Masterpiece Theatre is the second studio album by Canadian rock group Marianas Trench. It was released on February 24, 2009, in Canada and September 28, 2010, in the United States. The album was available for preview at MuchMusic's website before the release.[4]
The album is a slight departure from the band's debut album Fix Me, containing more theatrical elements and instruments while still retaining the punk rock influence of its predecessor. The songs "Masterpiece Theatre" (I, II, and III), "Beside You", and "Good to You" show some experimentation using pianos, strings, and harmonies. The closing track, "Masterpiece Theatre III", is a medley of all the songs on the album.
Background and recording
Following the release of their debut studio album Fix Me released in 2006, lead singer Josh Ramsay said to UWO Gazette about working on the next album, "Let's face it: you've had your whole life to write your first album, and realistically you have a year and a half to write your second album. We've got a lot of good material and I think that the second one will be even better than the first one."[5]
Masterpiece Theatre is a concept album that experiments with different genres ranging from pop punk,[1][2]symphonic rock,[2] and emo pop.[3] Bassist Mike Ayley said that the album was "meant to be listened in it's entirety," citing a certain theme that ties the record together.[6] "Masterpiece Theatre I" serves as the album's intro, whereas "Masterpiece Theatre II" is a "symphonic reprise that occurs at the beginning of act II" and "Masterpiece Theatre III" is the "climax of the album," a melody touching on all of the songs on the album.[6] The group re-wrote the title track twice, before including it on the album.[7] Displaying the band's musical diversity, the album features the upbeat tracks such as "Cross My Heart" and "All to Myself" to the softer ballads, "Good to You" and "Beside You". The eleventh track, "Dearly Departed" was written as a reflection of Ramsay's struggle with addiction.[8]
Leading up to the release of Masterpiece Theatre, the band premiered "Cross My Heart" on their MySpace page on November 14, 2008.[11] The group also posted 5 videos to countdown its release in February 2009.[12] The album was available for preview on the MuchMusic website before the release.[4][13] It was officially released on February 24, 2009, in Canada via 604 Records.[14] The album was later released in the United States on September 28, 2010.[15] A vinyl press of the album was released in the United States on November 12, 2013, and in Canada on November 26.[16]
Promotion
In the fall of 2009, the band embarked on the Beside You tour in support of the album with support from Carly Rae Jepsen.[17] The group also toured the US in early 2010.[18][19] They also toured across Canada again later that year.[20] In July 2010, the band performed at the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest.[21]
"All to Myself" was released as the album's second single on February 24, 2009.[26] The song peaked at number 11 on the Canadian Hot 100, number 8 on the Canada CHR/Top 40 and number 12 on the Canada Hot AC charts.[23][24][25]
"Beside You" was released as the third single from the album, being issued to contemporary hit radio on September 2, 2009.[27] It peaked at number 27 on the Canadian Hot 100.[23] The song also peaked at numbers 32, 15, and 11, respectively, on the Canada AC, Canada CHR/Top 40, and Canada Hot AC airplay charts.[28][24][25]
"Celebrity Status" was released on February 12, 2010, as the album's fourth single.[29] The song peaked at number 24 on the Canadian Hot 100,[23] as well as the Canada CHR/Top 40 at number 32, and Canada Hot AC at number 17.[24][25]
"Good to You" was released on September 21, 2010, as the fifth and final single from the album. The single version features Jessica Lee, opposed to the album version which features Kate Voegele.[30] It peaked at number 38 on the Canadian Hot 100.[23] The song also reached numbers 49, 22, and 14, respectively, on the Canada AC, Canada CHR/Top 40, and Canada Hot AC charts.[28][24][25]
Masterpiece Theatre was received well by most critics. The Phoenix New Times praised lead singer Josh Ramsay and the lyrics saying "Singer Josh Ramsay pushed himself vocally on this album, and the lyrics were very heartfelt and meaningful – not your typical pop-punk music."[34]
Matthew Chisling of AllMusic stated, "The group has truly created an excellent concept album, experimenting with a nice variety of musical mediums that complements the bands sound quite well." He called the "Masterpiece Theatre" parts, "welcome songs that sound like the Broadway rendition of the perfectly crafted emo-pop tune." He described tracks such as "Acadia" and "Celebrity Status" as mainstream complements that stop the album from feeling too erratic and stated that Masterpiece Theatre "could do without 'Good to You'." He ended his review remarking, "this album truly stands out from the pack by bringing something truly different and exciting to the table that's bound to earn them plenty of fans and plenty of success."[3]
Alternative Addiction praised the melodies and the harmonies, as well as Ramsay's vocals calling them "incredible" and "addictive." He also added, "Masterpiece Theatre takes an album theme, some great songs, and the talents of Ramsay and utilizes every one of those to make a masterpiece for fans of the genre."[31]
Nick Anastasia of Melodic.net said, "this album is one of the best, if not the best, discs I've heard in the past year or two." He also said "The harmonies, arrangements, and different styles experimented with throughout the spread of the CD are absolutely awe-inspiring."[33]
Kevin Miao of Lost In the Sound gave the album a score of 80% out 100, saying that the album "is one of the best in its genre and proves that there is still good pop rock music out there."[32]
Sputnikmusic wrote, "Marianas Trench takes a brave step with this sophomore album [...] the band has chosen not to go too far into a showman-type of pretense – overtly political lyrics, odd metaphors, and musical attempts that they just couldn't have possibly done - it's fair to say they fall into the latter category and succeed for the most part. The ballads here are a bit too syrupy however, and as a alluded to above, Josh's vocals are an acquired taste. As far as a general appeal to listeners, that's really all that hold's this band back though. It will be interesting to see how the boys choose to follow up this pop punk opera."[1]
Commercial performance
The album sold 5,000 copies in its first week of release debuting at No. 4 on the Canadian Albums Chart.[35][36] The album has since sold over 160,000 copies in Canada and was certified Double Platinum by Music Canada.[37]
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