| Apologies to the Queen Mary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 27, 2005 | |||
| Recorded | Audible Alchemy, Portland, OR, and Montreal September 2004 to Spring 2005 | |||
| Genre | Indie rock | |||
| Length | 47:48 | |||
| Label | Sub Pop | |||
| Producer | Isaac Brock, except tracks 4, 5, and 7 by Wolf Parade | |||
| Wolf Parade chronology | ||||
| ||||
Apologies to the Queen Mary is the 2005 first full-length album by Canadian indie rock band Wolf Parade.
Songwriting and vocals are split between guitarist Dan Boeckner and keyboardist Spencer Krug.
According to interviews with the band, [1] the album is named after an incident in which the band was removed from the ocean liner Queen Mary for breaking down the door of a ballroom and staging a violent séance.
The song "Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts" refers to Pretas of Buddhist mythology. The "Hungry Ghosts" – beings who, because of actions in their past lives, are always hungry and thirsty, but cannot eat or drink – are used by Krug as a reference to his generation. [2]
The songs "Killing Armies" and "Modern World (Original)" were added to the iTunes Music Store release. Killing Armies is taken from the 2004 EP and Modern World (Original) is from the 2003 EP.
The songs "Fancy Claps", "Same Ghost Every Night", and "This Heart's On Fire" were not originally from an EP. All of the other songs, including "Killing Armies", came from the three previous EPs, except "I'll Believe In Anything". This song appeared on the album Snake's Got a Leg by Sunset Rubdown (another Spencer Krug project), which was recorded in 2004 and released in July 2005.
Krug has stated that "You Are a Runner" is "more about who I am in relation to my family, my father. That song is just about, well, I'm not going to get into great detail, but my father is a certain way, and there are days when it's obvious to me that I could turn out that way, and that's not a way I want to be, and it has a certain effect on the people who are close to him, and then I see the people that are close to me getting affected in the same way. That's it on a basic level, I sort of…I don't want to get into it beyond those vague terms. "Grounds for Divorce" is just about breaking up. The divorce is symbolic, it's not a real divorce." [2]
The music video for "I'll Believe in Anything" was named "Music Video of the Year" at the PLUG Awards.
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 83/100 [3] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ [5] |
| The Guardian | [6] |
| The Independent | [7] |
| The Irish Times | [8] |
| Los Angeles Times |  [9] |
| NME | 7/10 [10] |
| Pitchfork | 9.2/10 [11] |
| Rolling Stone | [12] |
| Uncut | [13] |
Apologies to the Queen Mary is widely considered one of the most influential indie rock albums of the 2000s. As a result of the rave reception of the album, many music magazines feature Apologies to the Queen Mary in their best of the decade lists. The album achieved a score of 83 out of 100 on Metacritic, [14] appeared in the Canadian edition of Time magazine's list of "Canada's Most Anticipated Indie Albums of the Year", and was shortlisted for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize. Online music magazine Pitchfork placed Apologies to the Queen Mary at number 89 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s [15] and placed "I'll Believe in Anything" at 95 on their list of The Top 500 Tracks of the Decade. [16] Cokemachineglow named the record the 5th greatest album of the 2000s. [17] LAS Magazine placed it at spot #38 of the greatest records of 2000-2009 while Stylus magazine and PopMatters placed it on spot #19 and #16 on their list of the best albums of 2005, respectively. It was also featured on the list of No Ripcord, taking spot number 12.
As of 2006 it has sold 67,000 copies in United States. [18]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son" | Spencer Krug | 2:54 |
| 2. | "Modern World" | Dan Boeckner | 2:52 |
| 3. | "Grounds for Divorce" | Krug | 3:25 |
| 4. | "We Built Another World" | Boeckner | 3:15 |
| 5. | "Fancy Claps" | Krug | 2:51 |
| 6. | "Same Ghost Every Night" | Boeckner | 5:44 |
| 7. | "Shine a Light" | Boeckner | 3:47 |
| 8. | "Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts" | Krug | 3:39 |
| 9. | "I'll Believe in Anything" | Krug | 4:36 |
| 10. | "It's a Curse" | Boeckner | 3:12 |
| 11. | "Dinner Bells" | Krug | 7:34 |
| 12. | "This Heart's on Fire" | Boeckner | 3:59 |
| Total length: | 47:48 | ||
Pitchfork is an American online music publication that was launched in 1996 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog.
