Seven Circles
| Seven Circles | ||||
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| Studio album by The Tea Party | ||||
| Released | August 17, 2004 (Canada) October 31, 2005 (Europe) |
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| Recorded | Orange Studios (Toronto), Plantation Studios (Haiku Hill, Maui) and Metalworks Studios (Mississauga, ON) | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 45:09 | |||
| Label | EMI Music Canada InsideOut Music Europe |
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| Producer | Jeff Martin, Gavin Brown, and Bob Rock | |||
| The Tea Party chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
Seven Circles (2004) is The Tea Party's seventh album, and the last prior to the band breaking up in 2005. The album continues the style of the band's two previous offerings (The Interzone Mantras in 2001 and Triptych in 1999) by combining world music influences with rock instrumentation and electronic studio techniques. The album is also one of the band's most positive sounding records, forsaking the dystopian imagery and moody lyrics of past albums, and including several ballads that border on love-song territory. This change in focus has led to both praise and criticism from fans.[citation needed]
The album is dedicated to the memory of Steve Hoffman, the late manager of The Tea Party, who died of lung cancer in October 2003. Track 4, "Oceans" was written in his honour, with a promotional single released in May 2005 The Tea Party hoped to bring more attention to the Steven Hoffman Fund.[2]
The album is also notable for containing the song "Empty Glass", which continues the saga of Major Tom from the work of David Bowie, Peter Schilling, and others.
Seven Circles marks the first time that Jeff Martin has duetted with another artist; "Wishing you would Stay" features fellow Canadian vocalist Holly McNarland, as a counterpoint to Martin's baritone.
The album peaked at number 5 on Billboard's Top Canadian Album chart, reaching gold status in Canada. Seven Circles also received a nomination for "Rock Album of the Year" at the 2005 Juno Awards.
Contents
Track listing
All songs written by The Tea Party, except tracks 6, 7, and 8 written by The Tea Party and Bob Rock.
- "Writing's on the Wall" – 2:40
- "Stargazer" – 4:11
- "One Step Closer Away" – 3:49
- "Oceans" – 4:35
- "Luxuria" – 4:25
- "Overload" – 3:53
- "Coming Back Again" – 4:44
- "The Watcher" – 4:16
- "Empty Glass" – 3:16
- "Wishing You Would Stay" – 4:11
- "Seven Circles" – 7:36
Singles
Recording Personnel
- Produced by: Gavin Brown and Jeff Martin (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11), Bob Rock (Tracks 6, 7, 8)
- Recorded at: Orange Studios (Toronto) and Plantation Studios (Haiku Hill, Maui)
- Engineered by: Eric Ratz and Eric Helmkamp
- Mixed by: Randy Staub
- Mixed at: The Warehouse Studio, Vancouver
- Special Thanks: David Giammarco
Additional musicians
- Track 10
Art Details
- Art Direction: Stuart Chatwood and Antoine Moonen
- Layout and Design by: Antoine Moonen
References
- ↑ Seven Circles at AllMusic
- ↑ Oceans Video Steve Hoffman.org : for Lung Cancer Research Accessed 4 May 2007
