song "Baby Please Come Home," included on compilation albums in 2005.

Singer Stephen Christian is also working on some solo music under the name of Anchor & Braille with Aaron Marsh of Copeland, which is expected to take the form of a full length album sometime in 2007.

The band performed on G4's Attack of the Show on March 23, 2006. They also performed in New Zealand in early 2006.

anberlin released an exclusive download on PureVolume on 04 September 2006 of their song A Day Late done in an acoustic version, during Tooth and Nail's New Music Release week on Tooth and Nail's PureVolume, MySpace and their website.

Anberlin's third album produced by Aaron Sprinkle in 2006 will be released on February 20, 2007 under the title Cities.

In an AP interview about their new CD, vocalist Stephen commented that the lyrics throughout the bands discography are progressively becoming more adult. "The first CD (Blueprints for the Black Market) was childish in the manner that it was Man vs. World in the lyrics. The second (Never Take Friendship Personal) was Man Vs. Man. The next CD is going to be more adult in the manner that it will be Man vs. Self."

[edit] Members

[edit] Discography

Album Cover Date of Release Title Label US Billboard Peak US sales
May 6, 2003 Blueprints for the Black Market Tooth & Nail Records
February 1, 2005 Never Take Friendship Personal Tooth & Nail Records #144
February 20, 2007 [3] Cities Tooth & Nail Records

[edit] Videos

[edit] Unreleased songs

There are several anberlin songs recorded during album sessions that were not used on the finished products. Some of these have been released through other channels, such as Downtown Song from the Never Take Friendship Personal sessions which was released in 2005 on a Tooth & Nail compilation. Others have featured on preliminary track listings or been mentioned by the band, but have never been released or otherwise leaked. The band have stated that these out-takes will probably never be officially released, although there is a slim possibility that they may be candidates for future album sessions.

In addition to these there are also several songs recorded by SaGoh 24/7, a band which featured four of the original members of Anberlin, which have been distributed on the internet as Anberlin songs. However, SaGoh was their old band with a notably different pop-punk sound, so these should not be considered Anberlin tracks.

Here are some of the known unreleased anberlin songs:

  • Downtown Song (also known as The Downtown Song, Just Another Downtown Song or Another Downtown Song) Given a limited release on a "downloadcard" available only at the 2005 Warped Tour, as well as the sampler Tooth and Nail vs. Solid State. This song appeared on all of the early track listings for Never Take Friendship Personal, but was cut at the last minute.
  • Everywhere and In Between One of the most popular unreleased Anberlin songs. This was recorded as a demo before Blueprints For the Black Market, along with early versions of album tracks Readyfuels, Foreign Language, and Autobahn (then titled Driving). It is notably softer and more poppy than most Anberlin songs. There is some speculation that it may be re-recorded for the third album sessions, though this has not been officially confirmed. Although the demo version was never officially released, it has leaked to the internet and is well known in the Anberlin fan community.
  • Chemicals Early name for "Dance, Dance, Christa Päffgen" which was released on Never Take Friendship Personal.
  • New Fast Automatic Like Downtown Song, this track appeared on every early running order for Never Take Friendship Personal but did not make the final cut. It has not been heard of since.
  • Calm Culture Massacre Little is known about this song, which was talked about during the Never Take Friendship Personal sessions. It reportedly sounded the most like a SaGoh song that Anberlin had ever done, which is most likely why it was shelved.
  • Embrace the Dead This is not an Anberlin song. This was recorded by the band saGoh (which featured Stephen Christian, Deon Rexroat, Joseph Milligan, and Nathan Young) before they disbanded and reformed later as Anberlin. This was saGoh's last release and was only available online. It is often mistaken for an Anberlin song, but most definitely is not.
  • Amsterdam Appeared in the early track listings of Never Take Friendship Personal, but was later renamed "(the symphony of) blasé".

[edit] External links


Anberlin
Stephen Christian - Deon Rexroat - Joseph Milligan - Nathan Young - Nathan Strayer
Discography
Albums: Blueprints for the Black Market - Never Take Friendship Personal - Cities
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