''Clients'' is the second studio album by American heavy metal band

The Red Chord The Red Chord is an American metal band from Revere, Massachusetts, formed in 1999. The group comprises vocalist Guy Kozowyk, guitarist/vocalist Mike "Gunface" McKenzie, bassist Greg Weeks and drummer Jon Rice. The band gained a fanbase with its ...

. It was released on May 17, 2005 via

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...

Concept

The title of the album was originally derived from an

in-joke An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or a private joke, is a joke whose humour is understandable only to members of an ingroup; that is, people who are ''in'' a particular social group, occupation, or other community of shared interest. It i ...

and story between Guy Kozowyk's family and friends, referring to the

mentally disabled Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...

students for whom a member of Kozowyk's family drove a

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

. This term eventually spread out to mean anybody for whom one provided service. The title reflects the songs, as the songs are stories from and about "clients", or mentally disabled people, with whom Kozowyk has had experience working in a convenience store located next to a

psychiatric rehabilitation Psychiatric rehabilitation, also known as psych social rehabilitation, and sometimes simplified to psych rehab by providers, is the process of restoration of community functioning and well-being of an individual diagnosed in mental health or emotio ...

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

. Each song is a different "client", or a different person with a mental ailment, ranging from

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

, to

multiple personality disorder Dissociative identity disorder (DID), better known as multiple personality disorder or multiple personality syndrome, is a mental disorder characterized by the presence of at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality states. The di ...

, to extreme

obsessive compulsive disorder Obsession may refer to: Psychology * Celebrity worship syndrome, obsessive addictive disorder to a celebrity's personal and professional life * Fixation (psychology), a persistent attachment to an object or idea * Idée fixe (psychology), a preo ...

. The song "Black Santa" would best describe the album and its meanings, as it actually depicts everything that is used as an inspiration in the album: Kozowyk's job, the people he encountered, the stories he heard, and the notion that everybody both has and is a "client", meaning everybody works for somebody, and that everybody is not entirely mentally stable.

Music videos

The Red Chord released four music videos and singles from ''Clients''. "Antman", the first single, was directed by David Brodsky of My Good Eye and notably features live ants crawling on Greg Weeks, the band's bassist. It had the honor of being the most played video on

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to sh ...

Headbangers Ball ''Headbangers Ball'' is a music television program that consisted of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV and its global affiliates. The show began on MTV on April 18, 1987, playing heavy metal music videos from both well-known and more obs ...

in 2005. "Blue Line Cretin" was directed by acclaimed artist Paul Romano (who designed the "Clients" CD graphics). "Black Santa", again directed by David Brodsky, was shot on location at the notorious Manhattan nightclub, Crobar. The claymation "battle" between the Antman and Black Santa characters was executed by Randy Gordon-Gatica and conceived of by Guy, Randy and Brodsky. It was nominated for Best Video of 2006 on MTV2's Headbangers Ball. "Fixation on Plastics" was also shot as a video and is a performance-only video.

Track listing

Personnel

;The Red Chord *Brad Fickeisen –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Guy Kozowyk –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

*Mike "Gunface" McKenzie –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

*Kevin Rampelberg –

*Gregory Weeks –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

;Production and design *Zeuss –

Producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, mixer *

– co-producer *Alan Douches – mastering *Paul Romano –

layout Layout may refer to: * Page layout, the arrangement of visual elements on a page ** Comprehensive layout (comp), a proposed page layout presented by a designer to their client * Layout (computing), the process of calculating the position of obje ...

concept and design

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clients 2005 albums The Red Chord albums Metal Blade Records albums Albums produced by Chris "Zeuss" Harris