I remember when the pledgemusic campaign went live for that album….all the teasing finally coming to fruition. I couldn’t believe that it was real. I was the third person to pledge to it. I ended up spending $200 on different tiers for it, and my wife ended up surprising me with vip tickets to a reunion show in Nashville and I got to meet the band and Aaron Sprinkle and talk about the album before it came out. It was an incredible experience that I’ll never forget. This band is always going to be super special to me.
Completely forgot they released this instant classic Acceptance sounding song post reunion. I remember being gutted it wasn't on the album (or on Apple Music) when it came out but it definitely feels more Phantoms than Colliding By Design.
Yeah I’m def not a CBD person. I’ve given it a few shots and honestly I hate it. Liked the tooth and nail record better but nothing slapping like phantoms or BLTB
CBD *sounds* great. Produced excellently as we know it would be. But the songs just sort of idle. “Come Closer” is a great example of that. I can see them, after the chorus, wanting to give the song some space to breathe or whatever - but man, after “the first time is the last time,” before the bridge, just hit the fucking gas! The noodling guitar riff and bass line are good, but there’s no rhythm or other guitars to propel it forward in the same way that “The Letter” had, for instance.
Phantoms will always be great, but all this slander for CBD and WF is crazy to me. Those albums are fan-fucking-tastic. I dont love the vocal effects on WF, but otherwise its amazing. I love everything these guys have ever done. Any idea if they have any plans for a new album in the future? Ive got the four demos that were released in the late 2000s, but Id love to hear the pre-CBD demos that Jason posted. Never seen those out there before. I also have the Phantoms leak that leaked like 6 months before the album came out. Its mostly the same, but I dont think its mastered, and some of the songs are a bit different. "Different" starts off with piano, and a couple of other songs have slight differences. I played the hell out of those tracks in late 2004
Aaron sprinkle played all the instruments on phantoms. He told me they weren’t good enough to get it and it was a major label record so he just recorded all the music and had Jason sing over it
fun fact: Aaron's cover of So Contagious is how i first discovered Acceptance's music (i knew of them beforehand given Christian's role in Anberlin, but never gave them a listen until hearing that cover).
They wrote all of it. They just weren’t polished enough players to pull off a major label level recording at the time. Aaron is an absolute pro. My source is air tight on this. Any tooth and nail bands during that era, especially younger bands, probably had the same thing happen. He was machine.
Wild, Free is so good, something between The Killers and The Get Up Kids? My favorite album from them, other two are fantastic too, underrated band for sure
Phantoms is the only record I’ve ever had the urge to collect every variant for. It took a lot of years, and a lot of money, but it’s finally done. I don’t have a test press for it (I’ve tried a lot of times, but I’ve never been able to successfully grab one), but i feel satisfied. We’re coming up on the 20th anniversary of the record, so I wouldn’t be surprised if another variant or two gets released in celebration, but I’ll be there if it happens. sorry to bump without any substantial news. For what it’s worth, I asked Christian on instagram a few months ago if we’d hear from the band in 2025 and he said yes, so that’s something at least