Astoria (Marianas Trench album)

Astoria is the fourth studio album recorded by Canadian rock band Marianas Trench. It was released on October 23, 2015, through 604 Records (in Canada) and Cherrytree Records and Interscope Records (internationally).^[5][6][7] The album represents the band's official return to the music scene after promotion of their previous album, Ever After (2011), ended in 2013, and was preceded by the retrospective EP, Something Old / Something New earlier in 2015.^[8]

Astoria
Studio album by Marianas Trench
Released	October 23, 2015 (2015-10-23)
Recorded	2014–15
Genre	Pop^[1] pop rock^[2]
Length	57:11
Label	604
Producer	Josh Ramsay
Marianas Trench chronology
Something Old / Something New (2015) Astoria (2015) Phantoms (2019)
Singles from Astoria
"One Love" Released: September 14, 2015 "This Means War" Released: February 16, 2016 "Who Do You Love" Released: September 8, 2016

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Melodic	^[3]
AllMusic	^[4]

Background

In 2011, Marianas Trench released their third studio album, Ever After, which produced five top-50 singles, including lead single "Haven't Had Enough", which became the group's highest charting single to date (since the creation of the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 in 2007) at number 9. After releasing the last single from that era, "By Now", in 2013, the group returned to the studio to record their next album. During the promotion for Ever After, lead singer and songwriter, Josh Ramsay, also achieved mainstream success as a songwriter and producer on fellow Canadian Carly Rae Jepsen's No. 1 hit "Call Me Maybe" (2012).^[9][10] This helped pave the way for the band signing an American record deal with Cherrytree Records and promoting to a broader audience.^[9]

The group released "Pop 101" featuring hip hop artist Anami Vice on July 29, 2014 as the intended lead single for the then-unnamed fourth album.^[11][12] A second single, "Here's to the Zeros", was released in December 2014, with the full album expected the following spring (2015).^[13][14] The album's release was later pushed back to the fall. When the band officially announced Astoria, they ultimately decided not to include either of these tracks, as they no longer fit the tone of the record.^[8][15][16] Both of these buzz singles, along with two previously-unreleased songs recorded before their debut album, Fix Me (2006), were instead released as a four-track extended play fittingly titled Something Old / Something New that was released on May 26, 2015.^[15][17]

Concept

Similar to their previous two albums (2009's Masterpiece Theatre and 2011's Ever After), Astoria is conceived as a loose concept album, with a cohesive theme and transition tracks bridging the individual songs composing the album.^[8] According to Ramsay, this album is inspired by 1980s fantasy and adventure films, and The Goonies (1985) in particular.^[5] That film inspired the title (as it was set in Astoria, Oregon), the album's artwork, as well as the title of their accompanying US tour (Hey You Guys!!).^[5]

Promotion

Marianas Trench participated the US on the Hey You Guys!! Tour in the fall of 2015 in support of the album. The tour began in Portland, OR on November 3, 2015 and ended in Grand Rapids, MI on February 14, 2016.^[18][19] The band also released a video to their official Vevo channel regarding the making of the album.^[20] The group has also announced a Canadian tour called the "Never Say Die Tour", and will be accompanied by Walk Off The Earth . The tour is set to start on March 9, 2016. On May 20, the group released a music video for "This Means War".^[21] In July and August, the group went on the SPF 80s tour in the US.^[22]

Singles

"One Love" was released on September 14, 2015 as the official lead single for the album.^[23] It entered the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 at number 60 on the chart dated October 3, 2015.^[24] The song has been described by critics as more pop than the group's earlier music and has also been favorably compared to previous ballad singles "Good to You" and "Fallout".^[25][26] "One Love" was serviced to American hot adult contemporary radio through 604 Records on November 9, 2015.^[27]

A second official single, "This Means War", was serviced to Canadian radio on February 16, 2016.^{[28][unreliable source?]} It was the group's first single to not enter the Canadian Hot 100.

"Who Do You Love" was released as the third official single on September 8, 2016.^[29]

Promotional singles

The thirteenth track, "Wildfire", was released to iTunes on October 2, 2015 as a promotional single supporting pre-orders of the album.^[30]

Track listing

All music and lyrics by Josh Ramsay.^[31]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Astoria"	6:57
2.	"Burning Up"	4:05
3.	"Yesterday"	4:14
4.	"One Love"	4:01
5.	"August Burns Red"	0:46
6.	"This Means War"	3:24
7.	"Hospital Bells"	0:38
8.	"Dearly Departed"	4:19
9.	"Hollywood Renaissance"	1:08
10.	"Shut Up and Kiss Me"	3:12
11.	"Who Do You Love"	3:52
12.	"Never Say Die"	0:29
13.	"Wildfire"	4:04
14.	"While We're Young"	4:00
15.	"Forget Me Not"	3:48
16.	"And Straight On Til Morning"	0:34
17.	"End of an Era"	7:40
Total length:		57:11

Personnel

Personnel per booklet.^[31]

Marianas Trench Josh Ramsay – vocals, guitar, piano, drums, bass, programming, string arrangement Matt Webb – guitar, piano, vocals Mike Ayley – bass, vocals Ian Casselman – drums, percussion, vocals Additional musicians Dave Genn – guitar and Hammond organ on "Astoria" Morgan Hempstead – vocals on "Astoria" and "End of an Era" Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – vocals on "Astoria" Steve Marshall – vocals on "Astoria" Craig Northey – vocals on "Astoria" and "End of an Era" Sara Ramsay – vocals on "Astoria" Royce Whittaker – guitar on "Astoria" Bennie Ramsay – aux percussion and foot steps on "Astoria" "Yesterday" horn players: Mike Allen Kristy-Lee Audette Dominic Conway Jocelyn Waugh Ian Weiss "Shut Up and Kiss Me" The Marian-ettes: Rachel Ashmore Aiden Farrell Jessica Lee Natasha Pheko Cat Thomson "Who Do You Love" drummers: Peter Barone Flavio Cirillo Pedro Dzelme Alex Glassford Christopher Hockey Nik Pesut Paul Townsend Shane Wilson Brett Jamieson – guitar on "End of an Era" Dave "Rave" Ogilvie – additional synthesizers Colin Janz – additional synthesizers The Vancouver Film Orchestra – strings Hal Beckett – conductor

