To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the pop-punk outfit, Acceptance, has released the reimagined version of their quintessential album, Phantoms, called Phantoms/Twenty, recorded by original producer, Aaron Sprinkle, amid the band’s reunion and milestone anniversary, out today, via Equal Vision Records. And while the band did redo their parts, this isn’t just any standard re-recording.
To give new context to its profound and lasting legacy, Acceptance enlisted a wide range of artists across various genres, many of whom were inspired by the band including Stephen Christian of Anberlin, Memphis May Fire’s Matty Mullins, Boys Like Girls frontman Martin Johnson, The Maine’s John O’Callaghan, Jenna McDougall from Tonight Alive and Hevenshe, All Time Low’s Alex Gaskarth, State Champs vocalist Derek DiScanio, Teddy Swims who has publicly shared that the band inspired him and admitted the first song he learned how to play on guitar was an Acceptance track, and more.
All of the guests on the record inject a sense of reverence and gratitude into the songs, as if by being on them is their way of saying thank you to the band for making this album all those years ago. Acceptance also asked each person who contributed to write a little blurb about why they wanted to take part, something that, for the band, was almost as meaningful as their guest spots.
Acceptance shares "At its core, “Different” is a song of desperation. A lost or losing love, the feeling of what was as it’s slipping away and the things you’d do to reclaim and restore it – this was the story we wanted to tell in this song. When we reached out to Alex Gaskarth about the idea of collaborating on Phantoms/Twenty, he gravitated to Different immediately. You can feel the connection Alex has to the song, through his standout vocal performance. Capturing the overwhelming sense of self-defeat, awareness, questioning, and ultimately a naive hope in the performance. We’ve always felt that the beauty of this song was found in its ability to be humanly haunting. In the end, with this version of “Different”, we feel like we finally achieved the vision we had for the song 20 years past."
Phantoms/Twenty tracklist:
1. Take Cover featuring Martin Johnson
2. So Contagious featuring Teddy Swims
3. In Too Far featuring Jenna McDougall
4. The Letter featuring John O’Callaghan
5. Different featuring Alex Gaskarth
6. Ad Astra Per Aspera - Instrumental featuring Ellisay
7. This Conversation Is Over featuring Stephen Christian
8. Over You featuring Derek DiScanio
9. Breathless featuring Charlotte Sands
10. In The Cold featuring Mitch Grassi
11. Permanent featuring Matty Mullins
12. Glory/Us featuring Cassadee Pope
Catch Acceptance on the road later this year, upcoming tour dates can be found below:
Sep 12 - The Observatory - San Diego, CA
Sep 13 - The Observatory - Santa Ana, CA
Sep 14 - The Fonda Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
Oct 17 - Palladium Upstairs - Worcester, MA
Oct 18 - The Brooklyn Monarch - Brooklyn, NY
Oct 19 - TLA - Philadelphia, PA
Acceptance is Jason Vena (lead vocals/keyboard), Kaylan Cloyd (lead guitar), Garrett Lunceford (drummer/percussionist), Christian McAlhaney (rhythm guitar and backing vocals) and Ryan Zwiefelhofer (drums).