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A City by the Light Divided

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A City by the Light Divided
Studio album by
Thursday
ReleasedMay 2, 2006
RecordedOctober 2005 – February 2006
StudioTarbox Road Studios, Cassadaga, New York
GenrePost-hardcore
Length45:56
LabelIsland
ProducerDave Fridmann
Thursday chronology
War All the Time
(2003) 		A City by the Light Divided
(2006) 		Kill the House Lights
(2007)
Singles from A City by the Light Divided
  1. "Counting 5-4-3-2-1"
    Released: April 18, 2006

A City by the Light Divided is the fourth studio album by Thursday, released by Island Records on May 2, 2006.

Background

[edit]

Thursday's third album and major label debut War All the Time was released on September 15, 2003.[1] Following its release, keyboardist Andrew Everding, who had performed on the album, became a full-time member of the band. The group subsequently embarked on an exhaustive touring schedule[2] with performances in the UK, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.[3] As a result of this touring, personal problems between members began to occur,[2] but by July they were aiming to record in the next few months.[4]

The band wanted the record to have "a very live sound," and selected producer Dave Fridmann because of his work with such bands as the Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, and Mogwai.[5] In September, early demos leaked,[4] and later that month the group started pre-production,[4] done with Tim Gilles.[6] Recording took place at Tarbox Road Studios, in Cassadaga, New York.[6] Amanda Tannen of Stellastarr and Mary Fridmann of Bass Piggy provided additional vocals on "We Will Overcome".[6] In mid-February, recording was finished and the album was in the process of being mixed[4] by Fridmann. Tom Coyne mastered the album at Sterling sound, in New York City.[6]

The album's title was adapted from a line from an Octavio Paz poem. According to Rickley, the title speaks to how "each person contains the light and the dark, the good and the bad, and the way it's externalized in an urban metropolis."[7]

Release

[edit]

On February 5, 2006, A City by the Light Divided was announced for release in May.[8] In mid-February, the group were working on ideas for a music video for "Counting 5-4-3-2-1" with production companies Refused TV and Artificial Army.[4] The song was made available for streaming on February 28.[9] From mid March to the beginning of April, the band went on the first leg of the Shirts for a Cure tour, with support from Minus the Bear, The Number Twelve Looks Like You, and We're All Broken.[10] On March 29, "At This Velocity" was made available for streaming via Alternative Press.[11] For most of April, the band went on the 2006 edition of the Taste of Chaos tour.[12] However, on April 13, Rickly became ill, resulting in the band dropping off the tour.[13] On April 18, A City by the Light Divided was made available for streaming via the band's Myspace profile,[14] and "Counting 5-4-3-2-1" was released to radio.[15]

From late April to late May, the band went on the second leg of the Shirts for a Cure tour, with support from Minus the Bear, mewithoutYou and We're All Broken.[10] A City by the Light Divided was released on May 2 through Island Records.[10] The UK version of the album, which was released through Hassle Records, included the bonus track "Even the Sand Is Made of Seashells".[16] In May and June, the group went on a UK tour.[4] In the summer, the band went on the 2006 edition of Warped Tour.[9] In October and November, the group went on the 2006 international edition of the Taste of Chaos tour, visiting New Zealand, Australia, and the UK.[17] In between dates on this tour, the band went on a co-headlining tour with Rise Against.[18] In January and February 2007, the band went on a tour of the U.S. with support from Fear Before the March of Flames, Murder by Death and Heavy Heavy Low Low.[19]

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic75/100 [20]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [21]
Alternative Press [22]
The A.V. ClubB+ [23]
Entertainment WeeklyA− [24]
NME7/10 [20]
Now [20]
PopMatters [25]
Robert ChristgauC+ [26]
Rolling Stone [27]
Stylus MagazineA− [28]

Critical response

[edit]

The album so far has a score of 75 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews".[20] AbsolutePunk gave it a score of 90% and said that "just like the Buffalo Bills, it’s not about how you start the game, but about how strong you can comeback and finish, and A City By The Light Divided exemplifies this very well."[29] Blender gave it a score of four stars out of five and called it "A widescreen goth-punk stunner."[20] Billboard gave it a positive review and called it "A quality album."[20] Some reviews are average or mixed: Uncut gave it three stars out of five and said, "A sprinkle of Flaming Lips fairy-dust may be just what the genre needs to slip its genre straitjacket."[20] Melodic.net also gave it a score of three stars out of five and said it was "not a superb album but it's a helluva lot better than War All the Time."[30]

Commercial performance

[edit]

