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.[2] 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.
| An Ocean Between Us | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 21, 2007 | |||
| Recorded | March 2007 | |||
| Studio | Lambesis Studio, San Marcos, California | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 43:15 | |||
| Label | Metal Blade | |||
| Producer | Adam Dutkiewicz, As I Lay Dying | |||
| As I Lay Dying chronology | ||||
| ||||
Musical style
editAn 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."[3]
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."[4]
Reception
editReviewers 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."[5]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| About |    [6] |
| AllMusic | [7] |
| Blabbermouth |   [8] |
| Cross Rhythms | [9] |
| Exclaim! | Mildly positive[10] |
| HM Magazine | "best metal album this year" |
| PopMatters | [11] |
| Metal Underground | [12] |
| Imperiumi |  [13] |
The record was released on August 21, 2007, to generally positive acclaim, peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard 200.
Track listing
editAll lyrics are written by Tim Lambesis; all music is composed by As I Lay Dying
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Separation" (instrumental) | 1:15 |
| 2. | "Nothing Left" | 3:43 |
| 3. | "An Ocean Between Us" | 4:13 |
| 4. | "Within Destruction" | 3:54 |
| 5. | "Forsaken" | 5:18 |
| 6. | "Comfort Betrays" | 2:50 |
| 7. | "I Never Wanted" | 4:44 |
| 8. | "Bury Us All" | 2:23 |
| 9. | "The Sound of Truth" | 4:20 |
| 10. | "Departed" (instrumental) | 1:40 |
| 11. | "Wrath Upon Ourselves" | 4:01 |
| 12. | "This Is Who We Are" | 4:54 |
| Total length: | 43:15 | |
Personnel
editProduction and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes.
As I Lay Dying [14]
- Tim Lambesis – unclean vocals
- Nick Hipa – guitars, backing vocals on "Bury Us All"
- Phil Sgrosso – guitars, backing vocals, piano, synthesizer
- Jordan Mancino – drums
Additional musicians
- Josh Gilbert – bass, clean vocals on "An Ocean Between Us", "Forsaken", "I Never Wanted", "The Sound of Truth", "Wrath Upon Ourselves"
- Chad Ackerman – backing vocals on "An Ocean Between Us", "Bury Us All"
- Tommy Garcia – backing vocals on "Forsaken"
- Duane Reed – backing vocals on "Forsaken"
Additional personnel
- Adam Dutkiewicz – production
- Daniel Castleman – assisting production, mixing on "Departed"
- Colin Richardson – mixing all tracks except "Departed"
- Matt Hyde – mix engineering
- Andy Sneap – guitar re-amping
- Ted Jensen – mastering
- Jacob Bannon – artwork, layout
Charts
edit
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References
edit- ^ "As I Lay Dying – An Ocean Between Us (2007)".
- ^ "AS I LAY DYING, SIXX A.M., ADEMA First-Week Sales Revealed". Blabbermouth. August 29, 2007.
- ^ Nick Hipa (May 5, 2007). "AS I LAY DYING Guitarist Discusses Bassist's Departure". Blabbermouth. Archived from the original on May 8, 2007.
- ^ "As I Lay Dying interview", Sputnikmusic. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
- ^ "As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us : About.com 3.5 Star Rating". Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
- ^ "Reviews". Heavymetal.about.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
- ^ An Ocean Between Us at AllMusic
- ^ "AS I LAY DYING An Ocean Between Us (Metal Blade)". Blabbermouth.net. May 23, 2012. Archived from the original on May 23, 2012. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
- ^ Greg Sammons. "As I Lay Dying: An Ocean Between Us". Cross Rhythms. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
- ^ Dave Synyard (August 13, 2007). "As I Lay Dying An Ocean Between Us". Exclaim!. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
- ^ "Music Reviews, Features, Essays, News, Columns, Blogs, MP3s and Videos | PopMatters". PopMatters. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2007.
- ^ "As I Lay Dying - 'An Ocean Between Us' CD Review". Metalunderground.com. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
- ^ Tuomas Valtanen (September 27, 2007). "Levyarviot: As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us". Imperiumi.net. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
- ^ Joe Bosso (September 19, 2012). "Interview: As I Lay Dying's Nick Hipa talks new album, Awakened". Musicradar.com. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – As I Lay Dying – An Ocean Between Us" (in German). Hung Medien.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – As I Lay Dying – An Ocean Between Us" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
- ^ "アズ・アイ・レイ・ダイイングのCDアルバムランキング、アズ・アイ・レイ・ダイイングのプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE". Oricon.co.jp.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – As I Lay Dying – An Ocean Between Us". Hung Medien.
- ^ Chart Log UK: "A - Azzido Da Bass". UK Albums Chart. Zobbel.de.
- ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
- ^ "As I Lay Dying Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
- ^ "As I Lay Dying Chart History (Digital Albums)".[dead link] Billboard.
- ^ "As I Lay Dying Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard.
- ^ "As I Lay Dying Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard.
- ^ "As I Lay Dying Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
- ^ "As I Lay Dying Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.
- ^ "Billboard 2007 Year End Independent Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media.