A City by the Light Divided
Studio album by
Thursday
ReleasedMay 2, 2006
RecordedOctober 2005 – February 2006
StudioTarbox Road Studios, Cassadaga, New York
GenrePost-hardcore
Length45:56
LabelIsland
ProducerDave Fridmann
Thursday chronology
War All the Time
(2003) 		A City by the Light Divided
(2006) 		Kill the House Lights
(2007)
Singles from A City by the Light Divided
  1. "Counting 5-4-3-2-1"
    Released: April 18, 2006
  2. "At This Velocity"
    Released: 2007

A City by the Light Divided is the fourth studio album by Thursday, released by Island Records on May 2, 2006.

Background

Following a number of issues regarding promotion and lack of communication with independent label Victory Records,[1] Thursday announced they had signed to major label Island Records in May 2002.[2] With the signing being made official in September,[3] the group began working on material for their third album in November.[4] Starting in January 2003,[5] recording sessions lasted six months.[6] War All the Time was released in September.[7] Following its release, keyboardist Andrew Everding, who had performed on the album, became a full-time member of the band. The group subsequently embarked on an exhaustive touring schedule[8] with performances in the UK, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.[9] As a result of this touring, personal problems between members began to occur,[8] but by July they were aiming to record in the next few months.[10]

Production

In September, early demos leaked,[10] and later that month the group started pre-production,[10] done with Tim Gilles.[11] Recording took place at Tarbox Road Studios, in Cassadaga, New York with producer Dave Fridmann[11] Amanda Tannen of Stellastarr and Mary Fridmann of Bass Piggy provided additional vocals on "We Will Overcome".[11] In mid-February, recording was finished and the album was in the process of being mixed[10] by Fridmann. Tom Coyne mastered the album at Sterling sound, in New York City.[11]

Release

On February 5, 2006, A City by the Light Divided was announced for release in May.[12] In mid-February, the group were working on ideas for a music video for "Counting 5-4-3-2-1" with production companies Refused TV and Artificial Army.[10] The song was made available for streaming on February 28.[13] From mid March to the beginning of April, the band went on the first leg of the Shirts for a Cure tour, with support from Minus the Bear, The Number Twelve Looks Like You, and We're All Broken.[14] On March 29, "At This Velocity" was made available for streaming via Alternative Press.[15] For most of April, the band went on the 2006 edition of the Taste of Chaos tour.[16] However, on April 13, Rickly became ill, resulting in the band dropping off the tour.[17] On April 18, A City by the Light Divided was made available for streaming via the band's Myspace profile,[18] and "Counting 5-4-3-2-1" was released to radio.[19]

From late April to late May, the band went on the second leg of the Shirts for a Cure tour, with support from Minus the Bear, mewithoutYou and We're All Broken.[14] A City by the Light Divided was released on May 2 through Island Records.[14] The UK version of the album, which was released through Hassle Records, included the bonus track "Even the Sand Is Made of Seashells".[20] In May and June, the group went on a UK tour.[10] In the summer, the band went on the 2006 edition of Warped Tour.[13] In October and November, the group went on the 2006 international edition of the Taste of Chaos tour, visiting New Zealand, Australia, and the UK.[21] In between dates on this tour, the band went on a co-headlining tour with Rise Against.[22] In January and February 2007, the band went on a tour of the U.S. with support from Fear Before the March of Flames, Murder by Death and Heavy Heavy Low Low.[23]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic75/100 [24]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [25]
Alternative Press [26]
The A.V. ClubB+ [27]
Entertainment WeeklyA− [28]
NME7/10 [24]
Now [24]
PopMatters [29]
Robert ChristgauC+ [30]
Rolling Stone [31]
Stylus MagazineA− [32]

Critical response

The album so far has a score of 75 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews".[24] AbsolutePunk gave it a score of 90% and said that " just like the Buffalo Bills, it’s not about how you start the game, but about how strong you can comeback and finish, and A City By The Light Divided exemplifies this very well."[33] Blender gave it a score of four stars out of five and called it "A widescreen goth-punk stunner."[24] Billboard gave it a positive review and called it "A quality album."[24] Some reviews are average or mixed: Uncut gave it three stars out of five and said, "A sprinkle of Flaming Lips fairy-dust may be just what the genre needs to slip its genre straitjacket."[24] Melodic.net also gave it a score of three stars out of five and said it was "not a superb album but it's a helluva lot better than War All the Time."[34]

Commercial performance

It reached #20 on the Billboard 200.[35] A month after its release, the album had sold over 81,000 copies.[36] By July, it had sold 90,000 copies.[37] By April 2007, it had sold 132,000 copies.[38]

Track listing

All music by Thursday, all lyrics by Geoff Rickly.[11]

