Option Paralysis

Option Paralysis is the fourth studio album by American mathcore band The Dillinger Escape Plan, released on March 23, 2010. After having fulfilled their contract with Relapse Records, the band released the album through Party Smasher Inc., their own new imprint in collaboration with French record label Season of Mist.[3] It marks The Dillinger Escape Plan's first release to feature Billy Rymer on drums, since Gil Sharone left the band in September 2008 due to the frequent touring schedule and to focus on his brother's band Stolen Babies.[4][5]

Option Paralysis
Studio album by
The Dillinger Escape Plan
ReleasedMarch 23, 2010
RecordedSeptember 8 − November 12, 2009
Genre
Length41:28
Label
Producer
The Dillinger Escape Plan chronology
Ire Works
(2007)		 Option Paralysis
(2010)		 One of Us Is the Killer
(2013)
Singles from Option Paralysis
  1. "Farewell, Mona Lisa"
    Released: January 19, 2010
Alternative covers
Cover for the vinyl version of Option Paralysis.
Alternative cover
Cover for the digipak version of Option Paralysis.

Option Paralysis debuted at number 78 on the Billboard 200 with 7,100 units sold.[6]

Background

Formation of Party Smasher Inc.
Main article: Party Smasher Inc.

The Dillinger Escape Plan announced their departure from Relapse Records in 2009. They had become dissatisfied with the music industry and music media, and decided to create their own record label to release their fourth studio album. The band created their own imprint Party Smasher Inc. under French label Season of Mist. They stated that Party Smasher (which was originally erroneously reported to be called Photogenic Records)[7][8] is not technically a record label but a "creative umbrella" for all things related to The Dillinger Escape Plan. In an interview with Alternative Press, Weinman stated, "Well, I should clarify that it's not exactly our attempt to run a record label. That's not something we could be good at, and it's obviously not something anybody's good at these days. [Laughs] It's more a situation where we now have a name for this umbrella that covers every business and artistic decision we make–whether it's Dillinger, side projects or whatever."[9]

Recording

In a blog on the band's MySpace profile, vocalist Greg Puciato revealed that they would be entering the studio from September 7 - October 30, 2009 to record Option Paralysis with longtime collaborator Steve Evetts.[10] The band focused on these sessions more than in previous albums and the members stayed on the studio from noon to night or more, for three months. Puciato described the process as overwhelming but necessary: "We really went as far as we could making sure that every little thing was exactly the way we wanted. How many records are you gonna be able to do in your life? It’s the one thing you can look back on and either say, 'Fuck, I wish we did that differently' or 'We did that exactly the way we were going to'. You're going to die with nothing, man. This is going to outlive any of us, hopefully."[11] Eventually, the recording lasted until November 12, 2009.[12]

The album is their second longest yet at over 41 minutes, behind Dissociation, and was described by Ben Weinman as "our most metal record yet."[13]

Title and lyrics

The title Option Paralysis is a concept referring to an individual "paralyzed" by an overload of options. Ben Weinman cited this as a general concern of the band, whose members grew up in underground scenes but by the time of the album were witnessing young people absorbed in modern technology, which they believe homogenized culture and caused "[almost a] cultural depression."[14]

During the writing process, Puciato was going through personal issues, and described Option Paralysis as one of the toughest and the most honest album he made thus far.[15] The singer was immersed in absurdist philosophy at the time, reading authors such as Søren Kierkegaard and particularly Albert Camus' work, including The Stranger, The Plague, Exile and the Kingdom and The Myth of Sisyphus.[16] The lyrics were composed in free association and Puciato believes that they unearthed subconscious issues he had, but chose to keep them private.[17]

"Room Full of Eyes" was named for the 1995 song "1,000 Eyes" by Death.[18]

Promotion

The band released several demo snippets on their YouTube channel.[19] Furthermore, a website for the record was set up, linking to all of the studio update videos and demo snippets.[20] During their North American East Coast tour with Thursday in December 2009, the band sold download cards at their shows that entitled the customer to a download of the 10 song album upon its release with 3 additional exclusive bonus tracks.[21]

The song "Farewell, Mona Lisa", debuted on Liquid Metal SXM on Christmas Day, 2009;[22] it became available for download on January 19, 2010.[23] "Chinese Whispers" was debuted on Full Metal Jackie's syndicated radio show broadcast on 29 stations throughout the USA on the March 5, 2010, and was subsequently played on the next two days. On March 9, the blog MetalSucks featured the online debut of the song.[24]

In February, the album was made available for pre-orders through the Season of Mist e-shop. It was available in a variety of formats, including a box set, Digipak, black vinyl and transparent vinyl. A white vinyl was later made available through Relapse Records.