Wolf Parade is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2003 in Montreal. The band released three full-length albums before taking a five-year hiatus in 2011. They announced their return in 2016, releasing a self-titled EP in May of that year, and a fourth studio album, Cry Cry Cry, in October 2017. Their fifth studio album, Thin Mind, was released on January 24, 2020.
The Glow Pt. 2 is the third studio album by American indie folk and indie rock project the Microphones. It was released on September 11, 2001, through K Records and later through P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd. Recording was done on analog equipment at Dub Narcotic, Olympia, Washington, from May 2000 to March 2001. The album takes influences from numerous music genres such as black metal, ambient and avant-garde, as well as non-musical sources like the American drama television show Twin Peaks and primary member Phil Elverum's relationship to Khaela Maricich. Elverum was responsible for the album's production in its entirety.
Wolf Parade is an EP by the Canadian indie band Wolf Parade. It was released on July 12, 2005, on Sub Pop. "Shine a Light" and an extended version of "You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son" appear on the band's Apologies to the Queen Mary.
Frog Eyes are an indie rock band from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada fronted by Carey Mercer. Their 2010 album Paul's Tomb: A Triumph was a longlisted nominee for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize. They have released eight albums and two EPs and are noted for their collaboration with Dan Bejar of Destroyer.
Return to the Sea is the first studio album by Islands. It was released by Equator Records on 4 April 2006. "Rough Gem" was released as a single from the album. The remastered version of the album was released on 11 November 2016.
Sunset Rubdown is a Canadian art rock music group from Montreal. The band began as a solo project for Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade, who released his debut, Snake's Got a Leg, in early 2005. By the next year the project expanded to become a full band which included Camilla Wynne Ingr, Jordan Robson-Cramer, and Michael Doerksen.
Spencer Krug is a Canadian musician. He is the singer, songwriter and keyboardist for the indie rock band Wolf Parade and also records under the name Moonface. He has also performed with other Canadian bands including Sunset Rubdown, Swan Lake, Frog Eyes, Fifths of Seven, and ska band the Two Tonne Bowlers, playing various instruments. His involvement in many musical acts has garnered him a noticeably high output of work, being credited on several releases a year. He is known for his distinctive voice and songwriting abilities.
Swan Lake was a Canadian indie supergroup comprising Carey Mercer of Frog Eyes and Blackout Beach, Dan Bejar of Destroyer, Hello, Blue Roses and The New Pornographers, and Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown and Frog Eyes.
Wolf Parade is the second EP by Canadian indie rock band Wolf Parade. The EP is a collaborative effort by the band members. Song writing and vocals are split between members Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug.
Wolf Parade is the first EP by Canadian indie rock band Wolf Parade.
Dan Boeckner is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist and podcaster. He is best known as one of the frontmen of Wolf Parade, which he helped found in 2003. Since 2013, he has also been a member of the Montreal-based band Operators. Boeckner began his career in the Victoria, Canada music scene, playing in multiple bands including Atlas Strategic. Since that time, he has been part of projects including Handsome Furs and Divine Fits with Spoon frontman Britt Daniel.
Handsome Furs was a Montreal-based indie rock duo which consisted of Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry, who were married at the time. Boeckner is best known for his time in the bands Wolf Parade and Atlas Strategic. The band announced its breakup on May 17, 2012 via Facebook.
At Mount Zoomer, the second full length LP from the Canadian indie rock band Wolf Parade, was released on June 17, 2008.
Face Control is Handsome Furs' second full-length album, which was released through Sub Pop Records. The album was recorded and mixed by Wolf Parade's Arlen Thompson at Mount Zoomer, and it was mastered by Harris Newman at Hotel2Tango.
Expo 86 is the third full-length album by Canadian indie rock band Wolf Parade. It was released on 29 June 2010.
"Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?" is a charity record inspired by "Do They Know It's Christmas?". It was released on October 11, 2005, in Canada on Vice Records by a cast of rock artists and other performers under the name "North American Halloween Prevention Initiative" (NAHPI). It reached number four on the Canada pop chart.
A Thing Called Divine Fits is the only studio album by American–Canadian indie rock band Divine Fits. The album was recorded in Los Angeles in a backyard studio with producer Nick Launay between March and May 2012. It was released on August 27, 2012 in Europe and August 28, 2012 in North America on Merge Records. The first single, "My Love Is Real", was released on July 31, 2012.
Cry Cry Cry is the fourth studio album by the Canadian indie rock band Wolf Parade, released on October 6, 2017.
Thin Mind is the fifth studio album by Canadian indie rock band Wolf Parade. It was released on January 24, 2020 through Sub Pop.
