Gatsbys American Dream Gatsbys American Dream is an American indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. Since their founding in 2001, they have released four full-length albums and one EP. The band's self-titled fourth album, their second on Fearless Records, peaked a ...

released their second album, ''Ribbons and Sugar'', in 2003. As indicated by the title, the album is based loosely around the

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

fable ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to crea ...

''.

Album details

''Ribbons and Sugar'' is notably different from the group's debut album, ''

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'', which according to guitarist Bobby Darling is due to their unusual time signatures and a lack of choruses led to critical acclaim, however, it also led to various feuds with multiple record labels. "Cut the Strings" and later "The Dragon of Pendor" (featured on '' In the Land of Lost Monsters'') dealt specifically with the integrity issues they faced when told to write choruses for their songs. During the recording sessions of ''Ribbons and Sugar'', the band consisted of Nic Newsham on vocals, Bobby Darling and Ryan Van Wieringen on both guitar and backup vocals, Kirk Huffman on bass, and Rudy Gajadhar on drums. The line up changed, however, before the recording of '' In the Land of Lost Monsters'' (for

LLR Records LLR Recordings (previously Little League Records 1998-2001) was a Chicago-based record label founded by Johnny Minardi and Tony Marino in August 2001. The label released records including the debut EP of The Academy Is..., the Remember Maine al ...

) when Van Wieringen left the band to pursue a college education.

Album title meaning

In the beginning of the novel (Animal Farm), a horse named Mollie who lives on the animal farm chews lumps of sugar and wears red ribbons in her white mane. Excerpt from ''Animal Farm'':

"Will there still be sugar after the Rebellion?"
"No," said Snowball firmly. "We have no means of making sugar on this farm. Besides, you do not need sugar. You will have all the oats and hay you want."
"And shall I still be allowed to wear ribbons in my mane?" asked Mollie.
"Comrade," said Snowball, "those ribbons that you are so devoted to are the badge of slavery. Can you not understand that liberty is worth more than ribbons?"

After the animals take over the farm, these two things are forbidden for animals to wear or eat, as they are determined to be things for humans and not for animals. Before long, Mollie runs away to another farm where she can eat sugar and wear ribbons in her mane. Near the end of the fable, the pigs who are the rulers and leaders of the Animal Farm begin to act more and more like humans, and even begin eating sugar and wearing ribbons.

Track listing

# "The Taming" – 1:22 # "We're Not Orphans" – 2:45 # "Epilogue" – 2:48 # "Work, Lies, Sex, Love, Fear, Hate, Friendship" – 1:57 # "A Manifesto of Tangible Wealth" – 2:07 # "Snicker at the Swine" – 2:52 # "Apparition" – 2:18 # "Cut the Strings" – 3:20 # "The Horse You Rode In On" – 2:17 # "Recondition, Reprogram, Reactivate" – 2:27 # "Counterfeit Language" – 4:51

Personnel

* Nic Newsham - vocals * Bobby Darling - guitar, vocals * Ryan van Wieringen - guitar * Kirk Huffman - bass, vocals * Rudy Gajadhar - drums

Additional personnel

* Darrick Bourgeois - executive producer * James Paul Wisner - producer; engineer; additional keyboards, guitars, and vocals * Mark Green - assistant producer * Yaeger Rosenberg - design, art direction * Norma Mendoza - vocal coach

References

{{Authority control Gatsbys American Dream albums 2003 albums Animal Farm Albums produced by James Paul Wisner