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Amends (album)

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Amends
Studio album by
Grey Daze
ReleasedJune 26, 2020
Recorded1994–1997 (Vocals) 2017–2019 (instrumental)
Studio
  • Salt Mine Studios
  • NRG Recording Studios
Genre
Length37:16
LabelLoma Vista
Producer
Grey Daze chronology
...No Sun Today
(1997) 		Amends
(2020) 		The Phoenix
(2022)
Singles from Amends
  1. "What's in the Eye"
    Released: January 16, 2020
  2. "Sickness"
    Released: February 6, 2020
  3. "Sometimes"
    Released: April 3, 2020
  4. "Soul Song"
    Released: May 15, 2020
  5. "B12"
    Released: June 12, 2020

Amends is the third studio album by American rock band Grey Daze composed of Chester Bennington's vocals from the 1990s over newly recorded instrumentals. "What's in the Eye" was released as the first single from the project on January 17, 2020, and was co-produced by Chris Traynor, Kyle Hoffman and Jay Baumgardner. The second single, "Sickness", featuring Page Hamilton and produced by Pete Nappi, was released on February 6.[1] The release of the album was postponed from April 10 to June 26 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.[2][3]

Background

[edit]

Tentatively titled "New Sun Tomorrow",[4] the project was started in February 2017.[5] The album was announced in June by bassist Mace Bayers as a remaster of "...No Sun Today" and they would be working on with Sylvia Massy.[6] The band had previously tried to release a remastered version of the album through Artemis Records in 2003 but conflicts with lawyers within Linkin Park's label Warner Bros. Records prohibited the release.[7][8]

The original versions of "Wake Me" and "...No Sun Today" were also available on iTunes up to 2005 before they were removed.[9][10] Linkin Park's discography arrived to the digital store in 2006.[11] The news about the album came with the announcement of a Grey Daze reunion show at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe, AZ.[6] According to drummer Sean Dowdell, it was Bennington's idea to put the band together for a Club Tattoo 20th anniversary party[12] and they had started getting offers to play at festivals all over the world.[10]

Jason Barnes, who played guitar on "Wake Me", was announced as part of the band's line-up for the show and was seen recording in the studio.[13][14] He was responsible for finding the original masters of the band's debut album. They had just started to strip the masters down and re-track the guitars[12] when the project was put on hold following Bennington's sudden death on July 20.[15] Members of Grey Daze and Dead by Sunrise/Julien-K teamed up for a special acoustic performance on September 2 at the Saxe Theater in Las Vegas [16] in honor of Bennington. "The Down Syndrome" and two Dead by Sunrise songs were performed with Ryan Shuck on vocals.[17][18]

Writing and recording

[edit]

Grey Daze was given permission by Bennington's widow, Talinda, to continue working on the project granted that they didn't change Chester's voice.[19] In late December, Massy confirmed the sessions would be resumed. According to her, the music would be modernized for the current market using master tapes recorded in the late nineties.[20] However, the band did not move forward with her[12] and Jason Barnes was absent from the project after 2017. The band reached out to former Warner Bros. Records executive Tom Whalley to release the album through his Loma Vista Recordings music label.[21]

Dowdell said, "We reverse engineered a lot of the music. We took all the music away, we kept the vocal track and the lyrics that was there – that was all Chester. We kept the integrity and the intention of all of the vocals, intact from its original inception. We actually rewrote all of the music to every single song from the ground up."[22] They worked on Bennington's vocals for two months before working on the music. Writing the instrumentals took about a year and half and recording took almost another year and a half.[23] Besides Bennington's original vocals from "Wake Me" and "...No Sun Today" , previously unreleased alternate takes were also used on the songs.[24][25]