Artwork

Former frontman Dimitri Minakakis (who also contributed artwork for 2004 album Miss Machine) created the artwork for Option Paralysis. In an interview, Jeff Tuttle revealed that the album cover features photographs and images that the members captured themselves.

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic82/100[25]
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk9.0/10[26]
AllMusic[2]
Alternative Press[9]
BBCpositive[27]
Decibel8/10[28]
Rock Sound9/10[29]
Slant Magazine[30]
Spin[31]
Revolver[32]
Sputnikmusic4.5/5[33]
Pitchfork7.2/10[1]

Option Paralysis was released to overall critical acclaim. The album garnered a rating of 82/100, or universal acclaim, on aggregate review site Metacritic.[34]

Exclaim! named Option Paralysis the No. 2 Metal Album of 2010.[35]

Public reception

Option Paralysis was very well received by the public. On Rate Your Music the album has an average rating of 3.44 of 5, based on more than 1,750 ratings,[36] and on Sputnikmusic the album has an "excellent" average rating of 4.1 of 5, based on more than 2,400 ratings.[37] The album is #19 on the list "Best Albums of 2010" on Sputnikmusic.[38]

Option Paralysis received the highest percentage of #1 votes in the 2010 Pitchfork Readers' Poll.[39]

Appearances

The songs "Farewell, Mona Lisa", "Gold Teeth on a Bum", "Widower", and "Parasitic Twins" are featured in the game Rock Band 3 via the Rock Band Network

The single "Farewell, Mona Lisa" is featured as a playable radio song in the 2011 video game Saints Row: The Third.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Greg Puciato except "Parasitic Twins" by Jeff Tuttle; all music is composed by Ben Weinman.

No.TitleLength
1."Farewell, Mona Lisa"5:23
2."Good Neighbor"2:30
3."Gold Teeth on a Bum"5:22
4."Crystal Morning"2:02
5."Endless Endings"2:32
6."Widower"6:23
7."Room Full of Eyes"4:15
8."Chinese Whispers"4:06
9."I Wouldn't If You Didn't"4:14
10."Parasitic Twins"4:41
Vinyl[40] and Japanese bonus track
No.TitleLength
11."Chuck McChip"2:24
iTunes bonus track
No.TitleLength
11."Farewell, Mona Lisa" (demo version)4:57
Amazon bonus track
No.TitleLength
11."Endless Endings" (demo version)2:45
Box set and digipak bonus track
No.TitleLength
11."Heat Deaf Melted Grill"2:53
Paralyzing Edition
No.TitleLength
11."Heat Deaf Melted Grill"2:52
12."Chuck McChip"2:23
13."Farewell, Mona Lisa" (Demo Version)4:56
14."Endless Endings" (Demo Version)2:45
15."Parasitic Twins" (Instrumental Version)4:41

Personnel
The Dillinger Escape Plan
Guest musicians
Technical
  • Benjamin Weinman – producer
  • Steve Evetts – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Allan Hessler – assistant engineer
  • Alan Douches – mastering
Other
  • Dimitri Minakakis (Pronto Workshop) – artwork
  • Benjamin Weinman – management
  • Jim Morewood (English Gent Organization) – International booking
  • Justin Hirschman (Artist Group International) – North American booking
  • Ian J. Friedman, Esq. – legal

Charts
Chart (2010) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[44] 53
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[45] 50
UK Albums (OCC)[46] 107
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[47] 6
US Billboard 200[48] 78
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[49] 9
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[50] 5
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[51] 23
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[52] 8
gollark: My family has a pet one, but it actually just mostly sits in a rock thing in its terrarium.
gollark: Geckos are really quite cool reptiles.
gollark: Yep!
gollark: I feel like stating how high your "spatial perception IQ" is is a bad way to apologise.
gollark: You mean "you can draw connections between things and form a graph"? This is not much of an insight.

