The band released their second studio album on February 24, 2009 entitled Masterpiece Theatre.
It takes some real cojones to include the word 'Masterpiece' in your album title, but Josh Ramsay isn't too worried. "I suppose I could be digging myself into a hole calling the record Masterpiece Theatre," he chuckles, "but it's tongue-in-cheek. And I'm not the kind of person that people would assume as being an egomaniac. I hope not, anyway."
Given his feverish imagination and comprehensive musical gifts, Ramsay could probably get away with a little egomania. And with the release of Masterpiece Theatre, the frontman of Vancouver's Marianas Trench makes a iron-clad case for a prodigious set of talents - both his own and those of his bandmates, guitarist Matt Webb, bassist Mike Ayley, and drummer Ian Casselman.
Marianas Trench had already elevated itself above the rest of the pack with a 2006 debut, Fix Me, that showcased a knack for colouring outside the lines of factory-issue millenial punk, shrewdly-built pop, and super-adrenalized modern rock. The single and in particular the video "Shake Tramp" was enough to demonstrate these qualities, coupled with Ramsay's uninhibited urge to be the complete song-and-dance man.
But with both the industry and the fans beating down the door for a quick second album, the Trench decided to put on the brakes. "All of a sudden you have six months to do your next record," Ramsay sighs. "So I really had to just put my foot down and say, 'No, I need the time to do this.' I was not interested in putting something out for the sake of putting something out."
Two years later, Marianas Trench has re-emerged with Masterpiece Theatre. And not surprisingly, it's a work of soaring ambition and decisive technical prowess – that easily might not have happened. "It's one thing when you're Chad Kroeger and you just finished writing 'How You Remind Me'," Ramsay states. "I didn't have some mega-platinum song to back up my argument with, so I was lucky that the band and the label trusted me enough to do it."
By "it", Ramsay means he was allowed to indulge a high-concept fantasy for the band's sophomore album, which is built, for starters, around a song called "Masterpiece Theatre". Adopting Brian Wilson's notion of the 'pocket symphony' and then running with it, the three distinct versions of “Masterpiece Theatre” dotted across the record feature an almost perfect balance between the vocal theatrics of Queen and the more hymnal qualities of the Beach Boys.
By the time “Masterpiece Theatre” is reprised for a final, climactic time, every other song on the album is quoted and incorporated into an intricately constructed dramatic revue that swings from pristine pop, to propulsive riff rock, to quasi-doo wop, to robotic new wave, and finally into a wholly satisfying thematic payoff.
"You know in the climax of a musical, there's always that medley at the end, and I thought that would be cool on a rock record," explains Ramsay, "but it turned out to be a lot harder than I thought it would be. I wrote it in the studio as we recorded it, and it took about three weeks."
After a beat, he adds, "But really it took me two years because it draws from all the songs on the whole album."
Bassist Mike Ayley readily admits, "I don't think any of the three ‘Masterpiece Theatre’ songs could have gone on Fix Me had they been written at the time. ‘Masterpiece’ 2 and 3 in particular are amazing songs that really explore the potential of Josh's writing. You really have to hear them to get it. It's like trying to explain ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to somebody who has only heard Kanye West and Katy Perry."
Ramsay agrees. "I really wanted to have a 'Good Vibrations'/'Bohemian Rhapsody’ style song on the first record,” he says, “but I don't think I was a mature enough writer to have written it yet, and I still feel like I was in over-my-head when we did this one, and I just barely made it."
Ramsay is unnecessarily modest; the whole of Masterpiece Theatre demonstrates a startling compositional maturity compared to the Marianas Trench of two years ago.
"Beside You" is a panoramic exercise in big emotions, with a dash of the Dream Academy's "Life In a Northern Town”. "Acadia" begins with a clipped, bright acoustic guitar, and blossoms into something like the Who reconsidered by U2, reimagined for the net generation. In the crunchy "All to Myself", the power ballad "Lover Dearest", and the strident "Good to You" (in which he duets with Kate Voegele), Ramsay pulls out the kind of honeyed vocals more attuned to modern RnB than white, adolescent rock.
