Masterpiece Theatre (Marianas Trench album)

Masterpiece Theatre is the second studio album by Canadian rock group Marianas Trench. It was released on February 24, 2009, in Canada and September 28, 2010, in the United States. The album was available for preview at MuchMusic's website before the release. The last song on the album, titled "Masterpiece Theatre III", is a medley of all the songs on the album including its five singles.

The album is a slight departure from the band’s debut album Fix Me, containing more theatrical elements and instruments while still retaining the punk rock influence of its predecessor. The songs "Masterpiece Theatre" (I, II, and III), "Beside You", and "Good to You" show some experimentation using pianos, strings, and harmonies.

Background and recording
Masterpiece Theatre is a concept album that experiments with different genres ranging from pop punk, symphonic rock, and emo pop.

The album was recorded at Armoury Studios, Mushroom Studios, Hipposonic Studios, The Umbrella Factory and The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, British Columbia and at Kingnoise in Los Angeles, California. The album featured production work by Dave Genn, Greig Nori, Dave Ogilvie, Raine Maida and Josh Ramsay.

Promotion
In 2009, the band went on the Beside You tour with Carly Rae Jepsen in support of the album. The group also toured the US in 2010.

Critical reception
Masterpiece Theatre was received well by most critics. The Phoenix New Times praised lead singer Josh Ramsay and the lyrics saying "Singer Josh Ramsay pushed himself vocally on this album, and the lyrics were very heartfelt and meaningful – not your typical pop-punk music."

Matthew Chisling of AllMusic stated, "The group has truly created an excellent concept album, experimenting with a nice variety of musical mediums that complements the bands sound quite well." He called the "Masterpiece Theatre" parts, "welcome songs that sound like the Broadway rendition of the perfectly crafted emo-pop tune." He described tracks such as "Acadia" and "Celebrity Status" as mainstream complements that stop the album from feeling too erratic and stated that Masterpiece Theatre "could do without 'Good to You'." He ended off stating, "this album truly stands out from the pack by bringing something truly different and exciting to the table that's bound to earn them plenty of fans and plenty of success."

Alternative Addiction praised the melodies and the harmonies, as well as Ramsay's vocals calling them incredible and addictive. He also added, "Masterpiece Theatre takes an album theme, some great songs, and the talents of Ramsay and utilizes every one of those to make a masterpiece for fans of the genre."

Nick Anastasia of Melodic.net said, "this album is one of the best, if not the best, discs I've heard in the past year or two." They also said "The harmonies, arrangements, and different styles experimented with throughout the spread of the CD are absolutely awe-inspiring."

Kevin Miao of Lost In the Sound gave the album a score of 80% out 100, saying that the album "is one of the best in its genre and proves that there is still good pop rock music out there."

Commercial performance
The album sold 5,000 copies in its first week of release debuting at No. 4 on the Canadian Albums Chart. The album has since sold over 160,000 copies in Canada and was certified Double Platinum by Music Canada. Singles such as "All To Myself" and "Cross My Heart" peaked in the top 15 of the Canadian Hot 100. Other singles such as "Celebrity Status", "Good to You" and "Beside You" peaked in the top 40 of the Canadian Hot 100.

Personnel
Credits for Masterpiece Theatre adapted from AllMusic.

Musicians

 * Marianas Trench
 * Josh Ramsay – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, keyboards, programming, drums, flugelhorn, production, bass engineering, guitar engineering, composer
 * Matt Webb – lead guitar, piano, keyboards, programming, trombone, vocals
 * Mike Ayley – bass guitar, trumpet, vocals
 * Ian Casselman – drums, sousaphone, percussion, vocals


 * Guest musicians
 * Kate Voegele – vocals
 * Jessica Lee – vocals
 * Steve Marshall – vocals
 * Sara Ramsay – vocals
 * Corlynn Ramsay – vocals
 * Miles Ramsay – vocals, string arrangements
 * Gillian Mott – violin
 * Elyse Jacobson – violin
 * Joshua Belvedere – viola
 * Doug Gorkoff – cello
 * Rick Killburn – double bass
 * Shane Wilson – drums
 * John Stamos – guest appearance
 * Shawn Smith – composer

Production

 * Dave Genn – production, engineering
 * Raine Maida – production, engineering
 * Greig Nori – production, engineering
 * Dave Ogilvie – production, mixing
 * Ted Jensen – mastering
 * Mike Fraser – mixing
 * Scott Ternan – bass engineering, drum engineering, guitar engineering, piano engineering, string engineering
 * Dean Maher – drum engineering, piano engineering
 * Mark Maryanovich – cover art, photography


 * Natalie Simon – stylist
 * Jonathan Simkin – A&R
 * Zack Blacktone – assistant
 * Brendon Brown – assistant
 * Mike Cashin – assistant
 * Andrew Conroy – assistant
 * Brock MacFarlane – assistant
 * Eric Mosher – assistant
 * Jeremy Patch – assistant
 * Dusty Schaller – assistant
 * Rob Stefanson – assistant