They worked at Salt Mine Studios and NRG Recording Studios with several musician friends of Bennington or artists that he loved which included Ryan Shuck (Julien-K), Marcos Curiel (P.O.D.), Jaime Bennington (Chester's son), Chris Traynor (Bush), Brian "Head" Welch and James "Munky" Shaffer (Korn),[26] LP (Laura Pergolizzi), Carston Dowdell and Brennen Brochard (Sean's sons), Heidi Gadd,[27] Carah Faye (Shiny Toy Guns), Jasen Rauch (Breaking Benjamin, Love and Death, ex-Red)[12] and Pete Nappi (Ocean Park Standoff).[28] They also had Esjay Jones and Lucas D'Angelo (Betraying the Martyrs) in the production team.[29]

On June 9, 2019, Grey Daze confirmed they had wrapped up the project[30] and by August they had mixed the album.[31] Draven Bennington was also asked to sing on the album but declined because it was difficult for him to listen to his father's voice at the time.[32]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic79/100[33]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[34]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Grey Daze

Original release
No.TitleLength
1."Sickness"2:52
2."Sometimes"3:27
3."What's in the Eye"3:26
4."The Syndrome"3:50
5."In Time"3:55
6."Just Like Heroin"3:26
7."B12"3:34
8."Soul Song"4:06
9."Morei Sky"3:53
10."She Shines"3:35
11."Shouting Out"3:20
Total length:37:16
Japan bonus tracks[35]
No.TitleLength
12."What's in the Eye" (acoustic)3:27
13."Sometimes" (acoustic)3:21
Total length:46:12
Japan deluxe edition bonus DVD[36]
No.TitleLength
1."Behind the scenes #1"0:49
2."Behind the scenes #2"1:28
3."Grey Daze Documentary"8:09
4."Track by Track"10:21
5."What's in the Eye" (music video)3:25
6."Sickness" (music video)2:48
Total length:73:12

Note

[edit]
  • Tracks 9, 10, 11 appeared on "Wake Me"
  • Tracks 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 appeared on "...No Sun Today"
  • Tracks 2 and 3 appeared on both "Wake Me" and "...No Sun Today"[37]

Credits

[edit]

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Amends
Chart (2020) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[39] 30
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[40] 29
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[41] 163
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[42] 51
French Albums (SNEP)[43] 127
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[44] 9
Italian Albums (FIMI)[45] 94
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[46] 17
UK Albums (OCC)[47] 62
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[48] 1
US Billboard 200[49] 75
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[50] 5
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[51] 2
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[52] 9

