Acceptance - Phantoms 2005

Acceptance formed in Seattle Washington, in 1998, with a line-up of: vocalist/bassit Jason Vena, guitarist Kaylan Cloyd, guitarist Chris DeCastro and drummer Peter Pizzuto. The group released a self-produced EP, titled Lost for Words , in late 2000 through independent label Rocketstar Records. Sometime after this, Pizzuto and DeCastro departed from the group; the pair were replaced by Garrett Lunceford and Christian McAlhaney, respectively. Ryan Zwiefelhofer then joined on bass. The group then recorded another EP, this time with Aaron Sprinkle. This brought the band to the attention of Columbia Records president Rick Rubin and A&R representative Matt Pinfield. The band wished to release it through an independent label in order to build a fan base and tour for a period of time, before creating an album for Columbia. Columbia thought this was a good idea, and as a result, the Black Lines to Battlefields EP was released in 2003 through The Militia Group. Shortly afterwards, Lunceford left the group and was replaced by Nick Radovanovic.

The album's sound has been described as alternative pop, pop, pop rock, and rock. All of the songs on the album were written, but were left unfinished before recording. Prior to entering the studio, the group did pre-production for a few months. By the time they entered the studio, the band had complete songs. Phantoms was recorded at The Compound in Capitol Hill, Seattle with Sprinkle handling production duties.

Phantoms was met with limited critical acclaim. AbsolutePunk wrote: "It’s not often that bands can create pop-oriented music that has lasting value, but Acceptance has managed to do it with Phantoms. Outstanding vocals and truly talented songwriting sets this band apart from everybody else."

By March 2006, the album had sold over 75,000 copies. In the years following its release, Phantoms became a cult classic.
It's one of thosw bands based on this release, you wish had produced more.

Tracks


"Take Cover" – 2:46
"So Contagious" – 3:04
"In Too Far" – 2:54
"The Letter" – 3:02
"Different" – 4:07
"Ad Astra Per Aspera" – 1:19
"This Conversation Is Over" – 3:15
"Over You" – 3:52
"Breathless" – 2:42
"In the Cold" – 3:36
"Permanent" – 3:22
"Glory/Us" – 3:06