Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces

Between the release of 2005's Karma and Effect and the beginning of recording sessions for Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces, lead singer and guitarist Shaun Morgan split with Evanescence lead singer Amy Lee with whom he had been in a relationship since 2003. The breakup happened due to Morgan's problems with substance abuse, particularly alcoholism. In late July 2006, Morgan checked himself into rehab for what he described as "a dependence on a combination of substances."{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Chris |date=26 July 2006 |title=Seether Frontman Enters Rehab; August Tour Dates Canceled |url=https://www.mtv.com/news/7pkq61/seether-frontman-enters-rehab-august-tour-dates-canceled |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220722202105/https://www.mtv.com/news/7pkq61/seether-frontman-enters-rehab-august-tour-dates-canceled |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 July 2022 |access-date=22 July 2022 |website=MTV |language=en}} Combined with the leak of the Evanescence single "Call Me When You're Sober", which Lee later revealed to be about her relationship with Morgan,{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Chris |date=9 August 2006 |title=Evanescence Set For Fall Tour; Amy Lee Reveals Inspiration Behind 'Sober' |url=https://www.mtv.com/news/28lysa/evanescence-set-for-fall-tour-amy-lee-reveals-inspiration-behind-sober |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220722201938/https://www.mtv.com/news/28lysa/evanescence-set-for-fall-tour-amy-lee-reveals-inspiration-behind-sober |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 July 2022 |access-date=22 July 2022 |website=MTV |language=en}} his stint in rehab and relationship troubles with Lee became widely publicized and a point of frustration.{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Chris |date=17 July 2006 |title=Seether Frontman Won't Respond To Amy Lee's Attack: 'I Just Refuse To Lower Myself To That Level' |url=https://www.mtv.com/news/townt4/seether-frontman-wont-respond-to-amy-lees-attack-i-just-refuse-to-lower-myself-to-that-level |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220722203608/https://www.mtv.com/news/townt4/seether-frontman-wont-respond-to-amy-lees-attack-i-just-refuse-to-lower-myself-to-that-level |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 July 2022 |access-date=22 July 2022 |website=MTV |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=6 November 2007 |title=Seether's Shaun Morgan |url=https://theconcordian.com/2007/11/seethers-shaun-morgan/ |access-date=22 July 2022 |website=The Concordian |language=en-CA}}

The band updated both their official website and MySpace on 23 August 2007, with the new single, "Fake It", being uploaded to both. In a post on their website, they wrote:

{{cquote|"Here we are, about to embark on the release of our favorite Seether record to date and can guarantee that you will all feel the same. Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces is a hearty serving of the usual Seether sting and grit with an added twist of lime. We have been working hard in the studio for months recording the album and there are only a few loose ends to cinch up before all is said and done. We can't wait to hit the road to share the new shit with everyone. In the meantime the remodeled site should make it easier for you guys to share your undying love for us, keep up with everyone, and get all the news that will pass through here in coming weeks. The album is dedicated to Eugene "Junior" Welgemoed. Junior has always offered the band more support and love than we've ever given ourselves. He has lit an uncontainable fire under us, and without him we will never be the same again. Cheers to taking the world by storm..."{{cite web|url=https://www.myspace.com/seether|title=Seether|publisher=Myspace}}

}}

In the lower right corner of the front cover, where the album title appears, one can faintly see a Chinese symbol overwritten by the letters of the title.The Chinese character can be seen clearly [https://flacforthemasses.com/sites/default/files/cover/seether-finding-beauty-in-negative-spaces-2007.jpg here]. The symbol shown is 美, the Chinese character for the word "beauty", or "America"."America", in Chinese in full, is 美國, literally, "beautiful country".

Bassist Dale Stewart credited Morgan for naming the album. Stewart explained, "it’s a title that Shaun came up with one day and it immediately just stuck. I think for all of us, it was a timely and appropriate word to describe the last year that we’ve had, you know with writing an album and some other stuff that has happened around us. [...] The music was always the one positive thing that came out of this string of bad things and it really just kind of kept us going."{{Cite web |last=Willschick |first=Aaron |date=2007-12-11 |title=Interview with Seether bassist Dale Stewart |url=https://v13.net/2007/12/seether2/ |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=V13.net |language=en-CA}} In a shift from previous albums, the band sought to emphasise melody while complimenting it with their traditional post-grunge sound. Morgan told Reuters, "We wanted to write and explore the more melodic and musical side of everything... We can be heavy and rock out, but we can also write songs that can compete with any other song out there. That was a really big motivation."{{Cite news |date=12 October 2007 |title=Rock band Seether finds 'Beauty' amid adversity |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/music-seether-dc-idUKN1225825520071012 |access-date=24 July 2022}} Additionally, he described Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces as "an album of extremes."{{Cite web |date=16 July 2007 |title=Seether - Finding 'Beauty' On New Album |url=https://www.smnnews.com/2007/07/16/seether-finding-beauty-on-new-album/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013165153/https://www.smnnews.com/2007/07/16/seether-finding-beauty-on-new-album/ |archive-date=13 October 2007 |access-date=24 July 2022 }}

