A City by the Light Divided

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]

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]

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]

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

Bonus tracks

Personnel per booklet.[11]

Citations

Sources