References
  1. Harvell, Jess. "The Dillinger Escape Plan: Option Paralysis Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  2. "Option Paralysis - The Dillinger Escape Plan - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2018-09-19.
  3. Ben Weinman's / The Dillinger Escape Plan's Twitter account - 05/27/2009
  4. Ben Weinman's / The Dillinger Escape Plan's Twitter account - 01/02/2009
  5. Ben Weinman's / The Dillinger Escape Plan's Twitter account - 01/09/2009
  6. "The Dillinger Escape Plan: Option Paralysis First-Week Sales Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. Roadrunner. April 1, 2010. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
  7. Jon, W (May 27, 2009). "New Dillinger Escape Plan Album to Hit Early 2010 on New Label". Headbangers Blog. MTV. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
  8. Neilstein, Vince (May 28, 2009). "So, Dillinger Escape Plan have left relapse". MetalSucks. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
  9. Burges, Aaron (April 2010). "Option Paralysis Review & In-Store Session with guitarist Ben Weinman". Alternative Press. Vol. 24 no. #261. Cleveland, Ohio: Alternative Press Magazines Inc. p. 124. ISSN 1065-1667.
  10. "The Dillinger Escape Plan's MySpace account - 08/24/2009". Archived from the original on 2009-02-07. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  11. Anonymous, Adam (April 7, 2010). "The Bravest Metal Band In The World?: The Dillinger Escape Plan Interviewed". The Quietus. London. Archived from the original on November 19, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  12. Steve Evetts' Twitter account - 11/12/2009
  13. Guitar World February 2010 issue
  14. Bryant, Tom. Kerrang! #1306, April 03, 2010. Dillinger Escape Plan. p.41
  15. Pavone, Barbara (August 2, 2010). "The Dillinger Escape Plan's Greg Puciato offers up one of the most interesting and truthful interviews to ever hit The Rock and Roll Report. Really". Rockandrollreport.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  16. Parks, Andrew (July 16, 2010). "THE SELF-TITLED INTERVIEW: The Dillinger Escape Plan". Self-titledmag.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  17. Carman, Keith (March 25, 2010). "Dillinger Escape Plan Get the Blues". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on December 28, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  18. Alderslade, Merlin (November 1, 2018). "You'll never guess what album young GREG PUCIATO hid under a rock so his parents wouldn't find it. This is his Slaylist". Metal Hammer. United Kingdom: PressReader. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  19. The Dillinger Escape Plan's YouTube channel
  20. Option Paralysis - www.optionparalysis.net
  21. Ben Weinman's / The Dillinger Escape Plan's Twitter account - 12/05/2009
  22. Ben Weinman's / The Dillinger Escape Plan's Twitter account - 12/24/2009
  23. "Farewell, Mona Lisa: The Dillinger Escape Plan". Amazon.com. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  24. "Exclusive Web Debut of The Dillinger Escape Plan's "Chinese Whispers"". MetalSucks. March 3, 2010. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
  25. Option Paralysis at Metacritic
  26. Pfleider, Adam (March 11, 2010). "Review: Option Paralysis". AbsolutePunk. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
  27. Diver, Mike (March 10, 2010). "Review: Option Paralysis". BBC. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
  28. Green, Nick (April 2010). "The Dillinger Escape Plan remain predictably unpredictable on Option Paralysis". Decibel. No. #66. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Red Flag Media Inc. pp. 69–70. ISSN 1557-2137. Archived from the original on March 26, 2010. Retrieved March 23, 2010.
  29. Patashnik, Ben (March 15, 2010). "Review: Option Paralysis". Rock Sound. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
  30. Cole, Matthew (March 23, 2010). "The Dillinger Escape Plan: Option Paralysis". Slant Magazine. Retrieved March 23, 2010.
  31. Weingarten, Christopher (March 9, 2010). "Metal mathematicians throttle anthemic formula". Spin. Retrieved March 22, 2010.
  32. Geist, Brandon. "Option Paralysis review. Page #88, March/April 2010 issue : The Tattoo issue". Revolver.
  33. Flatley, Ryan (March 3, 2010). "Review: Option Paralysis". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
  34. "Option Paralysis MetaScore". Metacritic. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  35. "Year in Review: Metal". Exclaim!.
  36. "Option Paralysis by The Dillinger Escape Plan (Album, Mathcore)". rateyourmusic.com. Sonemic. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  37. "The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis User Opinions". www.sputnikmusic.com. Sputnikmusic. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  38. "Best Albums of 2010". www.sputnikmusic.com. Sputnikmusic. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  39. "2010 Pitchfork Readers Poll". Pitchfork Media. January 3, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  40. "Option Paralysis LP". Allmusic. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  41. "Interview with Ben Weinman of Dillinger Escape Plan: More Than They Were Destined For". The Aquarian Weekly. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  42. Kelham, Andrew (October 29, 2009). "Rock Sound talks to Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Ben Weinman about 'Option Paralysis'". Rock Sound. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
  43. Metal Hammer Website 12/09/2009 Archived 2009-12-13 at the Wayback Machine
  44. "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 12 April 2010" (PDF). Pandora Archive. May 11, 2010. Retrieved September 17, 2011.
  45. "Dillinger Escape Plan: Option Paralysis" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  46. Chart Log UK: "title". UK Albums Chart. Zobbel.de.
  47. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
  48. "The Dillinger Escape Plan Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  49. "The Dillinger Escape Plan Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard.
  50. "The Dillinger Escape Plan Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard.
  51. "The Dillinger Escape Plan Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
  52. "The Dillinger Escape Plan Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.
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