You Were Never Alone

You Were Never Alone
Studio album by
Emery
ReleasedMay 19, 2015 (2015-05-19)
GenrePost-hardcore, Christian alternative rock
Length41:08
LabelBadChristian, Rude
ProducerMatt Carter, Aaron Sprinkle
Emery chronology
We Do What We Want
(2011) 		You Were Never Alone
(2015) 		Eve
(2018)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Indie Vision Music[1]
Jesus Freak Hideout[2]

You Were Never Alone is the sixth studio album by the American rock band Emery, released on May 19, 2015. It is the first album to be released through band's own independent label BadChristian and Rude Records.

Recording, release and promotion

In March 2014, the band released a demo of two new songs.[3]

The album was funded via IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign and was set to be released in mid-2014 but the release date was later pushed back.[4] In addition to the album, the band was also going to release a music video, a re-recorded version of song "Anne Marie" and an acoustic EP/LP due to the achievement of the "stretch goals" during the crowdfunding project.[5][6][7]

Starting with the March 23, 2015 episode of the Break It Down podcast with Matt Carter, Matt Carter, the host of the show and the lead guitarist of Emery, along with guest Toby Morrell, the lead singer of Emery, began a 12-episode series to premier one song from the album for each episode. Toby and Matt also discussed the process of writing and recording each of the songs on the episode on which it premiered.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

On April 28, 2015, the band released a music video for the song "Hard Times".[20]

An instrumental version of You Were Never Alone was released on March 20, 2020.[21]

Track listing

All songs composed by Toby Morrell and Matt Carter

No.TitleLength
1."Rock, Pebble, Stone"3:56
2."Thrash"4:27
3."Hard Times"3:59
4."The Beginning"3:04
5."The Less You Say"3:15
6."Pink Slip"3:20
7."To the Deep"3:38
8."What's Stopping You"3:50
9."Go Wrong Young Man"2:40
10."Taken for a Bath"3:37
11."Salvatore Wryhta"2:38
12."Alone"2:43
Total length:41:08[22]

Personnel

Emery

  • Toby Morrell – lead clean vocals, bass, screamed vocals
  • Matt Carter – guitar, backing vocals
  • Josh Head – keyboard, screamed vocals
  • Devin Shelton – clean vocals
  • Dave Powell – drums, percussion

Production[23]

  • Beau Burchell – mixing, mastering
  • Brett Baird – engineer
  • Chad Gardner – arranger
  • Troy Glessner – mastering
  • Andrew Nyte – arranger
  • Aaron Sprinkle – additional production, engineer
  • Alexander C. Sprungle – art direction, design, photography

Meaning and biblical allusions

In the first twelve episodes of Matt Carter's Break it Down Podcast, he and Toby Morrell went through each song and explained the process of creating them.[24] Then in October 2015, Toby and Matt made another podcast further revealing that the album was a concept album where each song is a story from the Bible told in first-person.[25][26]

Song Name Biblical Story
Rock, Pebble, Stone The story of Jesus being baptized, going into the wilderness, and encountering the devil.
Thrash The story of Stephen preaching his beliefs, being stoned, and then going to heaven.
Hard Times Samson and Delilah.
The Beginning Adam and Eve.
The Less You Say Peter defending Jesus in the garden.
Pink Slip Moses vs Pharaoh in Cairo
To The Deep Noah and Abraham.
What's Stopping You Mary and Joseph. Joseph's perspective on Mary and immaculate conception.
Go Wrong Young Man Paul on the road to Damascus.
Taken for a Bath King David and his affair with Bathsheba
Salvatore Wryhta This song is about Jesus praying to the Father in the garden of Gethsemane.
Alone Jesus alone on the cross, subjected to the wrath of God for our sins. Also the origin of the album title.

Chart performance

Chart (2015) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[27] 69
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[28] 8
US Christian Albums (Billboard)[29] 1
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[30] 6
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[31] 10

References

  1. ^ "Album Review : Emery - You Were Never Alone". Indie Vision Music. May 23, 2015.
  2. ^ "Jesusfreakhideout.com: Emery, "You Were Never Alone" Review". www.jesusfreakhideout.com.
  3. ^ "Emery". www.facebook.com.
  4. ^ "Emery - You Were Never Alone". Indiegogo. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  5. ^ "Emery - You Were Never Alone". Indiegogo. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  6. ^ "Emery - You Were Never Alone (IndieGoGo Campaign)". Sound In The Signals. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  7. ^ "Emery adds Indiegogo stretch goals". RadioU. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  8. ^ "Emery's "Rock, Pebble, Stone" from You Were Never Alone (S1 Ep1)". Break it Down with Matt Carter. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  9. ^ "Emery's "Thrash" from You Were Never Alone (S1 Ep2)". Break it Down with Matt Carter. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  10. ^ "Emery's "Hard Times" from You Were Never Alone (S1 Ep3)". Break it Down with Matt Carter. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  11. ^ "Emery's "The Beginning" from You Were Never Alone (S1 Ep4)". Break it Down with Matt Carter. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  12. ^ "Emery's "The Less You Say" from You Were Never Alone (S1 Ep5)". Break it Down with Matt Carter. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  13. ^ ""Pink Slip" from Emery's You Were Never Alone (S1 Ep6)". Break it Down with Matt Carter. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  14. ^ ""To the Deep" from Emery's You Were Never Alone (S1 Ep7)". Break it Down with Matt Carter. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  15. ^ ""Whats Stopping You Can't Stop All This" from Emery's You Were Never Alone (S1 Ep8)". Break it Down with Matt Carter. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  16. ^ ""Go Wrong Young Man" from Emery's You Were Never Alone (S1 Ep9)". Break it Down with Matt Carter. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  17. ^ ""Salvatore Wryhta" from Emery's You Were Never Alone (S1 Ep10)". Break it Down with Matt Carter. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  18. ^ ""Taken For a Bath" - With Beau from Saosin (Mixer) (S1 Ep11)". Break it Down with Matt Carter. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  19. ^ ""Alone" with Aaron Sprinkle (producer) (S1 Ep12)". Break it Down with Matt Carter. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  20. ^ "Emery unveil "Hard Times" music video - Alternative Press". Alternative Press. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  21. ^ You Were Never Alone (Instrumental) [Instrumental] by Emery on Apple Music
  22. ^ "iTunes – You Were Never Alone (Emery)". iTunes. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  23. ^ "You Were Never Alone - Emery - Credits". AllMusic.com. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  24. ^ "Break It Down Podcast". SoundCloud. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  25. ^ Toby Morrell of Emery explain that You Were Never Alone is a concept record Pt. I (S2 Ep7), retrieved March 22, 2018
  26. ^ Toby Morrell pt. II You Were Never Alone is a Concept Album (S2 Ep8), retrieved March 22, 2018
  27. ^ "Emery Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  28. ^ "Emery Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  29. ^ "Emery Chart History (Christian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  30. ^ "Emery Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  31. ^ "Emery Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 29, 2015.