Acceptance – Phantoms

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The debut album from Acceptance will be turning 20 over the weekend, so it’s only fitting for us to take another look at the cult favorite record known as Phantoms. The band’s strength came from the great partnership between lead guitarist Kaylan Cloud and dynamic vocalist Jason Vena, and their ability to convey a wide range of emotions through their unique brand of rock. The set was produced by veteran hit-maker Aaron Sprinkle, who leaves his great blueprint all over this shimmering album. The promotion cycle Phantoms included only two singles, “Different” was the lead single, while the more upbeat “Take Cover” followed up on the modest success of the debut single. The band would follow the release of Phantoms with tours with bands like Vendetta Red, Head Automatica, Anberlin, Saosin, and more to work on their live show that had steadily improved since Acceptance formed in 1998. Acceptance would take a lengthy hiatus in 2006, only to reunite and re-capture their spark in 2017’s equally great Colliding By Design. Phantoms signaled a key moment in Acceptance’s rise in the crowded emo scene, and it’s a shame that the record didn’t take off as much as it clearly should have.

In some interviews about Acceptance’s hiatus, guitarist Christian McAlhaney noted that they were “strong-armed by [their] label into releasing a ballad as [Phantoms’] first single,” while the CD was bundled with Extended Copy Protection on the album (as well as other releases by Columbia Records) and a lengthy court battle that resulted in Phantoms being permanently recalled. This is truly a shame for a talented young band to deal with head on, and these factors also included the album being leaked nine months early to derail any potential success that the record may have had.

The music itself found on Phantoms is quite great. From the hard-hitting opener of “Take Cover” showcasing the vocal prowess of Jason Vena to softer-tinged songs like “So Contagious” and “Different,” Acceptance had a radio-ready sound that never really got its time on the format to accelerate the professional success of the band. “In Too Far,” in retrospect, reminds me a lot of the sound that Anberlin went for Never Take Friendship Personal, while the crisp storytelling and songwriting found on “The Letter” proved that Acceptance were a band to be taken seriously.

The back half of Phantoms has some gems on it as well, with “This Conversation is Over” highlighting the harder side of the band, and “Over You” previewing the sound that they would expand upon on their post-hiatus record of Colliding By Design. The cool guitar work found on “Breathless” chugs along over Vena’s continued great vocal performance and would garner plenty of attention in the overall package brought forth on this record.

The closing one-two punch of the aggressive “Permanent”, that features some brilliant drumming from Nick Radovanovic, builds up to the reflective “Glory/Us” that adds in some keyboards from Vena to evoke the right emotions in the song. Phantoms didn’t get much attention from radio outlets, music magazines and publications, but it would slowly become one of those albums that fans of this genre would later point to by saying, “this should’ve been huge.” It’s hard to not agree with this sentiment as we all put fresh ears on this fantastic album.

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