Young Modern

Young Modern
Studio album by Silverchair
Released Australia 30 March 2007
United States 24 July 2007
Recorded Seedy Underbelly Studios, Los Angeles, April - November 2006
Genre Alternative rock, art rock
Length 45:12
Label Australia Eleven
United States Eleven/Atlantic/Independent
Producer Daniel Johns
Nick Launay
Professional reviews
Silverchair chronology
Diorama
(2002)		 Young Modern
(2007)		 Silverchair's 6th Studio Album
(2010)
Singles from Young Modern
  1. "Straight Lines"
    Released: 20 March 2007
  2. "Reflections of a Sound"
    Released: 14 July 2007
  3. "If You Keep Losing Sleep"
    Released: 9 October 2007
  4. "Mind Reader"
    Released: Early 2008

Young Modern is the fifth album by Australian alternative rock band Silverchair, released on 30 March 2007. Young Modern entered the Australian albums chart at #1 on 15 April 2007, their fifth consecutive album to do this, making them the first band to accomplish this feat in Australia. The album opened at #8 on the New Zealand albums chart.

Young Modern received four Aria Awards at the 2007 Aria Awards, including Single of the Year (for "Straight Lines") and Album of the Year.

The album's cover art is probably inspired by Piet Mondriaan's modernistic portrait, Composition No. 10 and Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow and takes a three-dimensional approach to his flat style.

Contents

Recording and production

Silverchair spent five weeks in the Australian Hunter Valley in late 2005 to practice and sharpen material that Daniel Johns had previously written. Following this, the band recorded intermediate full band demo versions of the songs. To record the final versions of these songs, the band travelled to Los Angeles to record with record producer Nick Launay at Seedy Underbelly Studios. Johns co-produced the album alongside Launay.[1] During the L.A. sessions, additional songs were written and recorded. Van Dyke Parks was hired to compose orchestral arrangements for three songs: "If You Keep Losing Sleep", "All Across The World" and the 3 part epic "Those Thieving Birds/Strange Behaviour".[2] Johns and Parks travelled to Prague to have the orchestral arrangements recorded by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.[3]

Unlike previous Silverchair albums, Young Modern was funded independently by the band, rather than by a record label. This was done to "remove the added label pressures", according to Billboard.[4] The name Young Modern comes from a nickname given to Silverchair's lead singer, Johns, by Van Dyke Parks during their time working together on Diorama in 2002.[5] The album features various guest appearances from Australian and international musicians such as Luke Steele, Julian Hamilton and Paul Mac.[6]

Album and single releases

Young Modern was released on 30 March 2007 in Australia, and 24 July 2007 in the United States of America.[7] The album was released in several versions - the original contained 11 songs, while the iTunes version contained an extra song, "English Garden". A limited edition DVD was also released, which contained a documentary entitled "The making of Young Modern", as well as the "Straight Lines" music video.[7]

The first single from Young Modern, "Straight Lines", was released on 20 March 2007, a week before the album's release.[8] "Straight Lines" entered the ARIA Charts at #1 on 25 March 2007, and held that rank for four weeks.[9] It also peaked at #11 on the RIANZ charts.[10] "Straight Lines" was certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association.[11] On 28 October 2007, "Straight Lines" won "Best Selling Australian Single" at the ARIA Music Awards of 2007, as well as "Single of the Year".[12]

A second single, "Reflections of a Sound", was released on 14 July 2007 as a digital single.[13] The music video for "Reflections of a Sound" was first screened on 8 June 2007, and was produced by Damon Escott and Stephen Lance of Head Pictures.[14]

The third single from Young Modern was "If You Keep Losing Sleep", released on 9 October 2007.[15] The song spent one week on the ARIA charts at #16, before dropping out of the charts.[9] The music video for "If You Keep Losing Sleep" was orchestrated by Van Dyke Parks, and was produced by Damon Escott and Stephen Lance, who also created the "Reflections of a Sound" video.[16] The video was described by Molly Meldrum as "the best video I’ve seen from Australia ever".[17] Young Modern's fourth single, "Mind Reader", was released as an internet-only single on 23 February 2008. It had first appeared on radio in January that year.[18]

Response

Young Modern was received with great enthusiasm from reviewers. Allmusic's review said the album contained "catchy melodic hooks, inspired lyrical themes, and stunning string arrangements", and called it the "pinnacle of the band's fascinating development". Reviewer Clayton Bolger heaped praise on most of the songs on the album, calling "Straight Lines" an "instant rock classic".[5]

