Neon Ballroom

Neon Ballroom
Studio album by Silverchair
Released	March 8, 1999
Recorded	Pre-Production Monday, May 9th, Recording Tuesday June 23rd 1998 - Wednesday October 7th, 1998 (through different times in total 2 months) at Festival Studio in Pyrmont, New South Wales
Genre	Post-grunge Art rock
Length	49:36
Label	Sony US Murmur AU Murmur/Columbia UK
Producer	Nick Launay
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Rolling Stone link
Silverchair chronology
Freak Show (1997) Neon Ballroom (1999) "Diorama" (2002) Singles from Neon Ballroom "Anthem for the Year 2000" Released: February 1999 "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" Released: May 1999 "Miss You Love" Released: September 1999 "Paint Pastel Princess" Released: December 1999 Double Pack

Neon Ballroom is the third studio album by Australian post-grunge band, Silverchair and was released on March 8, 1999. The album is certified gold in the United States and contained the singles "Anthem for the Year 2000", "Ana's Song (Open Fire)", "Miss You Love" and "Paint Pastel Princess"

The single "Anthem for the Year 2000" retained much of the band's youthful rock energy but with a completely new rock song style and structure that was not present on Frogstomp or Freak Show and also included various electronic effects. Neon Ballroom was a complete overhaul of the bands previous sound and contained a lot more experimental elements and sounds not present on anything they had previously recorded.

"Spawn" was first released on the 1997 soundtrack to the film Spawn. This particular version is a remix of the original version; hip-hop group Vitro added various electronic bleeps and blips to the song. However, the origin of "Spawn" dates back to 1996 when it was originally recorded for inclusion on Freak Show but was later omitted. The Pre-Vitro mix of "Spawn" is not the Freakshow version, but a later version recorded when the band were demoing tracks for Neon Ballroom. The Pre-Vitro version is also notable because it lacks an entire verse pertaining to "animal liberation". This version was included on the Neon Ballroom Limited Edition bonus disc, and later released on the The Best of Volume 1 (2 Disc Limited Edition) in 2000 before being released for a third and final time on the Rarities 1994 - 1999 compilation in 2002.

"Satin Sheets" was originally called "Punk Song #3", and "Paint Pastel Princess" was "All the Same to Me". "Emotion Sickness", "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" and "Miss You Love" are on The Best of Volume 1. An 'Acoustic Remix' of "Ana's Song" was also released on the Best of disc that also included the Rarities bonus. Eight tracks from Neon Ballroom appear on Live from Faraway Stables.

The album has been released in a Double Pack along with Freak Show. All the songs on the album were written by Johns, except "Spawn Again" (Johns-Gillies). The vinyl version of the album was limited to 5000 copies worldwide.

In 2007, Johns stated "To me, I honestly feel like our first record was Neon Ballroom. I've never felt any different. I don't feel like our first two albums were Silverchair: that's our teenage high school band. I don't like them at all. I listen to them and go 'That's cute', especially the first one, because Frogstomp we were 14. But the second one we're like 16, I'm like 'You're getting older. You're running out of chances'".^[1].

Track listing

1. "Emotion Sickness" - 6:01
2. "Anthem for the Year 2000" - 4:08
3. "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" - 3:42
4. "Spawn Again" - 3:31
5. "Miss You Love" - 4:01
6. "Dearest Helpless" - 3:35
7. "Do You Feel the Same" - 4:18
8. "Black Tangled Heart" - 4:34
9. "Point of View" - 3:35
10. "Satin Sheets" - 2:24
11. "Paint Pastel Princess" - 4:33
12. "Steam Will Rise" - 5:18

Limited edition bonus disc

• Upon initial release in the UK, Neon Ballroom was issued as a limited edition with a bonus enhanced CD featuring the following tracks:-

1. "Anthem for the Year 2000" (a cappella version) - 3:15
2. "Spawn" (pre-Vitro version) - 2:56
3. "Emotion Sickness" (video)

• The album has also been issued in Gatefold cover vinyl, and ltd. edition cassette.

Release history

• March 8th - Australia
• March 16th - North America

Chart positions

Personnel

• Daniel Johns - vocals, guitar
• Chris Joannou - bass
• Ben Gillies - drums

Additional personnel

• David Helfgott - piano (track 1)
• Larry Muhoberac - piano arrangement (track 1)
• Robert Woolf - piano (track 5)
• Chris Abrahams - piano (track 8)
• Jane Rosenson - harp (track 8)
• Sweep (Johns's dog) - guest vocal (track 12)
• Paul Mac - keyboards (tracks 2, 4, 10)
• Jim Moginie - keyboard Mogenius (tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11)
• Jane Scarpantoni - cello, string arrangements
• John Harding, Fiona Ziegler, Carl Pini, Alexandra d'Elia, Leoni Ziegler, Emma Hayes, Georges Lentz - violin
• Leah Jennings - cello
• George Torbay - conductor (track 2)
• Kevin Shirley - mixing (tracks 2, 5)

References

1. ^ Silverchair: skeletons in the closet