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(Breach)
released October 10, 2000
Contents:
writing for the album
recording the album: the band
recording the album: the producers
recording the album: the sound/the guest list
songs on the album
album design
album recognition
writing for the album
- After touring for 2 1/2 years for Bringing Down
the Horse, the band returned home and took a couple of months off.
Jakob offers, "I got home and I was just exhausted from talking
or playing or thinking about music. I didn't want to write a record
that was about touring and all the things the group had gone through
- I don't find that stuff to be interesting at all. So I took about
five months to be distanced from it. I wanted to cool off, live something
of what people might consider a mundane life."
- Soon thereafter, Jakob started writing songs for the next album.
All of the songs were written over a 6-month period.
- Jakob worked in a small Los Angeles house equipped with a demo studio,
working in eight-hour shifts. He
comments, "I spent every day working on it, 9 to 5. I don't
sit around waiting for ideas to hit me on the head."
- Jakob wrote the songs on guitar and piano.
- As the songs got closer to being finished, Jakob asked for input.
Rami remembers, "Jakob would have an idea and he had a little mini
recording thing, as big as a computer, getting ideas down. So I'd come
over once and awhile and bring one of these little funky keyboards over."
They'd work on completing the songs.
- If everyone in the band writes songs, why are Jakob's on the album?
Rami explains, "I always get the itch when I have a great song.
But the thing is, I'll write two or three great songs a year. [Jakob]
will write 20, 30 great songs a year. And then you look at our little
house of 11 songs in the past four years (Breach). Like the Beatles,
pumping out albums, sure they let Ringo have a song or two. But with
one record coming out every four years, we make sure the most prolific
songs make it on there. And those just happen to be Jakob's."
recording the album: the band
- Recorded between May 1999 and January 2000.
- Sixteen songs were recorded for the album. Eleven
songs were selected including a hidden track, "Babybird,"
not on the album liners.
- Rami used about 50 different keyboards on the album.
- Jakob brought in songs that were fairly complete.
He said "I depend on everyone to give their two cents." Then
the band members wrote their parts. Jakob remembers, "I usually
spend most of the time writing [the songs] pretty much completely by
myself, because if it doesn't really sound good as a song just on piano
or acoustic guitar [it's not worth it]...I always try to finish as thoroughly
as I can and put it down on my own knowing that it works. And if I know
that it works when I do it by myself, then the rest of the stuff should
be the easy part.
- The band's input is vital to the song. Jakob told
the Salt Lake Tribune, "I work with the guys because they have
great ideas. Otherwise, I'd just make solo records and I'd write all
the parts for everybody. But I don't play bass. I don't play drums.
I can't play the organ like Rami can play it, so I depend on these guys
to do their thing, and I depend on them to tell me when a song is good
or not good. First and foremost, you're trying to please and excite
the people right around you. I can tell in their faces if a song isn't
working."
- Rami agrees, "Jakob writes the songs on guitar most
of the time and that's just a skeleton of what it turns out to be. That's
what makes us more of a band than not. . . [Jakob and I] have been playing
with each other the longest and he knows something I might do or a certain
sound he might throw it out there, (such as) 'Do your whistly organ
thing.'"
- Greg explained that they tried to paint the music
around the lyrics and back up the emotion of [the] words. "As a
player, you're trying to be sensitive to what the song is about. When
I say what it's about, I don't mean necessarily what it's about to Jakob.
I don't ask him what his songs are about ever. I take what it means
to me. It might have a different meaning to me than it does to him,
but I think that's what's great about music."
recording the album:
the producers
- Produced by Michael Penn and Andy Slater. The Salt Lake Tribune
suggested that this team of producers, "helped lend (Breach) some
of its textures, using some horns here, some strings there, and bringing
in outside musicians to help punch up the songs, whether it is Mike
Campbell from The Heartbreakers lending some guitar licks or a Who's
Who of backup singers: ex-Pixies frontman Frank Black, The Jayhawks'
Gary Louris or Elvis Costello."
- Jakob said that Andy Slater was brought in to produce because: "You
need somebody not stuck in the middle of it to take you to the vision
you're striving to get to. He makes amazing records."
- Andy sensed that Jakob was ready to be himself. "I did not want to
deny whatever DNA was in there—in the songs or in his voice," Slater
says, "If he sounded like somebody whose records we all worship, then
so be it. I think, if you listen to the vocals on this record, you'll
find him facing the mike, for who he is and where he comes from."
