An Ocean Between Us Explained

An Ocean Between Us
Type:studio
Artist:As I Lay Dying
Cover:AILD-AOBUcover.jpg
Recorded:March 2007
Studio:Lambesis Studio, San Marcos, California
Label:Metal Blade
Producer:Adam Dutkiewicz, As I Lay Dying
Prev Year:2006
Next Title:This Is Who We Are
Next Year:2009

An Ocean Between Us is the fourth studio album by American metalcore band As I Lay Dying, released on August 21, 2007, by Metal Blade Records. It debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, with sales close to 39,500.[1] The album includes the singles "Nothing Left", "The Sound of Truth", "Within Destruction", "I Never Wanted" and "An Ocean Between Us", with music videos produced for all five. "Nothing Left" appears on the radio soundtrack of the 2008 video game Saints Row 2.

Musical style

An Ocean Between Us is a metalcore album that incorporates elements of heavy metal, thrash metal, hardcore punk, and melodic death metal. Guitarist Nick Hipa said of the album's style, "collectively we've all pushed ourselves, and we're all doing things that we weren't even capable of doing on the last record. And on top of just experimenting and trying different things, I think we just wrote some pretty sick jams, so I'm happy with it."[2]

Vocalist Tim Lambesis said "[we] spent some time listening to our last album [2005's ''Shadows Are Security''] and, just from being on tour, we became a little bit jaded by how the genre — as a whole — has sort of copied itself over and over again. We decided we wanted to be more diverse, even down to the point where we sort of felt like we should really focus on writing songs in different categories, and then pick the best songs from those categories and use them for the record."[3]

Reception

Reviewers praised As I Lay Dying's progression in both musicianship and songwriting. Chad Bowar of About.com described the album as more accessible and diverse than its predecessor, saying "As I Lay Dying has always been a band with a lot of crossover appeal with both metal and hardcore fans. They are the type of group that has the fanbase to play both Ozzfest and Warped Tour."[4] The record was released on August 21, 2007, to generally positive acclaim, peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard 200.

Personnel

Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes.

As I Lay Dying [5]

Additional musicians

Additional personnel

Notes and References

  1. Web site: AS I LAY DYING, SIXX A.M., ADEMA First-Week Sales Revealed. Blabbermouth. August 29, 2007.
  2. Web site: AS I LAY DYING Guitarist Discusses Bassist's Departure. https://web.archive.org/web/20070508081318/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=71932. Blabbermouth. Nick Hipa . May 8, 2007. May 5, 2007.
  3. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/news.php?newsid=3480 "As I Lay Dying interview"
  4. Web site: As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us : About.com 3.5 Star Rating. https://web.archive.org/web/20130513091119/http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/fr/asilaydyingocea.htm . August 26, 2024. May 13, 2013 .
  5. Web site: Interview: As I Lay Dying's Nick Hipa talks new album, Awakened. Joe Bosso. September 19, 2012. Musicradar.com. August 21, 2024.