They're Only Chasing Safety

They're Only Chasing Safety
Studio album by Underoath
Released June 15, 2004
Recorded Wisner Productions
Genre Post-hardcore, screamo, melodic hardcore
Length 35:50
Label Solid State
Producer James Paul Wisner
Underoath chronology
The Changing of Times
(2002)
They're Only Chasing Safety
(2004)
Define the Great Line
(2006)
Special Edition cover
Cover for the Special Edition of They're Only Chasing Safety.
Singles from They're Only Chasing Safety
  1. "Reinventing Your Exit"
    Released: 2004
  2. "It's Dangerous Business Walking out Your Front Door"
    Released: 2004
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Cross Rhythms [2]
Jesus Freak Hideout Staff Review link
Music Emissions [3]
This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information.

They're Only Chasing Safety is the fourth album by American metalcore band Underoath. The album was released on June 15, 2004 through Solid State Records. Prior to recording it was ready to be recorded with Underoath founder and frontman Dallas Taylor, the album's original title was intended to be "Dear Misery" and would feature songs such as "Coryn's Defeat", and "Look Past the Bright Lights" which is now "Reinventing Your Exit", but instead was replaced with the band's current lead vocalist Spencer Chamberlain.

Contents

Overview

As of 2005, They're Only Chasing Safety sold more than 218,000 copies, with the re-release selling an additional 279,000 copies, making a combined sales of more than 500,000 copies in the US alone.[4] All original version cover photography and album artwork was created by Kris McCaddon, formerly of Embodyment and Demon Hunter, and currently of The Famine. On October 4, 2005, the album was re-released through Tooth and Nail, which included four bonus tracks, and a bonus DVD.

On December 21, 2011, it was announced that the album had been certified Gold for shipments of 500,000 copies.

Background

All of the bonus tracks that are featured on the special edition of the album except for "I've Got 10 Friends and a Crowbar That Says You Ain't Gonna Do Jack" were taken from the band's session with Matt Goldman and are early pre-production demos of songs which would later grow to become the regular album tracks. "The 80's Song" is an early version of "It's Dangerous Business Walking out Your Front Door", "You're So Intricate" is an early version of "I'm Content with Losing," and "SmicTague" is an instrumental adaptation of "Some Will Seek Forgiveness, Others Escape." Prior to the release of They're Only Chasing Safety, a few of these early version tracks were used to promote the album; the song "You're So Intricate" had been featured on a Tower Records exclusive Tooth & Nail Records compilation and a demo version of "Young and Aspiring" had been posted on the Underoath website.

"I've Got 10 Friends and a Crowbar That Says You Ain't Gonna Do Jack" first appeared as the opening track on SmartPunk.com's Music On the Brain Vol. 1 compilation, which was released on July 20, 2004. The song would later appear on the 12" vinyl and Japanese versions of They're Only Chasing Safety.

The intro of "Young and Aspiring" was inspired from the intro of the Pantera song "Suicide Note Pt. I", that appears on their eighth album The Great Southern Trendkill.

The title of the song "Some Will Seek Forgiveness, Others Escape" is a reference to the 1999 film Magnolia, where it can been seen in the synopsis on the DVD case.

Style

Although Underoath has been described as metalcore,[5][6] a review by Alex Henderson of Allmusic classifies They're Only Chasing Safety as an alternative rock style which could be described as screamo, post-hardcore, or melodic hardcore.[1] According to Henderson, "this screamo/post-hardcore/melodic hardcore approach is quite different from full-fledged metalcore; while metalcore units like Hatebreed, Brick Bath, and Finland's notoriously ferocious Rotten Sound go right for the jugular, Underoath and similar bands prefer to mix honey with vinegar."[1] In another review, Andrew Segal of Cross Rhythms describes the album as nu-metal, and said that, while on the heavier side of the rock scale, the album is well produced and "shows more signs of intelligence than the [nu-metal] genre is often credited with."[2]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Aaron Gillespie and Spencer Chamberlain, except where noted, all music composed by Underoath.

No. Title Music Length
1. "Young and Aspiring"   Gillespie, Chamberlain, Underoath 3:04
2. "A Boy Brushed Red Living in Black and White"   Gillespie, Chamberlain, McTague, Underoath 4:28
3. "The Impact of Reason"   Gillespie, Chamberlain, Underoath 3:23
4. "Reinventing Your Exit"   Gillespie, Chamberlain, Underoath 4:22
5. "The Blue Note" (Instrumental) Gillespie, Chamberlain, Underoath 0:51
6. "It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door"   Gillespie, Chamberlain, Underoath 3:58
7. "Down, Set, Go"   Gillespie, Chamberlain, Underoath 3:44
8. "I Don't Feel Very Receptive Today"   Gillespie, Chamberlain, Underoath 3:42
9. "I'm Content with Losing"   Gillespie, Chamberlain, Underoath 3:55
10. "Some Will Seek Forgiveness, Others Escape" (featuring Aaron Marsh of Copeland) Gillespie, Chamberlain, Marsh, Underoath 4:21
Total length:
35:50

Personnel

Underoath
Additional musicians
Production
  • Produced and engineered by James Paul Wisner at Wisner Productions
  • Mixed by J.R. McNeely at Compound Studios
  • Mastered by Troy Glessner at Spectre Studios
  • Original version cover photography and album artwork by Kris McCaddon
  • Re-release album artwork by Jacob Bannon
  • Tracks 11-14 on the Special Edition produced, mixed, and engineered by Matt Goldman at Glow in the Dark Studios

Awards

In 2005, the album was nominated for a Dove Award for Rock Album of the Year at the 36th GMA Dove Awards, [7]and till 2011, the album was finally certified gold in the US by RIAA.[8]

References

External links