References

[edit]
  1. ^ New Music From Grey Daze (Chester Bennington's First Band), January 15, 2020
  2. ^ therealgreydaze on Twitter: "Out of concern for those in need of time w loved ones due to Covid-19, we & our label @LomaVistaRC are postponing Amends release date April 10th to June 26th. We're committed to engaging w fans during this extended period & will be sharing music, videos, memorabilia + more! https://t.co/mkAilFYAW3" / Twitter, March 24, 2020
  3. ^ Grey Daze (Chester Bennington) Move Amends' Release To 6/26 – Rocked, March 24, 2020
  4. ^ Grey Daze on Twitter: "Working on possible album titles and artwork... and it's really good so far! #GreyDaze #ChesterBennington #SeanDowdell #MaceBeyers #NRGstudios https://t.co/2zZ78Y4W4l" | Twitter, October 19, 2018
  5. ^ Grey Daze on Instagram: "Talinda Bennington @talinda320 December 10th, 2019" | Instagram, December 11, 2019
  6. ^ a b Grey Daze Reunion Show Announcement – Newswire – Linkin Park Live, June 26, 2017
  7. ^ Linkin Park Association Chat with Former Grey Daze Drummer Sean Dowdell April 15, 2003 @ 8:00 PM, April 15, 2003
  8. ^ There's No Sun Today For The Grey Daze Re-Release | LP Association, August 12, 2003
  9. ^ Help With Grey Daze | LP Association Forums, August 20, 2005
  10. ^ a b Chester By His Friends Grey Daze, March 11, 2020
  11. ^ Linkin Park Catalog, Exclusive Bonus Tracks & Digital Booklets Now Available on the iTunes Music Store – Apple, August 29, 2006
  12. ^ a b c d Grey Daze's Sean Dowdell Remembers Chester Bennington | SPIN, February 12, 2020
  13. ^ Grey Daze on Twitter: "Guitarist Jason Barnes w/ producer Sylvia Massy – @xsylvianq in the studio, recording guitar tracks. 🎸🎸🎸 #GreyDaze #SylviaMassy #JasonBarnes https://t.co/ZzDzB7k9ew" | Twitter, July 02, 2017
  14. ^ Grey Daze no Twitter: "Recording session with Jason Barnes & Sylvia Massy. 🎸🎸🎸 #GreyDaze #NoSunToday #Sickness https://t.co/xEICg1dJju" | Twitter, July 07, 2017
  15. ^ Sylvia Massy – RIP Chester Bennington – with Sean Sean..., July 20, 2017
  16. ^ Saxe Theater in Las Vegas
  17. ^ Grey Daze & Julien-K Team-Up For Chester Tribute Show – Newswire – Linkin Park Live, August 11, 2017
  18. ^ GD + JK: 2017.09.02 – Las Vegas, Nevada (Chester Tribute) – Newswire – Linkin Park Live, September 2, 2017
  19. ^ Grow, Kory (2020-02-03). "How Chester Bennington's Pre-Linkin Park Band Grey Daze Is Getting a Second Life". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  20. ^ Sylvia Massy  » Chester Bennington/Grey Daze Project Underway, December 29, 2017
  21. ^ Grey Daze on Instagram: "Grey Daze December 13th, 2019 This letter is missing an important piece. We could not have done this without our Chester and ours close...", December 14, 2019
  22. ^ EXCLUSIVE: Grey Daze on the Making of 'Sickness' and Honoring Chester Bennington | KISW, February 06, 2020
  23. ^ Chester Bennington's Vocals Rise Again on the New Grey Daze Album Amends | Phoenix New Times, June 17, 2020
  24. ^ Grey Daze – "What's In The Eye" Release – Newswire – Linkin Park Live, January 15, 2020
  25. ^ Interview: Mace Beyers from Grey Daze – March 2020, 100% Rock Magazine, March 11, 2020
  26. ^ News Roundup: Grey Daze Update – Newswire – Linkin Park Live, February 19, 2019
  27. ^ Chester Bennington's debut band – Grey Daze – announces new album & releases new single "Sickness" – Rock Your Lyrics, February 07, 2020
  28. ^ @therealgreydaze (28 February 2020). "If you've wondered about how the song "Sickness" came together, check out this clip with Grey Daze band members & p…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  29. ^ "Projects". Esjayjones.com.
  30. ^ Grey Daze Wraps Up Album Project – Newswire – Linkin Park Live, June 9, 2019
  31. ^ Grey Daze Album Coming In April 2020 – Newswire – Linkin Park Live, November 18, 2019
  32. ^ Grey Daze on Instagram: "We received these letters of support from Chester's son @dravenbstudios and his mom @samanthabennington just a few short weeks ago. We are...", February 05, 2020
  33. ^ "Amends by Grey Daze Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  34. ^ Yeung, Neil Z. (26 June 2020). "CD Reviews – Amends Grey Daze". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  35. ^ "アメンズ[CD]" (in Japanese). Universal Music Japan. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  36. ^ "アメンズ [CD][+DVD]" (in Japanese). Universal Music Japan. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  37. ^ "Grey Daze Discography". Discogs. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  38. ^ "Grey Daze – Amends". Discogs. 20 June 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  39. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Grey Daze – Amends". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  40. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Grey Daze – Amends" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  41. ^ "Ultratop.be – Grey Daze – Amends" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  42. ^ "Ultratop.be – Grey Daze – Amends" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  43. ^ "Lescharts.com – Grey Daze – Amends". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  44. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Grey Daze – Amends" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  45. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Grey Daze – Amends". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  46. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Grey Daze – Amends". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  47. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  48. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  49. ^ "Billboard 200: July 11, 2020". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  50. ^ "Independent Albums: July 11, 2020". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  51. ^ "Hard Rock Albums: July 11, 2020". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  52. ^ "Rock Albums: July 11, 2020". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
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