Review website Xdafied was equally impressed by the album, and was the second site to praise the opening track, "Young Modern Station", stating that it "will leave you in awe at its refreshingly different chord progression". Xdafied's reviewer summarised the review by calling the album "a unique masterpiece".[19] Meanwhile, Rolling Stone reviewer David Fricke called Silverchair's members "young (in their late twenties)...[and] aggressively modern",[20] and Entertainment Weekly called the album a "polished glam-rock suite".[21] Sputnikmusic reviewer Tyler Fisher also approved of the album, although he did not think it was as good as it was made out to be, commenting "It is not as good as the ARIA awards will undoubtedly make it out to be but still one of the better mainstream listens of the year."[2]

During his weekly entertainment segment on the popular Australian breakfast show Sunrise, Australian music personality Molly Meldrum made a sincere comparison of the album to the classic Beatles album Sgt. Pepper.

Nick Pearson of PopMatters, meanwhile, was highly critical of the album. He began his review with the statement "Once you reach the level of intellectual maturity where you can tell the difference between cryptic but poetic lyrics and nonsensical crap, you have outgrown Silverchair", and continued in the same fashion throughout. Pearson likened Johns to Kurt Cobain, saying they share a common inability; "his inability to write lyrics". His only praise was for the third single released from the album, "If You Keep Losing Sleep", stating "'If You Keep Losing Sleep' is proof that Silverchair are capable of recording interesting music".[22]

Personnel

Silverchair

Production

  • Nick Launay, Daniel Johns

Additional musicians

  • Matt Appleton
  • Alain Johannes
  • Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
  • Michelle Rose
  • Paul Mac
  • Elysa Gomez
  • Luke Steele
  • Nayo Wallace

Track listing

All songs written by Daniel Johns unless otherwise noted.[7]

  1. "Young Modern Station" – 3:11 (Johns, Julian Hamilton)
  2. "Straight Lines" – 4:18 (Johns, Hamilton)
  3. "If You Keep Losing Sleep" – 3:20
  4. "Reflections of a Sound" – 4:09
  5. "Those Thieving Birds (Part 1)/ Strange Behaviour/ Those Thieving Birds (Part 2)" – 7:26
  6. "The Man That Knew Too Much" – 4:19
  7. "Waiting All Day" – 4:28 (Johns, Hamilton)
  8. "Mind Reader" – 3:07 (Johns, Hamilton)
  9. "Low" – 3:48
  10. "Insomnia" – 3:06
  11. "All Across the World" – 4:01

Bonus tracks

  1. "English Garden" (iTunes Bonus) – 4:23
  2. "Straight Lines (The Presets Remix)" - 3:53 - released on iTunes special edition.

