Tantric (album)
Encyclopedia
Tantric is the eponymous debut album of American post-grunge
band of the same name
. It was released February 13, 2001 and debuted at #193 on the Billboard 200
. The album would eventually peak at #71 and reached platinum status
due to the hit-single
"Breakdown
," as well as follow up singles "Astounded" and "Mourning."
. The day they were fired, the three were cutting instrumental demos for what would become songs on Tantric. However, in the meantime, Whitener, Vest, and Taul would have to survive through low-wage jobs.
In March 1999, singer Hugo Ferreira
moved to Nashville
, and within their first practice session together the group began developing songs. Within six months, the band had written a plethora of material and, thanks to local friends in radio, quickly gained a strong fan base in their native Louisville, Kentucky
. After the band's demo caught the attention of Maverick Records
late the following year, they were signed and began recording their self-titled album with producer Toby Wright
.
The album as a whole emphasizes acoustic guitar
and harmonized
vocal melody which is, to some degree, reminiscent of Days of the New
. This style was also heavily influenced by Wright, who is known for applying multi-track vocals to much of his work.
with Lifehouse
, and in May took part in the first two-day HFStival
. After being scheduled to play at the Atlanta Music Midtown Festival, where Tantric was also scheduled, Days of the New canceled at the last minute on May 5. Although not proven, it was widely speculated to be a result of Tantric's involvement in the event. On May 11, Tantric performed "Breakdown" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
.
The Kentucky group joined Oleander
and Beautiful Creatures
on the Rolling Rock Town Fair
tour from September through November. They also appeared on HBO's Reverb
in late 2001. They would perform on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
on December 28.
Tantric was chosen to join Creed
for the first two months of 2002. They then embarked on a headlining effort in the Rellim Tour, sponsored by Miller Beer
, in spring 2002. Afterward, Tantric would reenter the studio to record their second album
.
Music video
s were produced for all three singles from Tantric and fared well on MTV2
. "Breakdown" and "Astounded," which was led by famed director Nigel Dick
, feature a more abrasive, confrontational rock sound while "Mourning" takes on a power ballad approach. The latter was featured in the end credits of the 2002 neo-noir
film The Salton Sea
while "Breakdown" was in advertising and the soundtrack to Driven
.
. By mid 2002, the record had sold over 600,000 copies. It would go on to achieve platinum status with over 1,000,000 units sold, a landmark that Tantric has been unable to top since. In contrast, the third album by Days of the New
, similarly released in 2001, sold only about 90,000 copies.
All three singles managed to chart with the lead release, "Breakdown," reaching the highest of any Tantric single: #1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks
(their only number-one single on any chart to date) and at #4 on the Modern Rock Tracks
. "Astounded" and "Mourning" both reached the top 20 and 30 on the Mainstream and Modern Rock charts, respectively, and gained significant radio play. Few later Tantric singles would reach these heights with the exception of "Hey Now" and "Down and Out."
dynamics and, more specifically, Alice in Chains
. Much attention was also brought to the few musical distinctions between Tantric and Days of the New. However, the album also gained a measure of praise for its strong, commercially viable melodies and sturdy rock/pop balance.
Post-grunge
Post-grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged in the mid-1990s as a derivative of grunge, using the sounds and aesthetic of grunge, but with a more commercially acceptable tone...
band of the same name
Tantric (band)
Tantric is a rock band from Louisville, Kentucky. The group has released four studio albums since 2001; although, their last two albums only retain Tantric's original singer, Hugo Ferreira...
. It was released February 13, 2001 and debuted at #193 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. The album would eventually peak at #71 and reached platinum status
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
due to the hit-single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Breakdown
Breakdown (Tantric song)
"Breakdown" is the debut single by post-grunge band Tantric and the lead single from their self-titled debut album. It is the band's most successful song, having reached #1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks and helped the album achieve platinum status in 2001.Lyrically, "Breakdown" describes a...
," as well as follow up singles "Astounded" and "Mourning."
Background and recording
In November 1998, after a turbulent relationship on the road, Todd Whitener, Jesse Vest, and Matt Taul were released from their duties in Days of the NewDays of the New
Days of the New is an American alternative rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Travis Meeks and a variety of supporting musicians...