No.TitleLength
1."The Other Side of the Crash/Over and Out (Of Control)"4:41
2."Counting 5-4-3-2-1"3:19
3."Sugar in the Sacrament"5:12
4."At This Velocity"2:58
5."We Will Overcome"3:39
6."Arc-Lamps, Signal Flares, a Shower of White (The Light)"2:32
7."Running from the Rain"4:00
8."Telegraph Avenue Kiss"3:35
9."The Lovesong Writer"5:18
10."Into the Blinding Light"3:48
11."Autumn Leaves Revisited"6:56
Total length:45:56
Bonus tracks
Japanese, UK, iTunes bonus track
No.TitleLength
12."Even the Sand Is Made of Seashells"4:10
Japanese bonus track
No.TitleLength
13."Running from the Rain" (Dave Fridmann remix)4:05

Personnel

Personnel per booklet.[11]

Charts

Chart performance for A City by the Light Divided
Chart (2006) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[39] 63
UK Albums (OCC) 112
US Billboard 200 20

References

Citations

  1. ^ Heisel, Scott (May 22, 2002). "Thursday exposes Victory / officially announces Island signing!". Punknews.org. Aubin Paul. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  2. ^ "Thursday to Island/Def Jam". Kludge. May 29, 2002. Archived from the original on March 5, 2008. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  3. ^ "Thursday on Island Def Jam". Kludge. September 9, 2002. Archived from the original on March 5, 2008. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  4. ^ "News". Thursday. 2002. Archived from the original on March 7, 2005. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  5. ^ "Thursday in the Studio". Kludge. January 29, 2003. Archived from the original on March 5, 2008. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  6. ^ "Thursday's 'War' Rages On Island". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. October 1, 2003. Archived from the original on October 31, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  7. ^ Loftus, Johnny. "War All the Time - Thursday | Release Info". AllMusic. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  8. ^ a b Loftus, Johnny. "Thursday | Biography & History". AllMusic. All Media Network, LLC. Archived from the original on June 24, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  9. ^
  10. ^ a b c d e f "News". Thursday. 2006. Archived from the original on 2006-04-28. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d e f A City by the Light Divided (Booklet). Thursday. Hassle Records. 2006. HOFF014CD.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. ^ Roth, Kaj (February 5, 2006). "New Thursday Album Out In May". Melodic. Archived from the original on January 31, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  13. ^ a b "Thursday post first single off new album". Alternative Press. February 28, 2006. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  14. ^ a b c "Thursday set album title, release date; tour w/Minus The Bear". Alternative Press. February 6, 2006. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  15. ^ "AP Exclusive: Thursday debut new song on AltPress.com!". Alternative Press. March 29, 2006. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  16. ^ "Taste Of Chaos confirms date-by-date band lineups". Alternative Press. January 13, 2006. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  17. ^ "Geoff Rickly falls ill; Thursday drop off Taste Of Chaos". Alternative Press. April 13, 2006. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  18. ^ "Thursday streaming new album; Geoff Rickly recovering". Alternative Press. April 18, 2006. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  19. ^ "FMQB Airplay Archive: Modern Rock". Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Incorporated. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  20. ^ A City by the Light Divided (Sleeve). Thursday. Hassle Records. 2006. HOFF014CD.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  21. ^ "Taking Back Sunday, Thursday, Underoath, Saosin on TOC Int'l". Alternative Press. June 26, 2006. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  22. ^ "More Rise Against/Thursday co-headlining dates announced". Alternative Press. July 27, 2006. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  23. ^ "Thursday touring with Fear Before, Murder By Death in '07". Alternative Press. December 4, 2006. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g Critic reviews at Metacritic
  25. ^ Allmusic review
  26. ^ Alternative Press review
  27. ^ Ryan, Kyle (May 17, 2006). "Review: Thursday / Taking Back Sunday · Music Review". The A.V. Club. The Onion, Inc. Archived from the original on August 29, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  28. ^ "Entertainment Weekly review". Archived from the original on 2009-04-27. Retrieved 2013-05-06.
  29. ^ PopMatters review
  30. ^ Robert Christgau Consumer Guide
  31. ^ "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2009-02-14. Retrieved 2013-05-06.((cite magazine)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  32. ^ Stylus Magazine review Archived October 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  33. ^ AbsolutePunk review
  34. ^ Melodic.net review Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  35. ^ A City by the Light Divided - Thursday : Awards : Allmusic
  36. ^ Kohli, Rohan (June 8, 2006). "Soundscan Results: Week Ending June 4th, 2006". absolutepunk.net. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
  37. ^ Billboard 2006, p. 28
  38. ^ Wippsson, Johan (April 3, 2007). "Thursday Parts Ways With Island". Melodic. Archived from the original on January 30, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  39. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 280.

Sources

Categories