Bonus DVD

  1. The making of Young Modern documentary.[7]
  2. "Straight Lines" video

Charts

Chart (2006–2007) Providers Peak
position
Billboard 200 Billboard 70[24]
Billboard Top Independent Albums Billboard 6[24]
Australian Album Chart ARIA 1[25]
New Zealand Album Chart RIANZ 8[26]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Young Modern Review". Jeremy Bustin. Justpressplay. http://www.justpressplay.net/music-reviews/38-reviews/1186-silverchair.html. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Young Modern Review". Tyler Fisher. SputnikMusic. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?reviewid=11579. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 
  3. ↑ "Young Modern - Silverchair - Product Description". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Young-Modern-Silverchair/dp/B000NQR8AQ. Retrieved 2007-12-08. 
  4. ↑ "Biography - Silverchair". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/bio/index.jsp?pid=121521. Retrieved 2007-12-08. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Young Modern > Review". Clayton Bolger. Allmusic. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0xfexzl5ldke~T1. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  6. ↑ "Silverchair - Young Modern". Open Your Eyes. Blogspot. 12 April 2007. http://openyoureyestomusic.blogspot.com/2007/04/silverchair-young-modern.html. Retrieved 2007-12-08. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "Young Modern (CD & DVD Version)". JB Hi Fi. http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/music/id/1008341. Retrieved 2007-12-07. 
  8. ↑ "Siverchair Straight Lines". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Straight-Lines-Silverchair/dp/B000NIVN82. Retrieved 2007-12-07. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Silverchair - Straight Lines". Australian-charts.com. http://www.australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?key=297232&cat=s. Retrieved 2007-12-08. 
  10. ↑ "Silverchair - Straight Lines". charts.org.nz. http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Silverchair&titel=Straight+Lines&cat=s. Retrieved 2007-12-08. 
  11. ↑ "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2007 Singles". ARIA. http://www.aria.com.au/pages/httpwww.aria.com.aupagesARIACharts-Accreditations-2007Singles.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-08. 
  12. ↑ "2007 Winners and Nominees". ARIA. http://www.ariaawards.com.au/winners-nominees-2007.php. Retrieved 2007-12-08. 
  13. ↑ Silverchair head back to the U.S.. Musichead. Retrieved on 17 July 2007.
  14. ↑ Michele Yamazaki. "Silverchair - Reflections of a Sound". Inspirations. Toolfarm. http://toolfarm.com/2007/08/silverchair-reflections-of-sound.html. Retrieved 2007-12-08. 
  15. ↑ "If you Keep Losing Sleep". CDUniverse. http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/7522924/a/If+You+Keep+Losing+Sleep.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-07. 
  16. ↑ "Silverchair If You Keep Losing Sleep". The Inspiration Room Daily. http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2007/silverchair-if-you-keep-losing-sleep. Retrieved 2007-12-08. 
  17. ↑ "Molly Meldrum review of "If You Keep Losing Sleep" video". The Guild. http://theguildfilm.com/movies/damon-and-stephen/silverchair/MollyReviewSunrise290807.mov. Retrieved 2007-12-08. 
  18. ↑ "Missy & Silverchair top the charts for 2007!". Access All Areas.net. 11 January 2008. http://www.accessallareas.net.au/data/EEAAAuukuZJfLmuJlo.php. Retrieved 2008-03-14. 
  19. ↑ "Young Modern". Xdafied. http://www.xdafied.com.au/music/reviews/11.html. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  20. ↑ David Fricke. "Young Modern". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/15567484/review/15825602/young_modern. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  21. ↑ Simon Vozick-Levinson. "Young Modern". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20046855,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  22. ↑ Nick Pearson. "Silverchair - Young Modern". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/33751/silverchair-young-modern/. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  23. ↑ "Silverchair Young Modern". CD Universe. http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/7446253/a/Young+Modern.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-13. 
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Artist Chart History - Silverchair". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Albums&model.vnuArtistId=121521&model.vnuAlbumId=1084357. Retrieved 2007-12-08. 
  25. ↑ "Silverchair - Young Modern". australian-charts.com. http://www.australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?key=54950&cat=a. Retrieved 2007-12-08. 
  26. ↑ "Silverchair - Young Modern". charts.org.nz. http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?key=54950&cat=aa. Retrieved 2007-12-08. 
Preceded by
Grand National by The John Butler Trio		 Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
9 April 2007 – 30 April 2007		 Succeeded by
On a Clear Night by Missy Higgins
Preceded by
Tea and Sympathy by Bernard Fanning		 ARIA Album of the Year
2007		 Succeeded by
Apocalypso by The Presets
Silverchair
Daniel Johns · Chris Joannou · Ben Gillies
Studio albums
Frogstomp · Freak Show · Neon Ballroom · Diorama · Young Modern
Compilations
The Best of Volume 1 · Rarities 1994 - 1999
Live recordings
Live from Faraway Stables
Box sets
The Freak Box · The Diorama Box
Singles
"Tomorrow" · "Pure Massacre" · "Israel's Son" · "Shade" · "Findaway" · "Freak" · "Abuse Me" · "Cemetery" · "The Door" · "Anthem for the Year 2000" · "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" · "Miss You Love" · "Paint Pastel Princess" · "The Greatest View" · "Without You" · "Luv Your Life" · "After All These Years" · "Across the Night" · "Straight Lines" · "Reflections of a Sound" · "If You Keep Losing Sleep" · "Mind Reader"
Video releases
Out Takes and Miss Takes · Emotion Pictures · The Best of Volume 1 (DVD) · Across the Night - The Creation of Diorama · Across the Great Divide Tour (DVD)
Side projects
The Dissociatives · Tambalane · The Mess Hall
Related articles
Discography · List of awards · Across the Great Divide tour · The Presets
Other
Anno Domini 2000