Consent to Treatment
Consent to Treatment is the second album by Blue October. Pre-production sessions took place in Nashville with producer Blue Miller, and the final album recording sessions took place at Bay 7 Studios in Valley Village and Media Vortex in Burbank, California with producer Nick Launay. The album was released in the United States on August 15, 2000, by Universal Records. It is the band's first major-label album and their only album to feature former member Brant Coulter on guitar as well as their first album featuring Matt Noveskey. The opening track is a spoken poem written by Justin Furstenfeld and recited by Blue Miller.[4] Ryan Smith sings the female backing vocals on "The Answer" and "Balance Beam."
| Consent to Treatment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 15, 2000 | |||
| Recorded | 1999/2000 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, post-grunge, funk metal[1] | |||
| Length | 56:34 | |||
| Label | Universal | |||
| Producer | Nick Launay | |||
| Blue October chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Consent to Treatment | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| Fort Worth Star-Telegram | [3] |
The cover art was inspired by Peter Gabriel's music videos for "Sledgehammer" and “Digging in the Dirt”.
Matt Noveskey has said that Nick Launay was extremely nurturing in response to Noveskey's inquisitiveness during the Consent to Treatment production process, which was the impetus for Noveskey pursuing a career as a producer himself.
When performed live, the album tells a story of Justin Furstenfeld first falling in love with his girlfriend Amanda. However, while Justin is away recording Blue October's debut album, Amanda betrays Justin by sleeping with his friend James. Upon finding out, Justin is enraged and is committed to a mental hospital after threatening to kill James and himself. Justin is diagnosed with schizophrenia, and is prescribed medication and eventually released and finds closure and happiness through shedding codependency and expressing his emotions through musical performance.
Track listing
All tracks written by Justin Furstenfeld except for "James", cowritten with Matt Noveskey.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Retarded Disfigured Clown" | 0:42 |
| 2. | "Independently Happy" | 4:55 |
| 3. | "James" | 4:29 |
| 4. | "HRSA" | 3:33 |
| 5. | "Breakfast After 10" | 4:28 |
| 6. | "Balance Beam" | 3:50 |
| 7. | "Holler" | 3:23 |
| 8. | "Schizophrenia" | 3:54 |
| 9. | "Drop" | 4:35 |
| 10. | "Conversation Via Radio (Do You Ever Wonder)" | 4:03 |
| 11. | "Angel" | 5:05 |
| 12. | "Libby I'm Listening" | 3:31 |
| 13. | "Amnesia" | 3:55 |
| 14. | "The Answer" | 6:11 |
Personnel
- Justin Furstenfeld - lead vocals, guitar
- Brant Coulter - lead guitar
- Matt Noveskey - bass and acoustic guitars, backing vocals, sleeve art,
- George Winston - piano
- Ryan Delahoussaye - violin, mandolin
- Eric Gorfain - violin
- Jane Scarpantoni - cello, string arrangements
- Jeremy Furstenfeld - drums
- Blue Miller - vocals, producer, mixing
- Ryan Smith - backing vocals
- Martin Klemm - assistant engineer
- David Ahlert - assistant engineer
- Kevin Page - assistant engineer
- Greg Archilla - production, mixing
- Nick Launay - producer, engineer, mixing
- Bob Ludwig - mastering
References
- "Blue October - Consent to Treatment (album review 2) | Sputnikmusic".
- "Consent to Treatment - Blue October". Allmusic.
- Malcolm Mayhew (August 11, 2000). "CD Reviews: Blue October, Consent to Treatment" (Newspaper). Fort Worth, Texas: Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 16. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
- Krangle, Jodi (2000). "A Muse's Muse Interview with Singer/Songwriter/Producer, Blue Miller".