The track "Like Suicide" drew disapproval from Wind-up Records, who wanted to exclude the song from the album. "The band wanted 'Like Suicide' on the album, and the label didn't," Morgan told LiveDaily. "We said, 'Fine. We'll make it indispensable to the album.' We started filming it and putting it on YouTube and putting it on MySpace. We went through the whole phase of writing it and rehearsing it to recording the drums, bass, guitar solos and vocals.[...] Then, after we finished recording it, they said, 'Oh, you're so right.'"{{Cite web |last=Fuoco-Karasinski |first=Christina |date=21 November 2007 |title=Seether frontman's personal trials fuel 'Beauty' |url=https://www.livedaily.com/news/13232.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100207224842/https://www.livedaily.com/news/13232.html |archive-date=7 February 2010 |access-date=24 July 2022 }}

The album's lead single, "Fake It", deals with what Morgan perceived to be a lack of personal authenticity in modern society. In an interview with Revolt In Style, he stated that the song "was [partially] inspired by LA, some [of it] was inspired by my sister. She’s fifteen and she represents what I would consider kids of today, and what I feel kids of today are like. She cares more about Paris Hilton not wearing underwear than great artists. [...] If you don’t have people striving to be themselves, or to be creative, then ultimately people just burn. Concentrating on their physical appearance more than their personality."{{Cite web |last=Terhorst |first=Leslie |date=8 January 2011 |title=SEETHER - Inside the Psyche of Shaun Morgan |url=https://revoltinstyle.com/seether-inside-the-psyche-of-shaun-morgan/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171022013841/https://revoltinstyle.com/music/national/seetherinside-the-psyche-of-shaun-morgan/ |archive-date=22 October 2017 |access-date=22 July 2022 |website=Revolt In Style}}

For the album's third single, "Breakdown", Morgan stated that his relationship with Lee was "a very big part of the inspiration for that song."{{Cite web |last=MacIntosh |first=Dan |date=6 May 2013 |title=Shaun Morgan of Seether |url=https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/shaun-morgan-of-seether |access-date=22 July 2022 |website=Songfacts |language=en}} He further described the song as being "about not allowing yourself to be beaten down by what people say about you and kind of believing in yourself, and ultimately knowing that you’ll be better for it."{{Cite web |date=11 October 2008 |title=Seether Discuss 'Breakdown' Video & Song Meaning |url=http://rockdirt.com/seether-discuss-breakdown-video-song-meaning/26268/ |access-date=22 July 2022 |website=rockdirt.com |language=en-US |archive-date=18 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818071016/http://rockdirt.com/seether-discuss-breakdown-video-song-meaning/26268/ |url-status=dead }}

"Fallen" is about Morgan's experience in a relationship with a model and being unwillingly exposed to model culture as a result.

"Rise Above This" was written for Shaun's brother, Eugene Welgemoed, prior to the latter's suicide on 13 August 2007.{{Cite web |last=Adams |first=Leticia |date=23 August 2017 |title=Interview With Shaun Morgan From Seether About Suicide |url=https://www.patheos.com/blogs/throughbrokenroses/2017/08/23/interview-shaun-morgan-seether-suicide/ |access-date=22 July 2022 |website=Patheos |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Katie |date=14 August 2007 |title=Radisson suicide brother of Seether front man |url=https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/radisson-suicide-brother-of-seether-front-man/article_0140797d-55e3-502b-94d3-2669e9a31570.html |access-date=22 July 2022 |website=Rapid City Journal |language=en}} According to Morgan, the song was written about an earlier suicide attempt by Eugene and was intended to bring him out of a depression. The song's guitar riff was influenced by the Smashing Pumpkins song "1979".{{Cite web |last=Benitez-Eves |first=Tina |date=3 January 2022 |title=Seether Talk 20th Anniversary, Go 'Behind the Song' with Five Hits |url=https://americansongwriter.com/seether-talk-20th-anniversary-go-behind-the-song-with-five-hits/ |access-date=24 July 2022 |website=American Songwriter |language=en-US}}

When asked about "No Jesus Christ", Morgan revealed the song is "an attack on the God complex that people have" and implied that it was inspired by Amy Lee as well.

"Walk Away from the Sun" was the first song completed for the album. Morgan stated that it was partially inspired by his stint in rehab.

