14 Shades of Grey

Background

After finishing their tour schedule, Staind allowed Lewis and his wife to conceive their first child and settle for a few months. They then took about five weeks to write new songs before they began recording in Los Angeles. The band also spent a week developing the songs at producer Josh Abraham's house. Guitarist Mike Mushok noted it as the first time Staind has actually written in the studio.

In January 2003, Staind planned on a May 6 release date for their untitled fourth album. This date persisted into March during which an album title was announced. However, this would have to be delayed a few weeks.

Aaron Lewis elaborated on the lighter direction of 14 Shades of Grey:

"It's kind of a logical progression where we're getting older now. . . [Guitarist] Mike [Mushok] is married, and I'm married now with a kid and we're that much deeper into figuring out as far as lyrically goes and figuring out our trades as far as writing songs go."

Guitarist Mike Mushok described the album title in a 2003 interview:

"I think it's kind of referring to how in life there's black and white and then there's this grey area. . . I think the older you get you start to realize that more things are grey and not so much black and white."

The song "Layne" is a tribute to Layne Staley, late Alice in Chains singer. The song "Zoe Jane" honors Aaron Lewis' firstborn daughter. Some shots of Zoe Jane are featured in the video for So Far Away.

Release

First editions of the album included a limited edition bonus DVD featuring footage of the band from their early years to the present, along with album lyrics and new band photos. For a time, fans could use the CD to download a bonus acoustic song "Let it Out" from the Staind website, but the page was later removed. The song was later included on the deluxe edition of the band's next album, Chapter V.

A DVD-Audio edition of the album was also released, featuring a 5.1 surround sound version of the album, at high resolution (96kHz/24-bit).

Touring and promotion

The single "Price to Play" was released in early anticipation of the album's debut. Three more singles were released over the next several months with accompanying music videos.

Staind supported 14 Shades of Grey with a series of in-store appearances followed by free club performances. They also performed with Label mates Cold during the summer of 2003. Concert setlists incorporated songs from all the band's albums including a few tracks from Tormented, Staind's lesser known record.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Aaron Lewis; all music composed by Staind.

Personnel

Aaron Lewis – lead vocals, rhythm guitar

Mike Mushok – lead guitar

Johnny April – bass, backing vocals

Jon Wysocki – drums

Additional

Josh Abraham -- Keyboards, Producer, Programming, String Arrangements

Brandon Belsky -- Assistant Engineer

Jon Berkowitz -- Engineer

Gregory Gigendad Burke -- Art Direction, Design

DJ Lethal -- A&R

Fred Durst -- A&R

Jones G -- Assistant

Scott Gutierrez -- Assistant

David Khan's -- String Arrangements

Anthony Mandlet -- Photo

Cailan McCarthy -- Artist Coordination

Joey Paradise -- Assistant

Jeff Philips -- Assistant Engineer

Tony Reyes -- Keyboards

Jordan Schur -- Executive Producer

Steve Sisco -- Assistant

Anthony Valcic -- Engineer, Keyboards, Programming

Mark Valentine -- Assistant

Dane Venable -- Product Manager

Darren Venbitti -- Assistant

Andy Wallace -- Mixing

Josh Wilbur -- Digital Editing

Ryan Williams -- Engineer

Reception

Initial critical response ranged from mixed to average. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 41, based on 10 reviews.