14 Shades of Grey | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 20, 2003 | |||
Recorded | September 2002 – March 2003 | |||
Studio | Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 62:13 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | Josh Abraham | |||
Staind chronology | ||||
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Singles from 14 Shades of Grey | ||||
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Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 41/100 [5] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Alternative Press | [5] |
The A.V. Club | (mixed) [6] |
Blender | [5] |
E! Online | B link |
Entertainment Weekly | C [7] |
Q | [5] |
Rolling Stone | [8] |
Uncut | [5] [9] |
Yahoo! Music UK | [10] |
14 Shades of Grey is the fourth studio album by American rock band Staind, released on May 20, 2003. The album continues the post-grunge sound as seen on the band's previous album Break the Cycle , but the songs on 14 Shades of Grey have fewer pop hooks, focusing more on frontman Aaron Lewis's emotions. [3] It is the band's last album to be released from Elektra Records.
The album featured four singles and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, with first week sales of 220,000 copies. By July 2003, 14 Shades of Grey had been certified Gold then later Platinum. [11]
After finishing their tour schedule, Staind allowed time for Lewis and his wife to conceive their first child and adjust to being parents for a few months. The band then took about five weeks to write new songs before they began recording in Los Angeles, including a week developing the songs at producer Josh Abraham's house. Guitarist Mike Mushok noted it as the first time Staind has actually written in the studio. [12]
In January 2003, Staind planned on a May 6 release date for their untitled fourth album. This date persisted into March during which an album title was announced. However, this would have to be delayed a few weeks. [13]
Aaron Lewis elaborated on the lighter direction of 14 Shades of Grey:
It's kind of a logical progression where we're getting older now. . . [Guitarist] Mike [Mushok] is married, and I'm married now with a kid and we're that much deeper into figuring out as far as lyrically goes and figuring out our trades as far as writing songs go. [14]
Guitarist Mike Mushok described the album title in a 2003 interview:
I think it's kind of referring to how in life there's black and white and then there's this grey area. . . I think the older you get you start to realize that more things are grey and not so much black and white. [15]
The song "Layne" is a tribute to Layne Staley, the late Alice in Chains singer. The song "Zoe Jane" honors Aaron Lewis' firstborn daughter. Some shots of Zoe Jane are featured in the video for "So Far Away".
First editions of the album included a limited edition bonus DVD featuring home videos and footage of the band from their early years to the present, along with album lyrics and new band photos. For a time, fans could use the CD to download a bonus acoustic song "Let it Out" from the Staind website, but the page was later removed. The song was later included on the deluxe edition of the band's next album, Chapter V .
A DVD-Audio edition of the album was also released, featuring a 5.1 surround sound version of the album, at high resolution (96 kHz/24-bit).
The single "Price to Play" was released in early anticipation of the album's debut. Three more singles were released over the next several months with accompanying music videos.
Staind supported 14 Shades of Grey with a series of in-store appearances followed by free club performances. They also performed with Label mates Cold during the summer of 2003. Concert setlists incorporated songs from the band's previous two albums.
The album received mainly mixed reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 41, based on 10 reviews. [5]
All lyrics are written by Aaron Lewis; all music is composed by Staind
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Price to Play" | 3:35 |
2. | "How About You" | 3:57 |
3. | "So Far Away" | 4:04 |
4. | "Yesterday" | 3:46 |
5. | "Fray" | 5:04 |
6. | "Zoe Jane" | 4:36 |
7. | "Fill Me Up" | 4:24 |
8. | "Layne" | 4:25 |
9. | "Falling Down" | 3:55 |
10. | "Reality" | 4:37 |
11. | "Tonight" | 4:24 |
12. | "Could It Be" | 4:43 |
13. | "Blow Away" | 6:14 |
14. | "Intro" | 4:28 |
Total length: | 62:13 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
15. | "Let It Out" | 3:54 |
Total length: | 66:06 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
16. | "Novocaine" (previously unreleased) | 3:15 |
Staind
Additional musicians
Production
Design
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [31] | Gold | 50,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [32] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Staind is an American rock band from Springfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist and backing vocalist Johnny April, and drummer Jon Wysocki. The lineup has been stable outside of the 2011 departure of Wysocki, who was replaced by Sal Giancarelli. Staind has recorded and released eight studio albums: Tormented (1996), Dysfunction (1999), Break the Cycle (2001), 14 Shades of Grey (2003), Chapter V (2005), The Illusion of Progress (2008), Staind (2011), and Confessions of the Fallen (2023).
Dysfunction is the second studio album by American rock band Staind, released on April 13, 1999, by Flip Records and Elektra Records. It is the band's first studio album released on a record label.
Deftones is the fourth studio album by the American alternative metal band Deftones, released on May 20, 2003, by Maverick Records. The album features a strong change in musical direction from the band's previous albums, ranging from some of their heavier compositions to moody trip hop and shoegaze influences. It was also the band's last release to be produced by Terry Date until Ohms in 2020.
Break the Cycle is the third studio album by American rock band Staind, released through Elektra Entertainment and Flip Records in 2001. It is Staind's most successful album to date and was the album that broke them into the mainstream. It was a huge international success for the band, as it spent three weeks at number-one position in the U.S. album charts and many weeks in the top-10 album charts of the Billboard 200, the UK and New Zealand. It sold at least 4 million copies in 2001. The album was certified 5× platinum by the RIAA for sales of over five million units in the US.
