The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II

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This article is about the first two discs of The Alchemy Index. For the second two discs, see The Alchemy Index Vols. III & IV.
The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II
The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II cover
Studio album by Thrice
Released Flag of the United Kingdom October 15, 2007
Flag of the United States October 16, 2007
Recorded October 2006 - March 2007
Genre Experimental rock, alternative rock, post-hardcore
Length Fire: 22:09
Water: 27:05
Total: 49:14
Label Vagrant
Producer Thrice
Professional reviews
Thrice chronology
Vheissu
(2005)		 The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II
(2007)		 The Alchemy Index Vols. III & IV
(2008)

The Alchemy Index is Thrice's fifth studio recording, a four-disc concept album that was split between two releases, the first in October 2007 and the second in April 2008. The band originally planned to release four discs at once, each disc with six tracks representing one of the four classical elements: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. The album was recorded from late 2006 to early 2007, and a blog titled The Alchemy Index chronicled the album's progress for fans.

Contents

[edit] Recording

Early in the development of the project, Dustin Kensrue posted the following update on the band's studio journal site:

"We sat down a couple weeks ago and made a rough timeline so that we wouldn’t find ourselves putting this out next winter instead of late spring/early summer. The plan is to record at least 75% of each disc at a time, and then have time to come back and re-evaluate, start mixing, and tie up any loose ends. Right now we have done a large amount of the Air disc and have just started up on Earth, which we’ve given ourselves only to the end of next week since we want it to have a pretty stripped down vibe and we don’t want to have time to over- think it. We moved the recording gear into an empty living room with hardwood floors and are recording the whole earth disc in here which is sounding very cool."

During the recording of the album, the band left Island Records, citing a difference in vision for the band's direction.[1] On August 9, 2007, the band announced they had signed to Vagrant Records.[2]

The band debuted a new track from the Fire album and from the "Earth" album during the mini-tour leading up to 2007 Bamboozle music festival. The titles of the tracks were later revealed as "Firebreather" and "Come All You Weary" respectively.

[edit] Release

The album was released in the United States on October 16, 2007, and sold 28,000 copies in its first week. It debuted at #24 on the Billboard 200 chart[3] and #5 on the iTunes top-selling albums.[4]

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Vol I: Fire

  1. "Firebreather" - 4:24
  2. "The Messenger" - 2:09
  3. "Backdraft" - 4:08
  4. "The Arsonist" - 4:13
  5. "Burn the Fleet" - 3:46
  6. "The Flame Deluge" - 3:27

[edit] Vol II: Water

  1. "Digital Sea" - 3:44
  2. "Open Water" - 3:46
  3. "Lost Continent" - 4:30
  4. "Night Diving" - 6:02
  5. "The Whaler" - 4:09
  6. "Kings Upon the Main" - 4:56

[edit] Personnel

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Thrice and Island Records part ways". Absolutepunk.net. June 2007.
  2. ^ "Thrice joins Vagrant Records". Punknews.org. August 2007.
  3. ^ Katie Hasty, "Springsteen Returns To No. 1 In Slow Sales Week", Billboard.com, October 24, 2007.
  4. ^ iTunes Store Top 10 Albums. iTunes.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-19.

[edit] External links

  • Alchemy Index - Thrice's studio blog documenting the recording process of the album.
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