Triptych (The Tea Party album)

Triptych
Studio album by The Tea Party
Released	June 8, 1999
Recorded	October 10, 1998 – March 3, 1999, at Alkemical Studios, Montreal, Studio Morin Heights, Morin-Heights, Quebec, and Metalworks Studios, Mississauga, ON
Genre	Melodic rock, Progressive rock, Alternative rock
Length	51:25
Label	EMI Music Canada
Producer	Jeff Martin
The Tea Party chronology
Transmission (1997) Triptych (1999) Live at the Enmore Theatre (1999)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Rock Hard (de)	9/10[1]

Triptych (1999) is The Tea Party's fifth album. It has the trio blending the major influences found on their previous albums: the earthy rock of Splendor Solis, the world music inspired arrangements of The Edges of Twilight, and the industrial edge of Transmission.

Triptych showed a band with a new confidence in songwriting. After the gloom of Transmission, which relied heavily on sampling and electronica, for Triptych the band wrote with both melody and content, while using electronica subtlety.^[2] This is evidenced by the Juno Award nominated single "Heaven Coming Down", the band's first number one single in Canada. The album itself received a Juno nomination for "Best Rock Album", before achieving double platinum sales in Canada.

Reception

In 2005, Triptych was ranked number 435 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.^[3]

Track listing

1. "Touch" – 3:57
2. "Underground" – 3:41
3. "Great Big Lie" – 3:50
4. "Heaven Coming Down" – 4:01
5. "The Halcyon Days" – 5:57
6. "The Messenger" (Daniel Lanois) – 3:32
7. "Samsara " – 3:56
8. "A Slight Attack" – 3:15
9. "Taking Me Away" – 5:02
10. "These Living Arms" – 5:03
11. "Chimera" – 4:29
12. "Gone" – 3:35
13. [Untitled] – 1:02

The unlisted 13th track is the sound of a clock chiming.

Singles

• "Heaven Coming Down"
• "The Messenger"
• "Touch"
• "These Living Arms"
• "Gone"

Special Tour Edition 2000

In June 2000, the EMI labels in Europe released Triptych Special Tour Edition 2000, which included a bonus disc of eight unreleased songs.

Special Tour Edition 2000 bonus disc track listing

1. "Psychopomp" (live)
2. "The River" (live)
3. "Save Me" (live)
4. "Lifeline"
5. "A Woman Like You" (Bert Jansch)
6. "Temptation" (Rhys Fulber remix)
7. "Sister Awake" (live)
8. "Waiting for a Sign"

Personnel

• Jeff Martin – production and recording
• Don Hachey – engineering
• Jeff Martin and Nick Blagona – mixing at Metalworks Studios, (Mississauga)
• Nick Blagona – mastering at Metalworks Mastering
• Stuart Chatwood – cover art conception
• Antonie Moonen – design
• James St Laurent – cover photography
• David Giammarco – special thanks

String quartet

• "Gone"
  • Ligia Paquin - viola
  • François Pilon - violin
  • Benoit Loiselle - cello
  • Stéphanie Meyer - cello

References

1. Schleutermann, Marcus. "Rock Hard". issue 149. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
2. Triptych at AllMusic
3. [...], Rock Hard (Hrsg.). [Red.: Michael Rensen. Mitarb.: Götz Kühnemund] (2005). Best of Rock & Metal die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Königswinter: Heel. p. 34. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.

External links

• Lyrics