Lead Sails Paper Anchor
| Lead Sails Paper Anchor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Atreyu | ||||
| Released | August 28, 2007 | |||
| Recorded | San Simeon | |||
| Genre | Alternative metal, post-hardcore | |||
| Length |
40:42 52:54 (re-release) | |||
| Label | Hollywood / Roadrunner | |||
| Producer | John Feldmann | |||
| Atreyu chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Alternative cover | ||||
 Lead Sails Paper Anchor 2.0 | ||||
| Singles from Lead Sails Paper Anchor | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| About.com |    [1] |
| Allmusic | [2] |
| Berontakzine.com | [3] |
| Blender | [4] |
| Sputnikmusic | [5] |
Lead Sails Paper Anchor is the fourth studio album by Atreyu. It is the band's first release with Hollywood Records, and the album had a significantly different sound to it than their previous albums, moving away from a metalcore-type sound, for the most part. The album was released on August 28, 2007. The first single was "Becoming the Bull."
A single for "Becoming the Bull" was released exclusively in Hot Topic on July 24 and it included a demo of the song "Can't Happen Here".
The album debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200.[6] "Doomsday" was released as the second single only in the UK. "Falling Down" was released as the third single and second in the US. "Slow Burn" was released as the album's third single. On May 14, 2009, a video for "Blow" was released.
On April 22, 2008, the album was re-released as Lead Sails Paper Anchor 2.0, which included updated artwork and a new song titled "The Squeeze" recorded exclusively for the re-release, plus the two bonus tracks "Epic" and "Clean Sheets". It was formatted in the CDVU+ format, featuring exclusive videos, live performances, behind the scenes tour clips, and a digital guitar lesson.
The song "Doomsday" is featured in the background of the current X-Games TV commercial.[7]
The Japanese version of the album includes the acoustic version of the song "Lead Sails (And a Paper Anchor)".
Promotion
Before the release of the album, Atreyu made available a jigsaw puzzle game for fans eager to hear a song from the new album. Each puzzle piece was a 10-second sound bite of the first single off the album, "Becoming the Bull". The object of the game was to arrange the clips in order, and create the song. As an additional incentive, the fan to put the song together the fastest would win a signed guitar, a phone call from the band, an advance copy of the CD and a free membership to Atreyu's fan club.[8] The game was posted on the band's official website, and was taken down shortly after the album was released.
In promotion for the next major single off the album, Atreyu released a game created by Jason Oda, based on their single, "Falling Down". The game allows you to play as all of the members of the band, with each of them having their own unique gameplay type and levels. In lead singer Alex Varkatzas' game, "Alex Slaughters Cute Stuff," users dodge rainbows and hearts while slaughtering teddy bears. Other games include: "Dan Becomes Guitar Hero" a game similar to Guitar Hero, "Travis Makes McTreyu Burgers" a remake of the 1982 arcade game BurgerTime, "Marc Busts Ghosts" a game similar to Ice Climber, and "Brandon Falls Down Into Hell" where the Brandon Saller character fights off creatures from hell while collecting ice cream cones.
In an interview on YouTube with Brandon Saller and Marc McKnight of Atreyu, when asked about the game they said,
[McKnight] "Jason Oda's, the guy that designed it that does the games like that, I've been a huge fan of his artwork and his games for years now. And then I got an email when he had already completed the first proof of the game. I was like, 'Oh my God, he made one for us?'" [Saller] "We liked the video game for 'Becoming the Bull,' but it was kind of like a quiz thing. It wasn't really a game, but this is a full-fledged video game. It's hilarious. We all have our own levels, it's hilarious. I highly recommend kids to play it if you play video games. Even if you don't, I don't even play video games and I sat there for like an hour playing it. It's hard."
Creator Jason Oda says,
"The Atreyu game is a mix between old school arcade game play and modern polished graphics. The inspiration for the game partially comes from the arcade game for the band Journey."
"Falling Down" was also featured in the music video game, Guitar Hero on Tour: Modern Hits.
Track listing
All lyrics written by Atreyu; all music composed by Atreyu.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Doomsday" | 3:20 |
| 2. | "Honor" | 3:09 |
| 3. | "Falling Down" | 3:00 |
| 4. | "Becoming the Bull" | 3:41 |
| 5. | "When Two Are One" | 4:41 |
| 6. | "Lose It" | 3:58 |
| 7. | "No One Cares" | 3:03 |
| 8. | "Can't Happen Here" | 4:02 |
| 9. | "Slow Burn" | 3:26 |
| 10. | "Blow" (Featuring Josh Todd) | 4:09 |
| 11. | "Lead Sails (And a Paper Anchor)" | 4:23 |
| 12. | "The Squeeze" (On Re-release) | 4:05 |
| 13. | "Epic (Faith No More cover)" (On Re-release) | 4:54 |
| 14. | "Clean Sheets (Descendents cover)" (On Re-release) | 3:13 |
| Total length: | 52:54 | |
Chart performance
Album
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Billboard 200 | 8 |
| Rock Albums | 1 |
| Digital Albums | 8 |
| Alternative Albums | 1 |
| Hard Rock Albums | 1 |
| Japanese Albums Chart[9] | 263 |
Singles
| Year | Title | Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks |
Hot Modern Rock Tracks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | "Becoming the Bull" | 5 | 11 |
| "Doomsday" | - | - | |
| 2008 | "Falling Down" | 5 | 3 |
| "Slow Burn" | 16 | 16 | |
Personnel
- Alex Varkatzas – lead vocals, unclean vocals, lyrics
- Dan Jacobs– lead and rhythm guitars
- Travis Miguel – rhythm and lead guitars
- Marc McKnight – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Brandon Saller – clean vocals, drums, percussion
Technical Personnel
- Produced and recorded by John Feldman
- Engineered by Kyle Moorman
- Mixed by Andy Wallace
References
- "Atreyu on allmusic". Retrieved 17 April 2008.
- ↑ About.com review
- ↑ Allmusic review
- ↑ Berontakzine.com review
- ↑ Blender review
- ↑ Sputnikmusic review
- ↑ Jonathan Cohen, "'High School Musical 2' Starts Third Week At No. 1", Billboard.com, September 5, 2007.
- ↑ "roadrunnerecord.com". Retrieved 17 April 2008.
- ↑ "ATREYU: New Album Details Revealed - June 20, 2007" Archived May 8, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved on August 9, 2008
- ↑ "アトレイユのCDアルバムランキング、アトレイユのプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved October 10, 2007.