In Reverie

Background

In July 2001, Saves the Day released Stay What You Are through Vagrant. The album's first single, "At Your Funeral", became the band's breakthrough hit. The album would go on to sell over 120,000 copies by early 2002. Frontman Chris Conley was, according to Gigwise's David Renshaw, "hailed as a hero with his lyrics about broken hearts and relationships."

Composition and recording

Comparing the material for In Reverie to that of Stay What You Are, Conley described the songs as being "more harmonically intricate" as well as "more complicated melodically". He called the chords "a lot more complex." "What Went Wrong" is about a kid who is being strip-searched despite having done nothing wrong.

Prior to recording, the group wished to "capture the songs" as best as they could, according to Conley. Conley later revealed that the group created "a record we're proud of".

Release

On June 10, 2003, In Reverie was announced for release. "Anywhere with You" was released to radio on August 12. In Reverie was released through DreamWorks on September 16. A few days later, In Honor: A Compilation to Beat Cancer, a tribute to the band's former bassist Sean McGrath, was released, featuring an In Reverie outtake "Don't Go Outside". DreamWorks was aiming to beat the sales of Stay What You Are. Following the band's biggest headlining show at Ashbury Park to 4,000 people, Conley received a call from the band's A&R person at DreamWorks: "[H]e said, 'None of the programmers at radio are biting at the single, and MTV doesn't want to play the video, so we're going have to start thinking about the next record.' I had a total breakdown. I was like, 'How is this possible? The album just came out!'" A few weeks after In Reverie's release, the label was absorbed by Interscope Records. Shortly afterwards, Saves the Day was dropped from the label.

In April 2009, the band was tentatively planning to re-release the album with up to 12 additional tracks, including demos and B-sides.

Reception

In Reverie is Saves the Day's highest-charting album to date, reaching number 27 on the Billboard 200 album chart in 2003. The album was a commercial disappointment for the band and would soon change the band's direction in their next two albums Sound the Alarm and Under the Boards.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Chris Conley and all music written by Saves the Day.

1. "Anywhere with You" – 2:32
2. "What Went Wrong" – 2:49
3. "Driving in the Dark" – 3:14
4. "Rise" – 3:12
5. "In Reverie" – 2:27
6. "Morning in the Moonlight" – 1:55
7. "Monkey" – 3:23
8. "In My Waking Life" – 2:49
9. "She" – 2:34
10. "Where Are You" – 1:47
11. "Wednesday the Third" – 3:39
12. "Tomorrow Too Late" – 3:33

Other songs from the In Reverie era