. The day they were fired, the three were cutting instrumental demos for what would become songs on Tantric. However, in the meantime, Whitener, Vest, and Taul would have to survive through low-wage jobs.
In March 1999, singer Hugo Ferreira
Hugo Ferreira
Hugo Ferreira is a Portuguese-American African-born rock musician and singer-songwriter for the band Tantric.-Biography:...
moved to Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, and within their first practice session together the group began developing songs. Within six months, the band had written a plethora of material and, thanks to local friends in radio, quickly gained a strong fan base in their native Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. After the band's demo caught the attention of Maverick Records
Maverick Records
Maverick Recording Company is an American record label owned and operated by Warner Music Group, and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:...
late the following year, they were signed and began recording their self-titled album with producer Toby Wright
Toby Wright
Toby Wright is a record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with artists such as Alice in Chains, Metallica, Sevendust and Korn. He is currently in Nashville, Tennessee working on Kara Clark's latest Ep.-Producer:...
.
The album as a whole emphasizes acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
and harmonized
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
vocal melody which is, to some degree, reminiscent of Days of the New
Days of the New
Days of the New is an American alternative rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Travis Meeks and a variety of supporting musicians...
. This style was also heavily influenced by Wright, who is known for applying multi-track vocals to much of his work.
Touring and promotion
The band toured extensively to promote their debut album, including a headlining tour in early and fall 2001. From April to August that year, they supported 3 Doors Down3 Doors Down
3 Doors Down is an American rock band from Escatawpa formed in 1996. The band consists of Brad Arnold , Matt Roberts , Todd Harrell , Chris Henderson , and Greg Upchurch ....
with Lifehouse
Lifehouse (band)
Lifehouse is an American rock band from Los Angeles. The band came to mainstream prominence in 2001 with the hit single "Hanging by a Moment" from their debut studio album, No Name Face. The single won a Billboard Music Award for Hot 100 Single of the Year, beating out Janet Jackson and Alicia...
, and in May took part in the first two-day HFStival
HFStival
The HFStival is an annual Washington, D.C. / Baltimore, Maryland rock festival. Held every summer from 1990 through 2006 by radio station WHFS, and annually since 2010 in commemoration of the now-defunct station's legacy, the HFStival was at its peak the largest yearly music festival on the East...
. After being scheduled to play at the Atlanta Music Midtown Festival, where Tantric was also scheduled, Days of the New canceled at the last minute on May 5. Although not proven, it was widely speculated to be a result of Tantric's involvement in the event. On May 11, Tantric performed "Breakdown" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
.
The Kentucky group joined Oleander
Oleander (band)
Oleander is a post-grunge band from Sacramento, California, USA. Its name is derived from the poisonous wildflower oleander, which line the highways of Northern California. In their nine years of activity, the band released four studio albums under various record labels...
and Beautiful Creatures
Beautiful Creatures
Beautiful Creatures is a 2000 British crime film film directed by Bill Eagles and starring Susan Lynch and Rachel Weisz. Lynch received a British Independent Film Award nomination for her role.-Cast:* Susan Lynch as Dorothy* Iain Glen as Tony...
on the Rolling Rock Town Fair
Rolling Rock Town Fair
The Rolling Rock Town Fair was an annual alternative rock music festival and tour sponsored by Rolling Rock beer of Latrobe, Pennsylvania. The event was created and produced by Executive Producer, Andrew Cohen and Darin Wolf, then Director of Marketing for Rolling Rock.Starting in 2000, the event...
tour from September through November. They also appeared on HBO's Reverb
Reverb (TV series)
Reverb, the critically acclaimed weekly HBO music television series spotlighting emerging talent, ran for four seasons . Reverb captured the energy and spontaneity of live music by taking viewers on stage, backstage, and into the audience at some of the premier venues in the United States...
in late 2001. They would perform on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...
on December 28.