- According to Sonicnet, The Wallflowers chose
the less-experienced Penn as co-producer in part because of his songwriting
background. The band was looking for "basically a songwriter guy
who could really get in tune with the songs and lend what he could in
that department, rather than a guy who's an engineer, a sonic guy,"
[Michael] Ward said.
recording the album:
the sound/the guest list
- The songs have memorable hooks. Real Detroit Weekly observes, "the
opening song, 'Letters From the Wasteland' catches its spark from a
short moody guitar lick that infiltrates the verses. Rockers like 'Sleepwalker'
and 'Some Flowers Bloom Dead' have hooks as insistent as their tempos,
while 'Murder 101' echoes the punky pop of The Replacements, as Dylan
shares vocals with Elvis Costello. When The Wallflowers settle into
a mid-tempo groove, the results are just as satisfying, whether the
group is flavoring a tune like 'Witness' with some winsome horns or
spicing the Tom Petty-ish 'Hand Me Down' with some tasty slide guitar."
- There is more variety in arrangements and instruments than previous
albums. Anthony DeCurtis' review of the album offers, "In terms
of its sound, it is far less exuberant than Bringing Down
the Horse, far more stripped-down and varied in its arrangements.
Still, Slater and Penn don't so much overhaul Dylan's instantly recognizable
folk-rock-guitars, keyboards, bass, drums - as freshen it up."
- Background vocals were provided by Frank Black, Elvis Costello, Buddy
Judge, Gary Louris, Chris Penn, and Michael Penn.
- Frank Black sings bv on "Letters From the Wasteland"
- Elvis Costello sings bv on "Murder 101"
- Buddy Judge sings bv on "I've Been Delivered"
- Gary Louris sings bv on "Sleepwalker" and "Some Flowers
Bloom Dead"
- Chris and Michael Penn sing bv on "Witness"
- Additional musicians on the album included Jon Brion, Mike Campbell,
Lenny Castro, Greg Leisz, and Michael Penn.
- Matt Chamberlain played the drums on the album.
- Mitchell Froom arranged the horns.
- Rami arranged the strings.
songs on the album
Letters From the
Wasteland
- Frank Black sings background vocals. The band needed
someone to sing the high parts so they called Frank and he came in to
the studio.
- The song was re-mixed as a single with the help of
some Stone Temple Pilots. Dean DeLeo played additional guitar and Scott
Weiland added background vocals. The single was released
in the spring of '01.
Hand Me Down
- Heartbreaker Mike Campbell, who wrote the signature
slide guitar in "Sixth Avenue Heartache," also did the guitar
work for Hand Me Down.
- Probably the most scrutinized lyrics on the album,
journalists have suggested they are confessional. Michael Penn contends,
"I felt like he was starting to put his foot in the pool of not
hiding anymore - particularly with 'Hand Me Down,' which was not only
a brave but really important song for him to write."
- The song has a universal theme/appeal. In the Daily Telegraph Jakob
notes, "It's been suggested that song's a very blunt take on what
people think of me. And it's true, there's pieces of that in there,
but it's not all of it." In Rolling Stone, he adds, "I knew
people were going to say it's about me. And I decided that's fine. Two,
three years ago, I would have scrapped it.. . .Who hasn't felt a little
under appreciated, not given a fair chance? Who hasn't felt some kind
of shadow behind them that they can't break free of? It's a song anybody
deserves to write."
Sleepwalker
- Released as a special promotion single in three versions: (1) Demo
of Sleepwalker (acoustic); (2) Andy Wallace mix; and (3) Jack Joseph
Puig mix. The album version was mixed by Tom Lord-Alge.
- The band reports that it took about 8 months to get that song to the
version that's on the album. Jakob explains, "When I had originally
written that song, I recorded it with just an acoustic guitar, and it
had a kind of finger-picking to it. It became a little tricky when
the band started recording it."
- The band brought in Ben Stiller to consult on the video.
I've Been Delivered
- The first song completed for the album. It broke the "log jam"
Jakob faced in writing new songs. He told Wall of Sound, "I tried
to do some writing when I'd gotten home from touring and didn't really
feel like I'd had the right ideas yet. . . . I just wrote that song
about not knowing what the hell I wanted to do. That's kind of what
the song is about: a journey of trying to figure out what your point
is and why you started doing this to begin with. Getting through the
song somehow made things more clear." The other songs quickly followed.
