Obsession (Eighteen Visions album)

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}} {{Infobox album | name = Obsession | type = studio | artist = Eighteen Visions | cover = ObessionAlbum.jpg | alt = | released = June 15, 2004<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070522051502/http://www.sonymusicstore.com/store/catalog/MerchandiseDetails.jsp?merchId=71390&skuId=71398 |url=http://www.sonymusicstore.com/store/catalog/MerchandiseDetails.jsp?merchId=71390&skuId=71398 |title=Eighteen Visions Obsession [CD] |archive-date=May 22, 2007 |accessdate=July 18, 2024}}</ref> | recorded = Maple St. Studio in Santa Ana, California | venue = | studio = | genre = {{hlist|Alternative metal|metalcore<ref name="allmusic"></ref>|post-hardcore}} | length = 35:47 | label = Trustkill Records | producer = Andrew Murdock, Scott Gilman, Fred Archambault | prev_title = Vanity | prev_year = 2002 | next_title = Eighteen Visions | next_year = 2006 | misc = {{Singles | name = Obsession | type = studio | single1 = Waiting for the Heavens | single1date = August 10, 2004<ref name=FMQB>{{cite web|url=http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=16771 |title=FMQB Airplay Archive: Modern Rock |publisher=Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Incorporated |accessdate=October 30, 2016 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130322142732/http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=16771 |archivedate=March 22, 2013 }}</ref> | single2 = I Let Go | single2date = September 8, 2004 | single3 = Tower of Snakes | single3date = April 12, 2005<ref name=FMQB /> }} {{Extra album cover | header = 2024 re-recorded cover | type = album | cover = Eighteen_Visions_Obsession_Rerecorded.jpeg | border = | alt = | caption = ''Obsession'' 2024 re-recorded cover. }} }} {{Album ratings |rev1 = AllMusic |rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="allmusic" /> }}

'''''Obsession''''' is the fifth album by Eighteen Visions. The album was their most commercially successful to date, and featured three music videos.

==Background==

Following the release of Vanity in August of 2002,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lambgoat.com/news/1573/eighteen-visions-record-gets-a-street-date/ |title=Eighteen Visions record gets a street date |date=June 28, 2002 |access-date=July 31, 2025}}</ref> guitarist Brandan Schieppati would depart Eighteen Visions to focus on his band Bleeding Through.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lambgoat.com/news/1587/eighteen-visions-line-up-change/ |title=Eighteen Visions line-up change |date=July 4, 2002 |access-date=July 31, 2025}}</ref> Eighteen Visions would then tour alongside a number of acts to promote ''Vanity'', including: Every Time I Die, Hopesfall, Norma Jean, Throwdown, Terror, Kittie, Sworn Enemy, and Underoath.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lambgoat.com/news/1629/18-visions-etid-hopesfall-norma-jean-tour/ |title=18 Visions, ETID, Hopesfall, Norma Jean tour |date=July 21, 2002 |access-date=July 31, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://lambgoat.com/news/1707/eighteen-visions-throwdown-european-tour/|title=Eighteen Visions & Throwdown European tour |date=August 22, 2002 |access-date=July 31, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=September 27, 2002 |url=https://lambgoat.com/news/1802/18-visions-terror-throwdown-tour-dates/ |title=18 Visions, Terror, Throwdown tour dates |access-date=July 31, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://lambgoat.com/news/2095/sworn-enemy-gets-dates-on-kittie-18v-tour/ |title=Sworn Enemy gets dates on Kittie, 18V tour |date=January 9, 2003 |access-date=July 31, 2025}}</ref>

In March of 2003, the band announced that they had finished recording ten songs, with the exception of vocals, for an upcoming release.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lambgoat.com/news/2264/eighteen-visions-update/ |date=March 4, 2003 |title=Eighteen Visions update |access-date=July 31, 2025}}</ref> On March 19 the band announced that they would be recording a video for the track "You Broke Like Glass" with Timecode Entertainment, shot on location at Paul Frank Industries.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lambgoat.com/news/2305/eighteen-visions-set-to-shoot-video/ |date=March 19, 2025 |title=Eighteen Visions set to shoot video |access-date=July 31, 2025}}</ref>

On October 24, Eighteen Visions announced they were preparing pre-production for their upcoming third release, and that they had enlisted Andrew Murdock to assist with production.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lambgoat.com/news/2822/eighteen-visions-preparing-to-record/ |title=Eighteen Visions preparing to record |date=October 24, 2003 |access-date=July 31, 2025}}</ref> In January of 2004, the band announced they had completed work on their upcoming full-length, "Obsession."<ref name="January update"/> They also shared that drummer Ken Floyd officially moved to guitar, and that former Saved By Grace member Jason Shrout would take his place on drums.<ref name="January update">{{cite web|url=https://lambgoat.com/news/3064/eighteen-visions-update/ |title=Eighteen Visions update |date=January 29, 2004 |access-date=July 31, 2025}}</ref> Shrout would depart the band in July of 2004, following Obsession's release.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lambgoat.com/bits/270/archived-news-tidbit/ |title=Eighteen Visions and drummer Jason Shrout have amicably parted ways. |date=July 21, 2004 |access-date=July 31, 2025}}</ref> In March, the band shared that they were in the process of remixing the album with assistance from Ben Grosse.<ref name="March Update">{{cite web|url=https://lambgoat.com/news/3234/eighteen-visions-update/ |title=Eighteen Visions update |date=March 23, 2004 |access-date=July 31, 2025}}</ref> Upon completion of mixing, the band would be sending the album to Brian Gardner for mastering.<ref name="March Update"/> They also shared that they had plans to shoot a video for the track "Waiting for the Heavens," which would be directed by Chris Sims and Timecode Entertainment.<ref name="March Update"/> The video debuted in late May of 2004 via RED Music.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lambgoat.com/bits/159/ |title=The video for Eighteen Visions' "Waiting For The Heavens" (from their upcoming album "Obession") has been posted online <a href="http://www.redmusic.com/video/18Visions/WaitingForTheHeavens.asx |date=May 20, 2004 |access-date=July 31, 2025}}</ref>