"I always had that aspect in my voice but the first record just didn't have songs that were conducive to me singing that way," he states. "I think it's from growing up listening to a lot of Michael Jackson. With these songs, it made sense to stretch out a little more."
On "Cross My Heart" and "Celebrity Status", the band conjures up a kind of perfect pop crossover. Producer Dave 'Rave' Ogilvie was responsible for the latter track, which cops a move he used on Marilyn Manson's "Beautiful People" with three drummers (Casselman, Ramsay and Shane Wilson) playing at once - much to Ramsay's delight. "He's just worked with so many great artists which makes his well of tricks and ideas so vast," he says.
True to Ramsay's quest for "more diversity on this album" - not to mention the indulgence of his record label - Rave was just one of four prominent guest producers eventually roped into Masterpiece Theatre. Their collective resume includes Nine Inch Nails, Sum 41, Iggy Pop, Avril Lavigne, and Hedley among others.
"I feel really fortunate to have worked with all those guys," Ramsay says, "coz they all bring really unique things. Dave Genn and I have a really good working relationship with each other, and he has such a unique style with arrangement and stuff. Greig Nori was a really pleasant surprise. As far as I can tell, he wanted to work with us because he liked our video. The whole time he was just trying to get me to dance around like an idiot. And Raine Maida, man? Raine's a trip!"
Bassist Ayley also credits Maida for encouraging the band to “find a personality-identity that wasn't as evident when we started the production process," while also praising Ramsay for his production efforts. Ramsay took charge of four songs on the finished record. “Josh is really about capturing the emotion and power which isn't surprising considering all the feeling in the writing,” he says.
Oddly enough, Ramsay also wanted Disney's in-house genius Alan (Little Mermaid) Mencken to twiddle the knobs for the climactic version of "Masterpiece Theatre", but admits, "it's a pretty tall order to get an Academy Award winner to come and work on your record."
Still, the album is certainly not diminished by the few things Ramsay didn't get. And once the world gets a load of this Masterpiece, Mencken, Pharrell Williams, Phil Spector... you name it. They'll probably be lining up.
Acadia
Marianas Trench Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My room in the basement
The hours turning
To years we've spent
Remember Chris in the backyard
Laughing so damn hard
And no one knew why
But the rest is forgotten
Behind me, sometimes it reminds me
Of when we, we used to belong here
Every memory comes on
When I hear that old song
That we used to sing
With the words all wrong
I remember the faces
And familiar places
And I sing along
But Acadia is gone
Ran out of gas on the highway
We walked there and I gave
Drunken speeches on sobriety
Now we've all moved away and
Somehow became men
But I remember where it began at
Behind me, sometimes it reminds me
Of when we, we used to belong here
Every memory comes on
When I hear that old song
That we used to sing
With the words all wrong
I remember the faces
And familiar places
And I sing along
But Acadia is gone
Oh
Whoa
Whoa
Whoa
Whoa
Whoa
Oh
Ooh
Oh
Oh, oh
Remember when 1712
Acadia Road fell
They tore the house down
Every memory comes on
When I hear that old song
That we used to sing
With the words all wrong
I remember the faces
And familiar places
And I sing along
But Acadia is gone
Acadia is gone
In the house I grew up in
Remember the faces
When Andrew and I wrecked
Each other's cars and
Acadia is
Acadia is gone
The song "Acadia" by Marianas Trench reflects on the bittersweet memories of childhood and growing up. The lyrics take the listener through the nostalgic journey of the singer, reminiscing about the happy times spent in the house he grew up in and the moments shared with his friends. The singer recalls one particular incident when they were with a friend named Chris in the backyard, laughing uncontrollably, and no one knew why. Later on, the same person, now grown up and moved on, is reminded of that moment in his life and as he sings the old song with the words all wrong, he still remembers where his life journey started.
The song captures the mixed feelings of sadness and happiness that come with time and how memories are often the only things that remain unchanged. The recurring refrain "But Acadia is gone" emphasizes the fact that even though memories remain immutable, things that we hold dear to us might change and cease to exist.
In conclusion, "Acadia" is a heart-wrenching and reflective song that captures the essence of nostalgia and reflects on the past with both melancholy and affection.