- Buddy Judge sings background vocals.
Witness
- Rami said that the horn arrangements make Witness one of his favorite
songs on the album.
Some Flowers Bloom Dead
- In an interview with Guitar World Acoustic, Jakob was asked about
the "anti-romantic undercurrent" on the album. GWA suggested,
"You don't exactly seem to be celebrating the innocent bloom of
romance. " Jakob responded, "There are lots of
different ways to write, and I was more comfortable on this record writing
songs which, although they are about relationships, aren't necessarily
about a relationship with one person. It could be about an audience.
Or even about myself, what my hopes are, or about my own letdowns."
Mourning Train
- Mourning Train is striking because of its stark arrangments: a simple
acoustic guitar, haunting B-3 playing and foot stomps. Anthony DeCurtis
suggests that the song, "recalls old work songs and spirituals;
its arrangement consists solely of acoustic guitar, organ and handclaps,
along, of course, with Dylan's characteristic husky, breathy, startlingly
intimate vocal."
- Greg's favorite cut on the album.
Up From Under
- Jakob plays an acoustic Martin, "an archtop, so it had kind of
a dobro-ish sound that's almost metallic. And it's capoed up high, giving
it a higher-register sound. "
- An earlier version of the song included some "Brian Wilson-like"
harmonies in it. In the end it was decided that the simpler version
was more effective.
Murder 101
- Elvis Costello was working at a nearby studio when the band realized
that the song sounded very Elvis/Attraction-like. So they asked him
to sing on it. Elvis actually recorded his vocals for the song in a
studio in Japan.
- The band played earlier versions of this song, called "Murder
1 x 1" in concert in late 1996 and early 1997.
Bird Cage
- For his guitar solo Mike used a ES-335.
Baby Bird
- Rami's music box sound is from hand-plucking some muted and non-muted
strings and overdubbing some playing with a Celeste (a soft strip of
cloth between the hammers and strings) and a small pipe organ.
- " 'Babybird' is a song that maybe I wouldn't have put on a record
a few years ago," Jakob admits. "This was my way of turning
the tables a little bit: writing a song for my kids as opposed to always
being the son of someone."
album design
- Album photography by Christophe Rihet. Cover art shot in Los
Angeles and San Francisco.
- It's the first time the band's faces appeared on an album.
- The title was chosen because it's a "provocative word"
with a lot of different definitions that encompass a lot of themes on
the record. Jakob explains, "The title refers to an illusion most
musicians start out with and that I certainly had. When you're young
and you start playing music you think all you really need in life is
to make a record that's popular, and that that will make you a satisfied
person with a satisfied mind. As great as it is to have a hit record
and as much as I appreciated it, I discovered it's not all you need.
This isn't to suggest I had illusions about the music business, because
I didn't. I'm talking about the mistaken perception that creating something
other people gravitate toward generates a feeling of boundless satisfaction."
- The first Wallflowers album to include lyrics.
recognition
- (Breach) was certified gold on September 21, 2001.
- Greg said he feels it's their best album to date. "I feel like
songwriting-wise and the parts and arrangements … I'm really proud of
what we did on it. I think any fan who hasn't got it is sort of missing
out on the journey of the band. This record is like a link in the chain
of our career that began 11 years ago. Breach is where we were
at in 1999-2000. What we're doing now is the next step. You just have
to be true to yourself. I know that sounds pretty cliché and simple,
but that's really the way it is."
- Critics concur:
- Rolling Stone writes, "it's "steeped in a type of introspective
inquiry that was once integral to rock & roll, and has nearly
vanished."
- Elle notes, "Already hailed as a masterpiece of understated
intensity, Breach takes
on the realities of life after a band makes the jump from barrooms
to big time."
- CNN reports, "The Wallflowers' latest, shows that the younger
Dylan's success was no fluke. This vastly more intimate set puts him,
and The Wallflowers, in rare company. The album offers a solid set
that runs the aural gamut from good old American pop music to folk
rock to spirituals."
- The Washington Times claims, ""Breach" boasts Mr.
Dylan's most straightforward lyrics to date. Directly addressing personal
topics in his songs proved liberating...Mr. Dylan's newfound directness
is a large reason why "Breach" is the best of the Wallflowers'
three albums. Another is his increasingly assured songwriting, which
suggests he has the potential to transcend his well-known influences."
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