The album was officially released on June 15, 2004, but was re-released later in the year via Epic Records.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lambgoat.com/bits/180/ |date=June 2, 2004 |access-date=July 31, 2025 |title=Although it will be out via Trustkill on June 15th, Epic Records will also be releasing Eighteen Visions' "Obsession" album later this year.}}</ref>

Some editions of this album come with a DVD that features a 'making of' the album. The album has sold over 200,000 copies in the US. The album peaked at #4 on the Heatseekers chart in the US. On July 3, 2004, the album peaked at #147 on the ''Billboard'' 200.<ref>[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=eighteen visions|chart=all}} ]{{dead link|date=March 2012}}</ref> The song "Guilty Pleasures," seemingly only available on the UK Pressing of Obsession, was confirmed by singer James Hart on Twitter to actually be "The Sun Falls Down." The title is incorrect on the Japan pressings and the single for "I Let Go."

The album was noted to be a starkly different sonic approach by comparison to the sound found on their earlier work, noted by AllMusic as "[a] shadowy realm [...] where the iron poles of heavy metal beat against hardcore spines, and hammer the resulting screams into melodies lanced with pain."<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web |last1=Loftus |first1=Johnny |title=Obsession – Eighteen Visions |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/obsession-mw0000475822 |website=Allmusic |access-date=April 15, 2022 |quote=Eighteen Visions have moved consciously into that shadowy realm, the one where the iron poles of metal beat against hardcore spines, and hammer the resulting screams into melodies lanced with pain.}}</ref>

In January of 2005, the band shared that they would be recording a music video for the track "I Let Go," the third video from the album.<ref name="I Let Go">{{cite web|url=https://lambgoat.com/news/4318/eighteen-visions-set-to-shoot-video/ |title=Eighteen Visions set to shoot video |date=January 5, 2005 |access-date=July 31, 2025}}</ref> The video would be directed by Zach Merck.<ref name="I Let Go"/>

On 15 June, 2024, the 20th anniversary of the album's release, a fully re-recorded version of the album was released with accompanying reworked cover art. While "Said and Done", the closing song of the original record, is the only that does not appear on the 2024 version of the album, previously unreleased demos had been finished and released as new songs "Ghost Like Swayze" and "Monster". Additionally, two bonus tracks from the original record's limited release, "Sun Falls Down" and "The World Is Mine", were also included.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://lambgoat.com/news/43079/eighteen-visions-celebrate-20-years-of-obsession-with-re-recorded-reissue | title=EIGHTEEN VISIONS celebrate 20 years of 'Obsession' with re-recorded reissue }}</ref>

== Track listings == === US pressing === #"Obsession" (2:03) #"I Let Go" (3:23) #"Crushed" (3:00) #"This Time" (3:05) #"Tower of Snakes" (3:41) #"I Should Tell You" (3:47) #"Waiting for the Heavens" (3:43) #"Lost in a Dream" (3:07) #"Bleed by Yourself" (3:20) #"A Long Way Home" (2:34) #"Said and Done" (4:00)

=== UK pressing === #"Obsession" (2:03) #"I Let Go" (3:23) #"Crushed" (3:00) #"This Time" (3:05) #"Tower of Snakes" (3:38) #"I Should Tell You" (3:45) #"Waiting for the Heavens" (3:41) #"A Pretty Blue (Lost in a Dream)" (3:07) #"Guilty Pleasures (The Sun Falls Down)" (3:15) #"Bleed by Yourself" (3:18) #"The World Is Mine" (2:57) #"A Long Way Home" (2:34) #"Said and Done" (3:58)

=== Japanese pressing === #"Obsession" (2:03) #"I Let Go" (3:23) #"Crushed" (3:00) #"This Time" (3:05) #"Tower of Snakes" (3:38) #"I Should Tell You" (3:45) #"Waiting for the Heavens" (3:41) #"Lost in a Dream" (3:07) #"Bleed by Yourself" (3:18) #"A Long Way Home" (2:34) #"Said and Done" (3:58) #"The World Is Mine" (2:57) #"Guilty Pleasures (The Sun Falls Down)" (3:15)

=== 2024 re-recording === #"Obsession" (2:29) #"I Let Go" (3:18) #"Crushed" (3:18) #"This Time" (3:11) #"Tower of Snakes" (4:10) #"I Should Tell You" (3:38) #"Waiting for the Heavens" (3:54) #"Lost in a Dream" (3:06) #"Bleed by Yourself" (3:15) #"A Long Way Home" (2:32) #"Ghost Like Swayze" (3:11) #"Monster" (3:05) #"Sun Falls Down" (3:16) #"The World Is Mine" (2:55)

== Personnel == *James Hart – lead vocals *Keith Barney – guitars, piano, lap steel, vocals *Mick Morris – bass *Ken Floyd – drums, percussion, keyboard, programming, guitars, vocals '''Production''' *Andrew Murdock – producer, engineering *Fred Archambault – producer, engineering *Scott Gliman – producer, engineering *Ben Grosse – mixing *Brian Gardner – mastering *Mark Wess – photography

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070104225810/http://www.trustkill.com/obsession/ Obsession Album Website] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070104225439/http://www.trustkill.com/webstore/music.php?id=664 Obsession on Trustkill Records]

Category:Eighteen Visions albums Category:2004 albums Category:Trustkill Records albums

Obsession (Eighteen Visions album)

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