Sinner (Drowning Pool album)

Sinner is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band Drowning Pool, released on June 5, 2001 by Wind-up Records. It is considered to be the band's most popular album, being certified platinum in the same year that it was released. This was due at least in part to "Bodies" which remains the band's most well-known song. This is the only studio album by the band to feature original lead singer Dave Williams. While touring in support of Sinner, he died on August 14, 2002 from cardiomyopathy. The album debuted at #14 on the Billboard 200 chart. Drowning Pool released a reissue of the album called the "Unlucky 13th Anniversary Edition" in 2014.[6] The album was put at no. 25 on Metal Descent's list "The 25 Best Alternative Metal Albums".[7]

Sinner
Studio album by Drowning Pool
Released	June 5, 2001
Recorded	January–April 2001
Studio	Ocean Studios, Burbank, CA
Genre	Nu metal alternative metal[1]
Label	Wind-up
Producer	Jay Baumgardner
Drowning Pool chronology
Pieces of Nothing (2000) Sinner (2001) Desensitized (2004)
Singles from Sinner
"Bodies" Released: May 14, 2001 "Tear Away" Released: April 30, 2002 "Sinner" Released: August 13, 2002

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[3]
Q	[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]

Writing and recording

Dave Williams explained how the album got its name in MTV interview: "I got that [Sinner tattoo] tattooed before we named the record. We were working on the song "Sinner," and our A&R guy said, "That would be a good name for the record." We all just looked at each other and said, "Wow, OK." It was just a natural progression that became the whole theme of the record. There are a lot of religious issues on the record and a lot of relationship issues. It just seemed like it would fit."

Dave Williams on the album "We wanted to start with “Sinner” and end with “Sermon”. We covered all the bases on religion and bad relationships."

Mike Luce on Sermon "We're fans of the 80s and back in the day there used to be that whole undertone .... oh, if you play that song backwards, you'll hear this message! So I guess I could tell you what it says. It really doesn't say anything. It recites a lyric from the same song, from "Sermon." We just play it backwards at the end of the song. It's just a homage. A tribute back to the old school.", "It was completely done on a whim and we took a line that Davie (Williams) sang and just ran it in reverse at the tail end of the song. Just kind of a ... here you go. No hidden meaning; you don't have to play the song backwards to hear it. We'll just play it right out here for you."[8]

Unlucky 13th Anniversary Edition contains unreleased demo called "Heroes Sleeping". CJ Pierce explained the meaning of the song "Those last couple of rehearsals, we worked up a new song [Heroes Sleeping]. And I didn't even remember finishing the song. We actually did the song all the way through. So it's totally a gem of a find. Definitely, it's an emotional song to hear. ‘Heroes Sleeping,' it's about other musicians who had passed away before us. That was Dave's [angle] on the lyrical content. Then literally just a few weeks later, he passed away. The song's kind of about him now. So I'm glad we can share that with our fans."[9]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Drowning Pool.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Sinner"	2:27
2.	"Bodies"	3:21
3.	"Tear Away"	4:14
4.	"All Over Me"	3:13
5.	"Reminded"	3:24
6.	"Pity"	2:52
7.	"Mute"	3:19
8.	"I Am"	3:49
9.	"Follow"	3:20
10.	"Told You So"	3:05
11.	"Sermon"	4:19
Total length:		37:30

Unlucky 13th anniversary deluxe edition bonus disc (all tracks are demos)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Sermon"	7:14
2.	"You Made Me"	4:02
3.	"Care Not"	8:33
4.	"Mask"	6:08
5.	"Soul"	6:15
6.	"Break You"	2:49
7.	"Less Than Zero"	4:33
8.	"Follow"	3:35
9.	"Told You So"	4:07
10.	"I Am"	4:01
11.	"Tear Away"	4:32
12.	"Bodies"	3:46
13.	"Heroes Sleeping"	4:50
Total length:		1:04:26

Chart positions

Weekly charts Chart (2001) Peak position New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[10] 18 UK Albums (OCC)[11] 70 US Billboard 200[12] 14

Year-end charts Chart (2001) Position US Billboard 200[13] 102

Singles charts

Year	Single	Chart	Position
2001	"Bodies"	US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles	19
		US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	6
		US Hot Modern Rock Tracks	12
2002	"Sinner"	US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	28
		US Hot Modern Rock Tracks	36
	"Tear Away"	US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	18
		US Hot Modern Rock Tracks	37

Personnel

Adapted from the Sinner liner notes.[14]

Drowning Pool Dave Williams – vocals C. J. Pierce – guitars Stevie Benton – bass Mike Luce – drums Production Jay Baumgardner - production, mixing at NRG Studios, Hollywood, CA James Murray - engineering J.D. Andrew - assistant engineering Tom Baker - mastering at Precision Mastering, Hollywood, CA Diana Meltzer & Victor Murgatroyd - A&R Stig - guitar tech Ross - drum tech at Drum Doctors

Management Paul Bassman - management for Bassmanagement Nicholas C. Ferrara, Esq. - legal representation for Serling, Rooks & Ferrara, LLP Michael Hagerty - business management for Curo Financial Management, LLC Andrew Goodfriend and Dave Kirby - booking for The Agency Group, Ltd. Artwork Ed Sherman - album artwork Glen DiCrocco - photography Chapman Baehler - band photo

In media

• "Bodies" was used as the theme song for Extreme Championship Wrestling in 2001, as well as its 2006 re-incarnation, and WWF SummerSlam (2001)
• "Tear Away" was one of the official theme songs of WWF WrestleMania X8
• "Sinner" was the theme song of WWF Vengeance in 2001.
• "Reminded," "Mute," and "Told You So" all appear in the Funimation dub of Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge
• "Break You" was featured on the original soundtrack of the film The Scorpion King.
• "In Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, the song "Bodies" was featured as encore playable track in Pandora's Quest Mode, and a downloadable content in 'Rock Band Network'.

References

1. "The 25 Best Alternative Metal Albums". MetalDescent.
2. Morris, Kurt. "Sinner - Drowning Pool | AllMusic". Allmusic. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
3. Sinclair, Tom (July 27, 2001). "Drowning Pool: Sinner Review". Entertainment Weekly. No. 606. p. 70. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
4. "Sinner". Q. February 2002. p. 106. 4 stars out of 5 - "...The point where old and nu-metal meet. The impeccable riffs and uncompromising rhythms are perfectly balanced by Dave Williams' fashionably angst-full lyrics...
5. Abowitz, Richard (June 25, 2001). "Drowning Pool: Sinner : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 26, 2007. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
6. "New LP by Drowning Pool: 13th Anniversary Reissue of "Sinner" On The Bicycle Music Company/Concord". Jam Magazine. Archived from the original on 2015-08-10.
7. "The 25 Best Alternative Metal Albums". Metal Descent.
8. Bolton, R. Scott. "Rough Edge: Drowning Pool's Dream Becomes a Nightmare". www.roughedge.com.
9. "DROWNING POOL ENJOY A NEW HIGH TIDE IN THEIR CAREER".
10. "Charts.nz – Drowning Pool – Sinner". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
11. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
12. "Drowning Pool Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
13. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2001". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
14. Sinner (liner notes). Drowning Pool. Wind-up. 2001. EK 91552.CS1 maint: others (link)