The Glass Passenger

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The Glass Passenger is the second studio album by American rock band Jack's Mannequin, released through Sire Records on September 30, 2008 in the United States. It is the band's first studio album on Sire Records after Everything in Transit (2005) was released through Maverick Records. Sire released two of the album's new songs on the extended play (EP) The Ghost Overground, on August 5, 2008, including "The Resolution", the album's first single.

Lead singer Andrew McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2005, on the day the band finished mastering the last song for their debut album. The band didn't return to playing shows until the end of that year, and didn't begin writing until after the summer of 2007. The Glass Passenger was produced by Andrew McMahon and Jim Wirt, co-produced and recorded by CJ Eiriksson with additional Production by Bobby "Raw" Anderson and additional engineering by Max Coane in November 2007 - March 2008. It was mixed by Chris Lord-Alge. It experienced a series of delays, originally being given a tentative April 2008 release, then being pushed back five months to the end of September.

Video The Glass Passenger

Background

The band's first album Everything in Transit was released in 2005. Following its recording, frontman Andrew McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and spent several months receiving cancer treatment for his disease. During this time, the documentary Dear Jack was filmed. Jack's Mannequin played its first concert since the diagnosis in December of that year, and the band began several tours over the next two years, both supporting the likes of O.A.R. in 2005 and Panic! at the Disco in 2006 and also headlining shows, including Tour for the Cure and the West Coast Winter Tour.

Maps The Glass Passenger

Composition

McMahon began writing songs for the band's second record following the summer of 2007. He had about ten songs written by that December and hoped to start mixing and recording the album in January 2008.

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Release

Delayed release

The band's official blog was updated in December 2007 with the album's title, in February 2008 with song lyrics, and in March and May with tentative track lists. Jack's Mannequin played college shows in January and February, premiering "Suicide Blonde" and "Caves" at Ramapo College in New Jersey. Stacy Clark's MySpace blog confirmed in April 2008 that she provided guest vocals on the track "Spinning". She also lent her voice to the track "Crashin'".

In interviews with AbsolutePunk.net and Alternative Press, the release date was tentatively given as April 22, 2008, but an AbsolutePunk.net notice was posted on March 18, 2008, stating that the album would be pushed back to June 3. On June 3, 2008, AbsolutePunk.net reported that the album had been mixed by Chris Lord-Alge, and was being mastered in New York. In July, the band performed on the 2008 edition of Warped Tour. During that month, McMahon told the Montclair State University student newspaper that the release date would be moved to late August or early September 2008. and on June 13, he told Alternative Addiction the album was expected sometime in the first two weeks of September. Jason Tate of AbsolutePunk.net reported on July 15 that the album had been pushed back from the reported September 9 date; four days later, Jonathan Lally reported that the official release date would be September 30.

Eventual release

In July and August, the band went on a US tour with Paramore, Paper Route and Phantom Planet. On July 28, the album's track listing and artwork was revealed. On August 5 an EP titled The Ghost Overground was released exclusively on iTunes. The EP contains two new songs titled "The Resolution" and "Bloodshot", and also includes live versions of "Kill the Messenger" and "Holiday from Real" from the band's first album, Everything in Transit. "The Resolution" was released to radio on August 19. A music video for "The Resolution" was filmed in early September, directed by author Stephenie Meyer. A new EP entitled In Valleys was released exclusively on iTunes on September 9 featuring B-sides and new tracks from The Glass Passenger. Tracks include "Swim", "Cell Phone", "In Slow Motion (Sleazy Wednesday)" and "Annie Use Your Telescope". On September 11, "Annie Use Your Telescope" was posted online. A third EP, The Resolution EP, was released on September 23 as a Verizon and Rhapsody exclusive. The EP includes the songs "The Resolution", "Annie Use Your Telescope" and an acoustic version of "The Resolution".

The music video for "The Resolution" was released on September 29. The Glass Passenger was made available for streaming and released through major labels Sire and Warner Bros. Records on September 30. The Australian iTunes edition features all songs from The Ghost Overground EP and the In Valleys EP, except for "Doris Day". In October and November, the band went on a club tour in the US titled Hammers and Strings: An Evening with Jack's Mannequin and The Glass Passenger. During the tour, the band performed The Glass Passenger in its entirety. The band was supported Eric Hutshinson, Fun and Treaty of Paris on select dates. In January 2009, the band performed a few shows in Japan, before appearing at Soundwave festival in Australia in February and March. Following this, the band performed two shows in both Germany and the UK. The band then embarked on a tour of the US in April and May. Dubbed the Father from the Earth tour, the band was supported by Matt Nathanson, Low vs Diamond and Erin McCarley.

Prior to the tour taking place, a number of dates in both April and May were cancelled initially without reason. Shortly afterwards, the band issued a statement where they mentioned they received a tour offer from the Fray. McMahon said he was "very interested but had not wanted to reschedule shows" as presale tickets had been sold. However, when he became aware that Jack's Mannequin would be given a 60-minute support slot, it "gave [him] solace in the midst of a difficult decision." The shows that were cancelled would be rescheduled sometime in the fall. In late May, posted that they were looking for original artwork from fans to include in the music video for "Swim", which was filmed the following month. Between mid-June and early August, the band toured with the Fray across the US.

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Extra content

A conceptual short film entitled, "Choke, California", directed by James Minchin III, and starring Andrew McMahon, was included in the traditional pre-order package found on the official band website. A trailer for the film is featured on the band's YouTube page. In addition, a long-form trailer featuring the b-side "At Full Speed", was featured on the album's website on August 13, upon completion of a puzzle.

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Preorders

There were several different preorders for The Glass Passenger.

• Bamboozle Exclusive: includes a limited edition lithograph, the digital album, and The Glass Passenger album book (available only at the Jack's Mannequin and Warner Bros. Records merchandise booths at the 2008 Bamboozle)
• Warped Tour Preorder: includes a lithograph and a physical copy of the album. (available only at the Jack's Mannequin merchandise booth at select dates of the 2008 Warped Tour)
• JacksMannequin.com Preorder: includes the digital bonus track "Miss California" along with "exclusive extras" and the album in digital, physical, or vinyl (available at JacksMannequin.com on July 30, 2008)

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Reception

The album debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200, moving 49,000 units in its first week.

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Track listing

All tracks written by Andrew McMahon.

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Personnel

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References

Source of article : Wikipedia