Tantric was chosen to join Creed
Creed (band)
Creed is an American rock band formed in 1995 in Tallahassee, Florida. Becoming popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the band has released three consecutive multi-platinum albums, one of which has been certified diamond, and has sold over 28 million records in the United States, with an...
for the first two months of 2002. They then embarked on a headlining effort in the Rellim Tour, sponsored by Miller Beer
Miller Brewing Company
The Miller Brewing Company is an American beer brewing company owned by the United Kingdom-based SABMiller. Its regional headquarters are located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the company has brewing facilities in Albany, Georgia; Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin; Eden, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas;...
, in spring 2002. Afterward, Tantric would reenter the studio to record their second album
After We Go
After We Go is the second studio album by Louisville post-grunge band Tantric. Released on February 24, 2004, it debuted at #56 on the Billboard Album Charts but quickly lost momentum due to the lack of a strong single. Despite the lack of radio success, the album is considered a success by singer...
.
Music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s were produced for all three singles from Tantric and fared well on MTV2
MTV2
MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation...
. "Breakdown" and "Astounded," which was led by famed director Nigel Dick
Nigel Dick
Nigel Dick is an English music video and film director, writer and musician based in Los Angeles, California. He directed the Band Aid video "Do They Know It's Christmas?", as well as over 300 other music videos.Nigel Dick should not be confused with the Australian Dr...
, feature a more abrasive, confrontational rock sound while "Mourning" takes on a power ballad approach. The latter was featured in the end credits of the 2002 neo-noir
Neo-noir
Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.-History:The term Film Noir was coined by...
film The Salton Sea
The Salton Sea
The Salton Sea is a 2002 American neo-noir film starring Val Kilmer and Vincent D'Onofrio directed by D. J. Caruso.-Plot:While playing the trumpet in a burning room, the protagonist's voice is heard in narration. His story begins with him posing as "Danny Parker", a speed freak addicted to...
while "Breakdown" was in advertising and the soundtrack to Driven
Driven
Driven is a 2001 film directed by Renny Harlin and starring Sylvester Stallone, who also wrote and produced. It centers on a young racing driver's effort to win the ChampCar World Series...
.
Track listing
- "BreakdownBreakdown (Tantric song)"Breakdown" is the debut single by post-grunge band Tantric and the lead single from their self-titled debut album. It is the band's most successful song, having reached #1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks and helped the album achieve platinum status in 2001.Lyrically, "Breakdown" describes a...
" - 3:10 - "Live Your Life (Down)" - 4:30
- "I Don't Care" - 3:41
- "Paranoid" - 3:37
- "Revillusion" - 3:30
- "Mourning" - 4:20
- "Astounded" - 4:21
- "I'll Stay Here" - 4:11
- "Frequency" - 4:00
- "All to Myself" - 3:45
- "Hate Me" - 3:21
- "Inside Your Head" - 5:03
Reception
Commercial performance
Tantric is the band's only album to land on the Billboard Heatseekers, at #4, and it reached #71 on the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. By mid 2002, the record had sold over 600,000 copies. It would go on to achieve platinum status with over 1,000,000 units sold, a landmark that Tantric has been unable to top since. In contrast, the third album by Days of the New
Days of the New
Days of the New is an American alternative rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Travis Meeks and a variety of supporting musicians...
, similarly released in 2001, sold only about 90,000 copies.
All three singles managed to chart with the lead release, "Breakdown," reaching the highest of any Tantric single: #1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...
(their only number-one single on any chart to date) and at #4 on the Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
. "Astounded" and "Mourning" both reached the top 20 and 30 on the Mainstream and Modern Rock charts, respectively, and gained significant radio play. Few later Tantric singles would reach these heights with the exception of "Hey Now" and "Down and Out."
Critical response
Mixed reviews were offered to Tantric's debut. Most negative feedback lay on the grounds that the album lacks a unique sound and rather mimics grungeGrunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
dynamics and, more specifically, Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
. Much attention was also brought to the few musical distinctions between Tantric and Days of the New. However, the album also gained a measure of praise for its strong, commercially viable melodies and sturdy rock/pop balance.
Tantric
- Hugo FerreiraHugo FerreiraHugo Ferreira is a Portuguese-American African-born rock musician and singer-songwriter for the band Tantric.-Biography:...
– lead vocals - Todd Whitener – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, backing vocals - Jesse Vest – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Matt Taul – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....