Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces

Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces
Studio album by Seether
Released 23 October 2007
Recorded 2007
Genre Post-grunge, alternative metal
Length 50:46
58:05 (Reissue)
Label Wind-up
Producer Howard Benson
Seether chronology

Karma and Effect
(2005)		 Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces
(2007)		 Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray
(2011)
Singles from Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces
  1. "Fake It"
    Released: 28 August 2007
  2. "Rise Above This"
    Released: 19 February 2008
  3. "Breakdown"
    Released: 9 August 2008
  4. "Careless Whisper"
    Released: February, 2009
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [1]
Billboard (favorable)[2]
Blogcritics [3]
PopMatters [4]
Q [5]
Rolling Stone [6]
Sputnikmusic 2.5/5[7]

Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces is the fourth studio album by South African Post-grunge/Alternative metal band Seether. The album was released in South Africa and Switzerland on 19 October 2007, and released worldwide on 23 October 2007.

The cover artwork was designed by David Ho, the same artist who designed the Vicious Delicious cover for Infected Mushroom. The covers apparently display the same character: Candice the Ghost.[8]

Three singles, "Fake It", "Rise Above This" and "Breakdown" have been released from the album with all three being top 10 singles, the former two reaching the top position on several Billboard charts, despite mixed reviews, scoring a 59% on Metacritic.[5] The album was reissued in 2009, featuring a fourth single, a cover of George Michael's "Careless Whisper", as the final single from the album. It is the first Seether album to reach gold status in their home country, South Africa.

Track listing

Standard edition
No. Title Length
1. "Like Suicide"   4:14
2. "Fake It"   3:13
3. "Breakdown"   3:29
4. "FMLYHM"   3:28
5. "Fallen"   4:18
6. "Rise Above This"   3:23
7. "No Jesus Christ"   7:05
8. "Six Gun Quota"   3:23
9. "Walk Away from the Sun"   4:13
10. "Eyes of the Devil"   5:00
11. "Don't Believe"   4:34
12. "Waste"   4:26
13. "Careless Whisper" (bonus track) 5:01
14. "Careless Whisper (Strings Version)" (bonus track) 4:26
Total length:
 60:13

Credits

Seether
Additional musicians
Technical credits

Album information

The band updated both their official web page and Myspace on 23 August 2007, with the new single, "Fake It", being uploaded to both. The band had this to say on their official webpage:

“ Here we are, about to embark on the release of our favorite Seether record to date and can guarantee that you will all feel the same. Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces is a hearty serving of the usual Seether sting and grit with an added twist of lime. We have been working hard in the studio for months recording the album and there are only a few loose ends to cinch up before all is said and done. We can't wait to hit the road to share the new shit with everyone. In the meantime the remolded site should make it easier for you guys to share your undying love for us, keep up with everyone, and get all the news that will pass through here in coming weeks. The album is dedicated to Eugene "Junior" Welgemoed. Junior has always offered the band more support and love than we've ever given ourselves. He has lit an uncontainable fire under us, and without him we will never be the same again. Cheers to taking the world by storm...[9] ”

In the lower right corner where the album title appears, one can faintly see a Chinese symbol overwritten by the letters of the title.[10] The symbol shown is 美, the Chinese character for the word "beauty", or "America".[11]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200 chart in the US with 56,900 copies moved in its first week,[12] and ended up being certified Gold for shipping 500,000 copies.[13] Seether claimed their first South African Music Award in the category "Best Rock: English" for Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces. The album is also now the band's best seller, outselling Disclaimer 2 (which featured the band's break out hits "Fine Again" and "Broken") and Karma and Effect (which featured the band's hits "Remedy" and "Truth").

Chart (2007) Peak
position
Canadian Albums Chart[14] 10
French Albums Chart[15] 154
New Zealand Albums Chart[16] 9
Swiss Albums Chart[17] 39
UK Rock Albums 38
US Billboard 200[14] 9
US Alternative Albums Chart[14] 4
US Catalog Albums Chart[14] 26
US Digital Albums Chart[14] 9
US Hard Rock Albums Chart[14] 4
US Rock Albums Chart[14] 5
US Tastmakers Albums Chart[14] 7

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[18] Gold 50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[19] Gold 7,500^
United States (RIAA)[13] Gold 500,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces - Seether". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  2. ↑ Graff, Gary (2007). "Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces". Billboard. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  3. ↑ "Music Review Review: Seether - Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces". Blogcritics.
  4. ↑ Blackie, Andrew (1 November 2007). "Seether: Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces". PopMatters. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Critic Reviews for Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces". Metacritic.
  6. ↑ Hiatt, Brian (1 November 2007). "Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces : Seether : review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  7. ↑ Jom (23 October 2007). "Seether - Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces Review". Sputnikmusic. Archived from the original on 29 October 2007. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  8. ↑ David Ho personal gallery
  9. ↑ "Seether". Myspace.
  10. ↑ The Chinese character can be seen clearly here.
  11. ↑ "America", in Chinese in full, is 美國, literally, "beautiful country".
  12. ↑ Harris, Chris (31 October 2007). "Carrie Underwood Has An Easy Ride To First Billboard #1". MTV.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "American album certifications – Seether – Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 14.7 "Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces - Seether". Billboard.
  15. ↑ "Seether - Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces". lescharts.com.
  16. ↑ "Seether - Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces". charts.org.nz.
  17. ↑ "Seether - Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces". hitparade.ch.
  18. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Seether – Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces". Music Canada.
  19. ↑ "New Zealand album certifications – Seether – Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand.