''The Legend of Chin'' is the debut studio album by the American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band Switchfoot. It was released on June 17, 1997 under independent label re:think Records, which was distributed by

Sparrow Records Sparrow Records is a Christian music record label and a division of Universal Music Group. History Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then artists and repertoire (A&R) director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by Thorn EMI in ...

. The album is titled after

Jon Foreman Jonathan Mark Foreman (born October 22, 1976) is an American musician, the lead singer, guitarist, main songwriter and co-founder of the alternative rock band Switchfoot. He started Switchfoot in 1996 with drummer Chad Butler and his brother Tim ...

's high school best friend, Willis Chin, whose photos and birth date are printed on the album booklet.

Promotion and subsequent releases

An official music video was released for the song "Chem 6A". In 2009, it was published on the official YouTube channel of

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

. As of October 28, 2016, it has had over 130,000 views. In 2004, Switchfoot released a 3-CD compilation entitled '' The Early Years: 1997-2000'', which encompassed their first three albums, including ''The Legend of Chin''. In 2008, "Concrete Girl" was included on the band's greatest hits collection, '' The Best Yet'', and "Chem 6A" was included in the Deluxe Edition Bonus DVD of ''The Best Yet''.

Impact

While the album never officially charted on Billboard, tracks from ''Legend of Chin'' were revitalized on subsequent Switchfoot projects. Most notably, the song "You" was featured on the soundtrack of 2002 movie ''

A Walk to Remember ''A Walk to Remember'' is a 2002 American coming-of-age romantic drama film directed by Adam Shankman and written by Karen Janszen, based on Nicholas Sparks' 1999 novel of the same name. The film stars Shane West, Mandy Moore, Peter Coyote an ...

'', starring

Mandy Moore Amanda Leigh Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her debut single, "Candy (Mandy Moore song), Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her de ...

and Shane West.

Critical reception

The album got a positive review from '' Billboard'', which called it "An intriguing and surprisingly mature effort for a debut release." Mike Rimmer of Cross Rhythms rated the album 7/10 and wrote, "They may have taken their name from a surfer buzzword but this ain't no

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

album. Instead, a melodic modern rock style reveals some nifty crisp guitar sounds, raspy vocals and a smattering of memorable songs and there's the problem. So much of this still washes over me and despite the fact I've played it about 15 times, it's still barely getting my attention. (...) Sonically this sounds like a great album – all the right ingredients are in place, but like a good

Yorkshire pudding Yorkshire pudding is a baked pudding made from a batter of eggs, flour, and milk or water. A common British side dish, it is a versatile food that can be served in numerous ways depending on its ingredients, size, and the accompanying compon ...

, even the finest ingredients won't be enough if it doesn't completely rise! There are moments when this one is more pancake than pudding. However, overall worth checking out."

Track listing

Personnel

SwitchfootCD Liner Notes *

– guitar, vocals *

Tim Foreman Switchfoot is an American rock band from San Diego, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Foreman (bass guitar, backing vocals), Chad Butler (drums, percussion), and Jerome Fontamillas (guitar, keyboards, b ...

– bass, backing vocals *Chad Butler – drums, percussion Additional musicians *David Davidson – strings *Peter Hyrka – strings *Kristin Wilkinson – strings *

Matt Slocum Matt Slocum (born 27 December 1972) is a guitarist, cellist, pianist and composer, known for his work as the principal songwriter and lead guitarist of Sixpence None the Richer. Biography Born in Rhode Island to Joseph and Hildegard Slocum, ...

– strings * Eric Darken – percussion *

Jimmie Lee Sloas Jimmie Lee Sloas is an American session musician, producer, and songwriter, who plays bass guitar. History Jimmie Lee Sloas, born in Ashland, Kentucky, grew up in Fairborn, Ohio and Isonville, Kentucky. His father, Dave, was a member of the po ...

– guitar *

Charlie Peacock Charles William Ashworth (born August 10, 1956), known professionally as Charlie Peacock, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, record producer, and author. His albums include ''Love Press Ex-Curio'', ''Arc of the Circle'' and ''No Man's L ...

–

rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

, trumpet *Lucas Eddens – scratching; turntables

References

External links

The Legend of Chin song lyrics

The Legend of Chin song stories
{{DEFAULTSORT:Legend Of Chin, The 1997 debut albums Switchfoot albums Albums produced by Jimmie Lee Sloas