Sticks and Stones (Moe album)

Sticks and Stones is the ninth studio album by the American rock band, moe. It was released on January 22, 2008 by Fatboy Records, almost one year to the day after the release of their last studio album The Conch. It was the first moe. album to also be released on vinyl.

For other uses, see Sticks and Stones (disambiguation).
Sticks and Stones
Studio album by
moe.
ReleasedJanuary 22, 2008
RecordedFall 2007
GenreRock
LabelFatboy Records
Producermoe.
Moe. chronology
Warts and All: Volume 5
(2007)		 Sticks and Stones
(2008)		 Warts and All: Volume 6
(2008)

History

In the fall of 2007, moe. rented an old church/cathedral in the New England area where they could record new material at their leisure.[1] This is a departure for the band since on their last two previous studio albums, The Conch (2007) and Wormwood (2003), the band had performed their new songs for a live audience extensively and even used audio recordings from the shows to mix with the studio recordings. The seven songs not previously displayed for the album were "wrote and recorded ... in about three weeks" according to guitarist Al Schnier.[1]

Allaire Studios provided final mixing while the mastering was done by Bob Ludwig. Guest appearances by Allie Kral, Umphrey's McGee, Swampadelica's Nadine LaFond and others were included on Sticks and Stones.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Rolling Stone[3]

The album received mostly positive reviews. Rolling Stone, Allmusic, and Glide magazine all rated the album 3.5 stars out of 5. The album also received a very positive review at Jambase, which states that "...the result is moe.'s most concise and well-written album to date," and, "The ten tunes on Sticks And Stones are short and to the point, with the focus on moe's skill as songwriters rather than their collective and considerable musical prowess"[4]

Based on 16 customer reviews at Amazon.com, 10 people gave it 4 stars or better. Most common criticisms of the album included the lack of extended solos, and that the songs could have used some better development by testing them out on the road more (only "Conviction Song" and "All Roads Lead to Home" had been previously performed live).[5]

Overall, the album fared about the same as their previous studio album, The Conch, on the Billboard Music charts.

Track listing
  1. Cathedral - 3:56
  2. Sticks and Stones - 3:36
  3. Darkness - 2:50
  4. Conviction Song - 5:04
  5. Z0Z (Zed Nought Zee)* - 4:38
  6. Deep This Time - 4:15
  7. All Roads Lead to Home - 3:16
  8. September - 3:48
  9. Queen of Everything - 6:13
  10. Raise a Glass - 2:59

Personnel

Credits

Chart performance

Album
Chart Provider(s) Peak
position		 Certification Sales/
shipments
Billboard 200 (U.S.)[6] Billboard 119 Not certified N/A
Billboard Top Independent Albums (U.S.)[6] 16
Billboard Heatseekers (U.S.)[6] 2
gollark: Although God *is* currently in containment and thus does not count as a witness.
gollark: Actually, Maarten, osmarks.net™ spy satellites watch all so there are always witnesses.
gollark: Consume bees, maarten.
gollark: (in esolangs)
gollark: I require input on my question, I SAID this.

References
  1. moe. News
  2. Allmusic review
  3. Rolling Stone review
  4. http://www.jambase.com/Articles/12871/moe.-Sticks-and-Stones(-i)
  5. https://www.amazon.com/Sticks-Stones-moe/dp/B00104CJ90
  6. moe. Artist Chart Position at Billboard
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