It reached #20 on the Billboard 200.[31] A month after its release, the album had sold over 81,000 copies.[32] By July, it had sold 90,000 copies.[33] By April 2007, it had sold 132,000 copies.[34]

Track listing

[edit]

All music by Thursday, all lyrics by Geoff Rickly.[6]

No.TitleLength
1."The Other Side of the Crash/Over and Out (Of Control)"4:41
2."Counting 5-4-3-2-1"3:19
3."Sugar in the Sacrament"5:12
4."At This Velocity"2:58
5."We Will Overcome"3:39
6."Arc-Lamps, Signal Flares, a Shower of White (The Light)"2:32
7."Running from the Rain"4:00
8."Telegraph Avenue Kiss"3:35
9."The Lovesong Writer"5:18
10."Into the Blinding Light"3:48
11."Autumn Leaves Revisited"6:56
Total length:45:56
Bonus tracks
Japanese, UK, iTunes bonus track
No.TitleLength
12."Even the Sand Is Made of Seashells"4:10
Japanese bonus track
No.TitleLength
13."Running from the Rain" (Dave Fridmann remix)4:05

Personnel

[edit]

Personnel per booklet.[6]

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for A City by the Light Divided
Chart (2006) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[35] 63
UK Albums (OCC) 112
US Billboard 200 20

References

[edit]

Citations

  1. ^ Parrish, James (January 6, 2004). "Thursday – War All The Time". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on June 19, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  2. ^ a b Loftus, Johnny. "Thursday | Biography & History". AllMusic. All Media Network, LLC. Archived from the original on June 24, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  3. ^
  4. ^ a b c d e f "News". Thursday. 2006. Archived from the original on April 28, 2006. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  5. ^ Wasoba, Ryan (March 4, 2006). "Common Market: Thursday springs back to life with a brash new album on a new label". Riverfront Times. Archived from the original on October 18, 2023. Retrieved May 30, 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e f A City by the Light Divided (Booklet). Thursday. Hassle Records. 2006. HOFF014CD.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. ^ Gorman, Bobby (April 5, 2006). "Thursday". The Punk Site. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  8. ^ Roth, Kaj (February 5, 2006). "New Thursday Album Out In May". Melodic. Archived from the original on January 31, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Thursday post first single off new album". Alternative Press. February 28, 2006. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  10. ^ a b c "Thursday set album title, release date; tour w/Minus The Bear". Alternative Press. February 6, 2006. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  11. ^ "AP Exclusive: Thursday debut new song on AltPress.com!". Alternative Press. March 29, 2006. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  12. ^ "Taste Of Chaos confirms date-by-date band lineups". Alternative Press. January 13, 2006. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  13. ^ "Geoff Rickly falls ill; Thursday drop off Taste Of Chaos". Alternative Press. April 13, 2006. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  14. ^ "Thursday streaming new album; Geoff Rickly recovering". Alternative Press. April 18, 2006. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  15. ^ "FMQB Airplay Archive: Modern Rock". Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Incorporated. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  16. ^ A City by the Light Divided (Sleeve). Thursday. Hassle Records. 2006. HOFF014CD.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  17. ^ "Taking Back Sunday, Thursday, Underoath, Saosin on TOC Int'l". Alternative Press. June 26, 2006. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  18. ^ "More Rise Against/Thursday co-headlining dates announced". Alternative Press. July 27, 2006. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  19. ^ "Thursday touring with Fear Before, Murder By Death in '07". Alternative Press. December 4, 2006. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g Critic reviews at Metacritic
  21. ^ Allmusic review
  22. ^ Alternative Press review
  23. ^ Ryan, Kyle (May 17, 2006). "Review: Thursday / Taking Back Sunday · Music Review". The A.V. Club. The Onion, Inc. Archived from the original on August 29, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  24. ^ "Entertainment Weekly review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 27, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  25. ^ PopMatters review
  26. ^ Robert Christgau Consumer Guide
  27. ^ "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 14, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2013.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  28. ^ Stylus Magazine review Archived October 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  29. ^ AbsolutePunk review
  30. ^ Melodic.net review Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  31. ^ A City by the Light Divided - Thursday : Awards : Allmusic
  32. ^ Kohli, Rohan (June 8, 2006). "Soundscan Results: Week Ending June 4th, 2006". absolutepunk.net. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
  33. ^ Billboard 2006, p. 28
  34. ^ Wippsson, Johan (April 3, 2007). "Thursday Parts Ways With Island". Melodic. Archived from the original on January 30, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  35. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 280.

Sources

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