The band's cover of "Careless Whisper" was reportedly borne out of a joke response to Wind-up's request that the band record a Valentine's Day song for iTunes. "None of us are big fans of Valentine's Day," Morgan elaborated, "so we decided to take the piss out of it, and we went with a love song... It's such an over-the-top dramatic song that we had to cover it. It's something we just did as a joke, and we did it for fun, and it became a single."{{Cite web |date=26 October 2013 |title=Seether Track by Track - 'Careless Whisper' |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wMuLSxPKAU |access-date=22 July 2022 |website=YouTube}}

A song titled "No Shelter" was also recorded during the sessions, but was cut as the band felt the song was out of place compared to the rest of the material.{{Cite web |date=25 October 2013 |title=@seether - 'No Shelter was a song that didn't fit in with the rest of the songs from the Finding Beauty sessions...' |url=https://twitter.com/seether/status/393788162280927232 |access-date=23 July 2022 |website=Twitter |language=en}} It was eventually included on disc two of the first soundtrack for the television series NCIS and on the band's 2013 greatest hits album.

The album debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200 chart in the US with 56,900 copies moved in its first week,{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1573165/carrie-underwood-has-easy-ride-1.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104232524/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1573165/carrie-underwood-has-easy-ride-1.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 January 2014|title=Carrie Underwood Has An Easy Ride To First Billboard #1|publisher=MTV|date=31 October 2007|last=Harris|first=Chris}} and ended up being certified platinum by the RIAA in 2020 for selling an equivalent of 1 million units. It is also the band's only album to receive Gold certification in their home country of South Africa (certified by the RISA in May 2008).{{cite web|url= https://genius.com/albums/Seether/Finding-beauty-in-negative-spaces|title=Seether - Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces Lyrics and Tracklist|publisher=Genius|access-date=30 October 2021}}

{{track listing

|headline = Standard edition

| all_lyrics = Shaun Morgan, except where noted

| all_music = Seether, except where noted.

| title1 = Like Suicide

| length1 = 4:15

| title2 = Fake It

| length2 = 3:14

| title3 = Breakdown

| length3 = 3:29

| title4 = FMLYHM

| length4 = 3:28

| note4 = "Fuck Me Like You Hate Me"

| title5 = Fallen

| length5 = 4:18

| title6 = Rise Above This

| length6 = 3:24

| title7 = No Jesus Christ

| length7 = 7:06

| title8 = Six Gun Quota

| length8 = 3:23

| title9 = Walk Away from the Sun

| length9 = 4:14

| title10 = Eyes of the Devil

| length10 = 5:01

| title11 = Don't Believe

| length11 = 4:35

| title12 = Waste

| writer12 = {{hlist|Morgan|Seether|Jason Smith}}

| length12 = 4:22

|total_length = 50:41

}}

{{track listing

| headline = 2009 re-release bonus tracks

| title13 = Careless Whisper

| note13 = George Michael cover

| writer13 = {{hlist|George Michael|Andrew Ridgeley}}

| length13 = 4:57

| title14 = Careless Whisper

| note14 = Strings version

| writer14 = {{hlist|Michael|Ridgeley}}

| length14 = 4:26

|total_length = 58:05

}}

{{track listing

| headline = iTunes pre-order exclusive

| title15 = Quirk

| length15 = 3:46

|total_length = 63:59

}}

{{track listing

| headline = B-sides

| length12 =

| title16 = Naked

| length16 = 5:13

| title17 = Left for Dead

| length17 = 4:00

| title18 = Untitled

| length18 = 3:50

|total_length = 75:19

}}

;Seether

• Shaun Morgan – lead vocals, guitar
• Dale Stewart – bass, backing vocals
• John Humphrey – drums
• Troy McLawhorn – guitar (tracks 13, 14)

;Additional musicians

• Howard Benson – keyboards, programming
• Space – guitar (track 12)

;Technical credits

• Howard Benson – producer
• Ross Petersen – co-producer
• Chris Lord-Alge – mixing
• Mike Plotnikoff – engineer
• Hatsukazu "Hatch" Inagaki – engineer
• Paul DeCarli – digital editing
• Hatsukazu Inagaki – additional engineering
• Ted Jensen – mastering
• Jon Nicholson – drum technician
• Marc VanGool – guitar technician
• Scott D. – guitar technician
• Stu Sobol – management
• Nicki Loranger – management
• David Ho – illustrations
• Gail Marowitz – art direction
• Ed Sherman – package design
• Gregg Wattenberg – A&R, production supervision

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{certification Table Top}}

{{certification Table Entry |title=Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces |artist=Seether |type=album| relyear=2007 |certyear=2009|region=Canada|award=Gold}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=album|artist=Seether|title=Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces|award=Platinum|relyear=2007|source=radioscope|access-date=2024-12-24|certyear=2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=South Africa|type=album|artist=Seether|title=Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces|award=Gold|relyear=2007|certyear=2008|certref={{cite web|url= https://genius.com/albums/Seether/Finding-beauty-in-negative-spaces|title=Seether - Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces Lyrics and Tracklist|publisher=Genius}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|artist=Seether|title=Finding Beauty in Negative|award=Platinum|relyear=2007|certyear=2020|accessdate=9 December 2020|refname=RIAA}}

{{certification Table Bottom|streaming=true}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Seether}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:2007 albums

Category:Seether albums

Category:Albums produced by Howard Benson

Category:Wind-up Records albums