The lyrics found in Jane Doe's liner notes differ from some of the lyrics on the recorded tracks. Musical style and themes īannon stated that the album's lyrical themes were born out of a dissolving relationship and the emotional fallout from that experience. Ballou has stated that Jane Doe is the first Converge album that he is "proud of from start to finish". Newton stated in an interview, "I remember all of us wanting to write a hardcore record the kids were going to hate." Matthew Ellard, engineer and producer of Jane Doe, said he saw the album as a "big rock record" rather than a metal record. Studio B was used to record the more uptempo songs due to its smaller size. Studio A was used to record the slower songs because the room was bigger than Studio B, which Ellard stated was more optimal for invoking ambience in their sound than Studio B. The band recorded for seven days at Q Division using two rooms dubbed "Studio A" and "Studio B". Taylor is trying to record vocal tracks, and you guys are goofing off and being way too loud over here.'" Īdditional recording took place at GodCity Studio and Fort Apache, and took around three years. Newton later recalled: "He kept sending his engineer over to tell us to be quiet. It was mostly recorded at Q Division Studios, next door to James Taylor's recording session. The entire album was recorded on six reels of two inch tape at three studios and mixed in two. The band had a greater budget of $11,000 to work with on Jane Doe, and its recording process differed from previous releases as a result. Ballou has said with the addition of Newton that the album became more collaborative in terms of songwriting, which was not the case prior. Ballou has stated that Koller "reinvigorated" the band and pushed them in a new direction, and that prior to Newton joining the band, Ballou was the dominant songwriter. The title track and "Phoenix in Flight" were initially intended for the Supermachiner album Rise of the Great Machine, but Bannon thought it made sense for Converge to play them. A live version titled Jane Live was released in 2017.īannon stated in an interview that many of the songs on Jane Doe came from the side project Supermachiner the project was claimed to inspire Jane Doe's experimental side. It has since been listed as one of the greatest albums of the metalcore genre by various publications, and has developed a cult following, with the cover art becoming an icon of the band. It was the band's first album to feature bassist Nate Newton and drummer Ben Koller, and the last to feature guitarist Aaron Dalbec Converge's line-up has remained stable since.Īlthough Jane Doe did not chart, it was a commercial breakthrough for the band and received immediate acclaim, with critics praising its poetic lyrics, dynamics, ferocity and production.
The album was produced by Matthew Ellard alongside guitarist Kurt Ballou, and the artwork was designed by lead vocalist Jacob Bannon. Jane Doe is the fourth studio album by American metalcore band Converge, released on Septemby Equal Vision Records.