Michael Mushok is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist for the nu metal band Staind. He is a member of supergroup Saint Asonia and played in the band Newsted.
Chapter V is the fifth studio album by American rock band Staind. It was released on August 9, 2005, and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with first week sales of 185,000 copies, and spawned a hit single along with three moderately successful singles on rock radio. Its first single "Right Here" was the most successful at both rock and pop stations and it was used in a video package by World Wrestling Entertainment commemorating the professional wrestler known as Edge after he won his first WWE Championship. "Falling" and "Everything Changes" have also been released with accompanying videos.
Tormented is the debut studio album by the American rock band Staind, self-released in 1996. In 1993, Staind vocalist Aaron Lewis and Staind guitarist Mike Mushok met each other at a Christmas party in the New England area. Mushok brought drummer Jon Wysocki into the fold and Lewis had a connection with bass guitarist Pete McEwan who later left, starting the early lineup. Shortly after bassist Johnny April joined, Staind officially formed in Springfield, Massachusetts on November 24, 1995. Touring in the Northeast United States helped Staind achieve a cult following.
Aaron Lewis is an American musician who is best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and founding member of the alternative metal band Staind, with whom he released seven studio albums. Since 2010, he has pursued a solo career in country music with his debut EP, Town Line, which was released in 2011. Lewis' first full-length solo release, The Road, was released by Blaster Records in 2012.
"So Far Away" is a song by American rock band Staind, released on June 23, 2003 as the second single from their fourth album 14 Shades of Grey. The song enjoyed much success on both rock and mainstream radio, reaching number-one on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks for fourteen consecutive weeks, one of the longest runs in the chart's history, and number-one on the Modern Rock Tracks for seven non-consecutive weeks. The song also became the band's second top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 24.
"Outside" is a song by the American rock band Staind. It was released in May 2001 as the second single from their second album Break the Cycle.
"Price to Play" is a song by American rock band Staind. It was the lead single from their fourth album, 14 Shades of Grey. "Price to Play" was released in advance and became a hit, charting high on both rock charts and peaking within the top 100 of the Billboard Hot 100 at number 66. It was also the official theme song of WWE's Vengeance 2003 event.
"Fade" is a song by American rock band Staind. It was the third single from their album Break the Cycle. The song was a crossover success for the band, peaking at number 3 and 4 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock song charts respectively, and at number 62 on the Billboard all-format Hot 100 chart.
The Illusion of Progress is the sixth studio album by American rock band Staind. It was released on August 19, 2008. The Illusion of Progress was produced by Johnny K and recorded in lead singer Aaron Lewis's home studio. It debuted at No. 3 in the Billboard 200 with 91,800 units sold.
American rock band Staind has released eight studio albums, three live albums, one compilation album, two video albums, 26 singles, and 18 music videos.
Staind is the seventh studio album by American rock band Staind, released on September 13, 2011. It was released as a download, a standard CD and a limited deluxe digipak edition, which contains a DVD documenting the recording process of the album, plus two live bonus tracks for the European digipak release. It is the band's last album to be released from Atlantic Records.
Newsted is an American heavy metal band formed in October 2012. The first lineup was led by Jason Newsted on bass and lead vocals, along with drummer Jesus Mendez Jr., guitarist Jessie Farnsworth, with Staind guitarist Mike Mushok joining in 2013. The band released the four-song EP Metal on January 8, 2013, and followed up with the full-length debut album Heavy Metal Music on August 6, 2013. Guitarist Mushok stated that there were no plans for the band to regroup for any further touring or recording, explaining that Jason Newsted "shut down" the project in early 2014. Newsted broke silence in 2016 to explain having been overwhelmed with projects.
Fifty Shades of Grey (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the film of the same name adapted from E. L. James's eponymous novel that was released through Republic Records on February 10, 2015. It was the seventh best-selling album of 2015 with 2.2 million copies sold worldwide.
Saint Asonia is a Canadian-American rock supergroup consisting of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Gontier, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist and backing vocalist Cale Gontier, and drummer Cody Watkins. In 2017, the band's original drummer, Rich Beddoe, left the band and was replaced by Mushok's Staind bandmate Sal Giancarelli, and one year later bassist and backing vocalist Corey Lowery left the band to join Seether and his place was taken by Gontier's cousin Cale Gontier. The band formed in Toronto, Canada in 2015 after Gontier's departure from Three Days Grace in 2013. Their second studio album, titled Flawed Design, was released on October 25, 2019. On January 26, 2020, Art of Dying drummer Cody Watkins became the new drummer for Saint Asonia replacing Sal Giancarelli.
"Everything Changes" is a song by the American rock band Staind, which was the third single off of their album Chapter V.
Confessions of the Fallen is the eighth studio album by American rock band Staind. This is the band's first album in twelve years, marking the longest gap between studio albums to date. It was released on September 22, 2023. It is also the first album to feature new drummer Sal Giancarelli, who replaced original drummer Jon Wysocki following the latter's departure in 2011 and later died in May 2024. It is the band's first album to be released from BMG.