Seasons (Sevendust album)

Album by Sevendust

Seasons

Studio album by

Sevendust

Released| October 7, 2003
Studio| Ruby Red Studios &
Brannon Studios
Atlanta, U.S.
Genre| Alternative metal, nu metal
Length| 43:54
Label| TVT
Producer|

* Butch Walker
* Sevendust (co.)

Sevendust chronology
| Animosity
(2001)  | Seasons
(2003)  | Southside Double-Wide: Acoustic Live
(2004)

|
|

Singles from  Seasons

1. "Enemy"
Released: September 25, 2003
2. "Broken Down"
Released: January 19, 2004
3. "Face to Face"
Released: September 27, 2004

Seasons is the fourth studio album by American rock band Sevendust. It would be the band's final album with TVT Records and was dedicated to the memory to both Dave Williams (Drowning Pool's original singer) who died of cardiomyopathy in August 2002, and Reginald Witherspoon (Lajon Witherspoon's younger brother) who was murdered in November 2002.

Seasons was, for a time, the band's last album with Clint Lowery as he left in 2004. Lowery would return to Sevendust in March 2008.

A limited edition of Seasons was released. This includes a DVD featuring "Black" (live and acoustic) and other special features.

## Recording and production

[edit]

Producer Butch Walker was selected to work with the band, perhaps an unusual choice given his limited work with heavy metal acts. Although Walker had produced some demos for the band in their early years as Crawlspace, he had a largely pop-oriented résumé. In a 2003 interview, guitarist John Connolly described the album's overall approach:

"It's really heavy and just tons of melody. We're real big fans of melody and there's no reason that a heavy band can't have something to sing over, and we just really pushed it a lot farther than we had a chance to on the last few records."

Connolly also compared Seasons to the band's previous albums:

"A lot more mature. A lot more focused. We just had a lot more time to spend with it. Working with Butch Walker in the studio just made us a lot more efficient, and we could move a lot faster. We wrote a lot of songs for this record. I think we just pushed better songs further along then we had a chance to with Animosity."[1]

In retrospect, drummer Morgan Rose has described Seasons as too commercial. This was due to Sevendust's loss of creative control with TVT Records thinking that Seasons should be suitable for radio airplay. He noted in an interview, "When we finished our touring cycle for Seasons, and our number one priority was to figure out a way to get out of the record deal that we had been stuck in for quite a while. Once we finally got out, our next priority was not to be stuck in the same position as far as creative control and to be able to make a lot of the musical decisions on our own."[2]

## Reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [3]
Exclaim!| (positive)[4]
Star Pulse| [5]

### Commercial performance

[edit]

Seasons gained substantial commercial success. It debuted at No. 14 in the US, selling around 68,000 copies in its first week. The lead single, "Enemy" reached No. 10 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks to become the group's highest charting single up to that point (it was matched by 2007's "Driven" at No. 10 and then surpassed by 2010's "Unraveling" at No. 7). The following two singles did not achieve such a high standard but nevertheless gained frequent airplay upon release. Despite mostly positive reviews, the album failed to sell as well as its predecessors, which all were certified gold.

### Critical reception

[edit]

The album gained overall positive reception from critics. Its approach to heaviness and melody were commended as was the band for their continued strength in songwriting. However, Seasons provided little diversity from previous albums. Amber Authier of Exclaim! noted, "...as these Atlanta, Georgia natives release more discs, they start to blend into each other. They take small steps into a new direction but they aren't willing to take a leap of faith into something radically outside of the style that has given them success to date."[4] AllMusic's Alex Henderson described the album as "far from a happy CD, but it's a compelling one -- perhaps too dark for some listeners, but compelling nonetheless" and added, "Sevendust continues to live up to its high standards throughout the band's fourth album."[3]

## Touring and promotion

[edit]

Building up to the release of Seasons, the band performed lengthy acoustic sets in various cities and had listening parties for the new album. Their performance at the Georgia Theatre would be released as the band's first live album, Southside Double-Wide: Acoustic Live, in May 2004. Following the acoustic shows, Sevendust opened for Staind.[1] They also joined Cold for a US tour in the spring of 2004.[6]

The album's lead single, "Enemy", had a music video which was shown frequently on Headbangers Ball in late 2003. It features former professional wrestler Chyna in a comical yet violent street brawl against an armless man. Two more singles were released and gained substantial airplay. The track "Separate" was also included on the MTV2 Headbangers Ball compilation in 2003.