Production Josh Ramsay – producer, engineer, mixing Bennie and the Jets Ramsay - executive producer Kyle – assistant to executive producer Zach Blackstone – engineer, mixing assistant Kurtis S. Maas – engineer assistant Nik Pesut – drum tech, additional editing Shane Wilson – drum tech Roger Monk – engineer on strings Dave Ogilvie – mixing Satoshi Mark Noguchi – orchestra mixing Ted Jensen – mastering Garnet Armstrong – art direction, design Ivan Otis – photography, base photography Naeim Khavari – illustration, paint overs

Chart performance

Album

Chart (2015)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[32]	56
Canadian Albums (Billboard)^[33]	2
US Billboard 200^[34]	53

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions
		CAN ^[35]	CAN AC ^[36]	CAN CHR ^[37]	CAN Hot AC ^[38]	US Adult ^[39]
2015	"One Love"	50	14	20	16	35
2016	"This Means War"	—	38	37	38	—
	"Who Do You Love"	56	15	31	9	—
"—" denotes a recording that failed to chart or was not released to that format.

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)^[40]	Platinum	80,000^‡
^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Near - Find Local and in your local area".
2. "Review: Marianas Trench - Astoria - Sputnikmusic". www.sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
3. Anastasia, Nick (October 17, 2015). "Marianas Trench - Astoria". Melodic. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
4. Monger, Timothy. "Astoria – Marianas Trench". AllMusic. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
5. Jane, Lauraa (September 15, 2015). "Marianas Trench To Release New Album 'Astoria'". Highlight Magazine. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
6. "Astoria by Marianas Trench". iTunes Store (Canada). Apple Inc. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
7. "Astoria by Marianas Trench". iTunes Store (US). Apple Inc. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
8. DeAndrea, Joe (June 2, 2015). "Marianas Trench - 06/02/15 - Interview". Absolute Punk. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
9. Payne, Chris (April 24, 2013). "Marianas Trench's Josh Ramsay On Band's U.S. Breakthrough, Crafting 'Call Me Maybe'". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
10. Lederman, Marsha (August 15, 2015). "Call me Maybe helps dreams come true for co-founder of 604 Records". The Globe and Mail. The Woodbridge Company. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
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12. "Virgin Radio 96 :: Marianas Trench - Pop 101 :: New Music Blog New Music - Article". 96 Virgin Radio. Bell Media. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
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14. "Today's Best Music max 104.9 :: New Music For A New Year :: New Adds New Adds - Feed Story". Max 104.9. Bell Media. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
15. Sternall, Allison (May 28, 2015). . Confront Magazine. Archived from the original on June 1, 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
16. Josh Ramsay (May 27, 2015). "Detective Mittens on Twitter: "That's right. All new. RT @NorthsideLala: @JoshRamsay so here's to the zeros and Pop 101 wont be on the album? It'll be all brand new?"". Twitter. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
17. "Something Old / Something New - EP by Marianas Trench". iTunes Store (Canada). Apple Inc. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
18. Witherow, Barbara (September 15, 2015). "Marianas Trench announces tour". Substream Magazine. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
19. Witherow, Barbara (October 28, 2015). "Marianas Trench adds more dates to the Hey You Guys!! Tour". Substream Magazine. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
20. MarianasTrenchVEVO (September 21, 2015). "Marianas Trench - The Making Of Astoria". YouTube. Google. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
21. Chatterjee, Kika (May 20, 2016). "Watch Marianas Trench's new video for "This Means War"". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
22. Ralpha, Caitlyn (May 18, 2016). "Marianas Trench announce headlining tour". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
23. . Google Play. Archived from the original on November 13, 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
24. "Canada Singles Top 100 (October 3, 2015) - Music Charts". aCharts.co. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
25. Witherow, Barbara (September 14, 2015). "Marianas Trench releases new single "One Love"". Substream Magazine. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
26. Sternall, Allison (September 15, 2015). . Confront Magazine. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
27. . Radio & Records. Archived from the original (Week Of: November 9, 2015) on 2015-11-10. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
28. Marianas Trench (February 16, 2016). "Marianas Trench - #ThisMeansWar is out today at radio in Canada!..." Facebook. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
29. . 604 Records. Archived from the original on January 31, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
30. "Wildfire - Single by Marianas Trench". iTunes Store (Canada). Apple Inc. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
31. Astoria (Booklet). Marianas Trench. 604. 2015. 25396 06932.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
32. Ryan, Gavin (October 31, 2015). "ARIA Albums: 5 Seconds of Summer Top Australian Chart". Noise11. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
33. "Marianas Trench Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
34. "Marianas Trench Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
35. "Marianas Trench - Chart history (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
36. "Chart Search". Billboard Canada AC for Marianas Trench. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
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38. "Chart Search". Billboard Canada Hot AC for Marianas Trench. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
39. "Marianas Trench - Chart history (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
40. "Canadian album certifications – Marianas Trench – Astoria". Music Canada. Retrieved March 4, 2017.