Line by Line Meaning
In the house I grew up in
The place where I spent my childhood
My room in the basement
I used to live in the basement
The hours turning
Time passes quickly
To years we've spent
We've spent several years here
Remember Chris in the backyard
I recall how Chris laughed in the backyard
Laughing so damn hard
Hearty laughter
And no one knew why
The reason for laughter was not apparent
But the rest is forgotten
I have forgotten the details of that time
Behind me, sometimes it reminds me
The past resurfaces to remind me
Of when we, we used to belong here
The sense of belonging we once had
Every memory comes on
Each recollection surfaces
When I hear that old song
A song from the past triggers memories
That we used to sing
A song we used to sing
With the words all wrong
We got the lyrics all mixed up
I remember the faces
I recall the faces
And familiar places
And the places we knew
And I sing along
I sing along with the song
But Acadia is gone
However, that time is no more
Ran out of gas on the highway
Our car ran out of fuel on the motorway
We walked there and I gave
We walked to our destination, and I made a speech
Drunken speeches on sobriety
I gave an unplanned speech about the importance of being sober
Now we've all moved away and
Nowadays, we're all living in different places
Somehow became men
We've matured over time
But I remember where it began at
But I remember where it all started
Remember when 1712
Do you recall when, in 1712
Acadia Road fell
Acadia Road was destroyed
They tore the house down
The house was demolished
Oh
An expression of emotion
Whoa
An interjection used to express surprise or admiration
Oh
An expression of emotion
Ooh
An interjection expressing excitement
Oh
An expression of emotion
Oh, oh
An expression of emotion
Remember the faces
I remember the people
When Andrew and I wrecked
The time when Andrew and I crashed
Each other's cars and
Our cars collided with each other
Acadia is
Acadia is
Acadia is gone
But that time has disappeared
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Josh Ramsay
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
니니Bacon
Lyrics:
In the house I grew up in, my room in the basement the hours
turning to years we spent
Remember Chris in the backyard laughing so damn hard and
no one knew why
But the rest is forgotten behind me sometimes it reminds me
of when we, we used to belong here
Every memory comes on when I hear that old song that we
used to sing with the words all wrong
I remember the faces and familiar places and I sing along but
Acadia is gone
Ran out of gas on the highway, we walked there and I gave
drunken speeches on the sobriety
Now we've all moved away and somehow became men but I
remember where it began
Behind me sometimes it reminds me
of when we, we used to belong here
Every memory comes on when I hear that old song that we
used to sing with the words all wrong
I remember the faces and familiar places and I sing along but
Acadia is gone
Remember when 1712 Acadia Road fell, and they tore the house down
Every memory comes on when I hear that old song that we
used to sing with the words all wrong
I remember the faces and familiar places and I sing along but
Acadia is gone
📼...
연어맛케이크
I dont remember how I got tto know these guys but this song still gives me chills
x
Warriors map 5 Giants.
Chroniknight
It's one of my favourites. And much music when they first got known more for me.
Maris Hope
I can really relate to this song. My best friend was named Cadia. We had adventures just like Josh and his crazy friends (well, we didn't make drunken speeches on sobriety). But now she is long gone. I will miss her and always love her. Cadia, you're my Acadia <3
ThePrimaD
I love these guys! I saw them before they made it big at the Element in Penticton with Everclear. Their harmony gave me goosebumps, they are just amazing vocalists and are super talented. They were all really sweet and kinda shy too. Will never forget it!
meganisnotawkward
How could someone dislike this?!!!? Marianas Trench is the best band on earth!:))
Melissa Walker
I love all the songs on the album, but this one is the one that really stuck out to me. Simply amazing!
Anna Gro
I am not a big fan or any type of pop music. But this is such a good song. It makes you think back to your good memories. No matter who you are.
Kirsten Rossbach-Nuttall
Wow. I used to sing this song as a teen and thought I understood the lyrics. Now as a woman, grown, raising my own family, living so far away from home, this song hits so differently....
Hailee Harrington
My best friend introduced me to this band over this past summer.... This soon became our theme song :)