## Track listing

[edit]

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[7]

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

1.| "Disease"| Clint Lowery, Morgan Rose, Lajon Witherspoon| 3:33
2.| "Enemy"| Rose, Butch Walker| 3:03
3.| "Seasons"| Lowery, John Connolly, Walker| 3:32
4.| "Broken Down"| Connolly, Rose| 3:23
5.| "Separate"| Lowery, Rose, Walker| 3:41
6.| "Honesty"| Connolly, Rose, Walker, Lowery| 3:30
7.| "Skeleton Song"| Lowery, Rose| 4:22
8.| "Disgrace"| Lowery, Connolly, Rose| 3:58
9.| "Burned Out"| Lowery| 3:52
10.| "Suffocate"| Connolly, Rose| 3:22
11.| "Gone"| Lowery, Rose| 3:43
12.| "Face to Face"| Lowery, Connolly, Rose| 3:55
Total length:| 43:54

Bonus track releaseNo.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

13.| "Coward"| Rose, Walker| 3:36

Bonus tracks releaseNo.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

13.| "Rain"| Lowery, Rose| 3:35
14.| "Coward"| Rose, Walker| 3:36

Japanese releaseNo.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

13.| "Rain"| Lowery, Rose| 3:35
14.| "Number One (The Ballad)"| Lowery, Rose| 4:47
15.| "Coward"| Rose, Walker| 3:34

## B-sides

[edit]

* "Inner City Blues" (Marvin Gaye cover, bonus DVD audio track included with Seasons)

## Personnel

[edit]

* Lajon Witherspoon – lead vocals
* Clint Lowery – lead guitar, backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "Skeleton Song"
* John Connolly – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
* Vinnie Hornsby – bass
* Morgan Rose – drums, backing vocals

### Production

[edit]

* Produced and recorded by Butch Walker, co-produced by Sevendust
* Assisted by Rusty Cobb and Shawn Grove
* Recorded at Ruby Red Studios and Brannon Studios, Atlanta, Georgia
* Mixed by Jay Baumgardner at NRG Studios, Hollywood, California
* Programming by William Vignola
* Drum tech: Mickey Wade / Guitar tech: Brent Mullins
* Mastered by Tom Baker at Precision Mastering
* Executive producers: Jeff Hanson, Steve Gottlieb, and Jay Jay French

## Charts

[edit]

### Album

[edit]

Chart performance for Seasons Chart (2003)  | Peak
position

|

Australian Albums (ARIA)[8] | 38
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[9] | 20
US Billboard 200[10][11] | 14

### Singles

[edit]

Year  | Song  | Chart  | Position  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

2003  | "Enemy"  | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 10  | [12]
2003  | "Enemy"  | Modern Rock Tracks | 30  | [12]
2004  | "Broken Down"  | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 20  | [12]
2004  | "Face to Face"  | Mainstream Rock Tracks  | 22  |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Joseph, Jason Throwback Interview: Sevendust ShockblastMedia.com (September 2003). Retrieved on 6-10-11.
2. ^ Wright, James Sevendust Archived September 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Blistering.com (2005). Retrieved on 6-10-11.
3. ^ a b Sevendust Review, AllMusic, retrieved April 25, 2010
4. ^ a b Sevendust – Seasons Exclaim! (November 2003). Retrieved on 6-10-11.
5. ^ Alex Henderson, Rovi Sevendust – Seasons StarPulse.com (2003). Retrieved on 6-10-11.
6. ^ SEVENDUST/COLD Tour Dates Announced Blabbermouth.net (March 7, 2004). Retrieved on 6-10-11.
7. ^ Seasons (booklet). TVT. 2003.
8. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Sevendust – Seasons". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
9. ^ "Charts.nz – Sevendust – Animosity". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
10. ^ Sevendust (Chart History: Billboard 200), Billboard, retrieved April 25, 2010
11. ^ "Seasons > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
12. ^ a b c "Seasons > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Retrieved April 30, 2010.

* v
* t
* e

Sevendust

* Vinnie Hornsby
* Morgan Rose
* John Connolly
* Lajon Witherspoon
* Clint Lowery

* Sonny Mayo

Studio albums|

* Sevendust
* Home
* Animosity
* Seasons
* Next
* Alpha
* Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow
* Cold Day Memory
* Black Out the Sun
* Time Travelers & Bonfires
* Kill the Flaw
* All I See Is War
* Blood & Stone
* Truth Killer

Live albums|

* Southside Double-Wide: Acoustic Live

Compilation albums|

* Best Of (Chapter One 1997–2004)
* Retrospective 2

Video albums|

* Live and Loud
* Retrospect

Singles|

* "Black"
* "Denial"
* "Waffle"
* "Licking Cream"
* "Praise"
* "Live Again"
* "Angel's Son"
* "Enemy"
* "Ugly"
* "Failure"
* "Driven"
* "Beg to Differ"
* "Prodigal Son"
* "The Past"
* "Unraveling"
* "Forever"
* "Last Breath"
* "Ride Insane"
* "Decay"
* "Picture Perfect"
* "Thank You"
* "Death Dance"
* "Dirty"
* "Unforgiven"
* "Risen"
* "The Day I Tried to Live"

Related articles|

* Discography
* Call Me No One
* Dark New Day
* Projected
* Chills
* Controlled Chaos

* Category

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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