Mary Star of the Sea

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For the song of the same name, see Mary Star of the Sea (song).
Mary Star of the Sea
Studio album by
Zwan
ReleasedJanuary 28, 2003
Recorded2002
StudioChicago Recording Company, Electrical Audio
GenreAlternative rock
Length65:52
Label
ProducerBilly Corgan, Bjorn Thorsrud
Singles from Mary Star of the Sea
  1. "Honestly"
    Released: February 3, 2003
  2. "Lyric"
    Released: June 3, 2003

Mary Star of the Sea is the only studio album by American alternative rock band Zwan. It was released on January 28, 2003. "Honestly" and "Lyric" were released as singles.

The album is named both for the Blessed Virgin Mary, from whom bandleader Billy Corgan claimed to find comfort and guidance, and for the Catholic Church in Key West, Florida where he spent time during Zwan's early rehearsals.[1] Seven months after the album's release Corgan announced the band's dissolution, which he attributed to conflicts between the band's members.[2] Many versions of the album included a small sticker sheet.

Critical reception[edit | edit source]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic79/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4/5 stars[4]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[5]
The Guardian4/5 stars[6]
Los Angeles Times3/4 stars[7]
NME8/10[8]
Pitchfork4.8/10[9]
Q4/5 stars[10]
Rolling Stone4/5 stars[11]
Spin8/10[12]
Uncut4/5 stars[13]

The album received mostly positive reviews. Entertainment Weekly named Mary Star of the Sea the sixth best album of 2003.[14] noting the "14 minutes of epic new-prog, with the guitars engaging in interstellar, improvisatory interplay" on the "Jesus I" / title track. The Alternative Press called the album a "return to form" for Corgan,[15] with AllMusic opining the songs as Corgan's best since Siamese Dream.[16] The album debuted at number 3 in the US, selling 90,000 copies in its first week.[17]

Track listing[edit | edit source]

All tracks are written by Billy Corgan, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lyric" 3:17
2."Settle Down"Corgan, Paz Lenchantin5:25
3."Declarations of Faith" 4:17
4."Honestly" 3:45
5."El Sol"Corgan, traditional3:38
6."Of a Broken Heart" 3:54
7."Ride a Black Swan"Corgan, traditional4:53
8."Heartsong" 3:08
9."Endless Summer" 4:22
10."Baby Let's Rock!" 3:41
11."Yeah!" 3:06
12."Desire" 4:14
13."Jesus, I / Mary Star of the Sea" 14:04
13a."Jesus, I"Corgan, traditional 
13b."Mary Star of the Sea"Zwan 
14."Come with Me" 4:01

For Your Love[edit | edit source]

For the song, see For Your Love (song).

A deluxe edition of the album was also released, which included a bonus DVD entitled For Your Love, a 40-minute collage of interviews, studio performances, and miscellaneous footage, some of which comes from the aborted Djali Zwan album/film. The songs listed on the DVD include:

For Your Love bonus DVD
No.TitleLength
1."My Life and Times" 
2."Rivers We Can't Cross" 
3."Mary Star of the Sea" 
4."Love Lies in Ruin" 
5."For Your Love" 
6."Down, Down, Down" 
7."A New Poetry" 
8."W.P." 
9."Jesus, I" 
10."God's Gonna Set This World on Fire" 
11."To Love You" 
12."Consumed" 
13."My Life and Times" (alt. version) 
14."Danger Boy" 
15."Spilled Milk" 
Total length:39:42

Release history[edit | edit source]

Mary Star of the Sea was the first album released under Martha's Music – Corgan's record label named after his mother who passed away in 1996.[18]

Released Label Catalog ID Format Country External sites
2003 Martha's Music • Reprise Records 48436 2 CD US Discogs MusicBrainz [1]
2003 Martha's Music • Reprise Records 9362-48436-1 2 × Vinyl Europe Discogs [1]
January 28, 2003 Martha's Music • Reprise Records 9362-48436-2 CD Europe Discogs MusicBrainz [1]
2003 Martha's Music • Reprise Records 9362-48425-2 CD Europe Discogs [1]
2003 Martha's Music • Reprise Records 9362-48425-2 DVD Europe Discogs [2]
January 28, 2003 Martha's Music • Reprise Records 48425-2 DVD US Discogs MusicBrainz [2]

More releases: Discogs • MusicBrainz

Personnel[edit | edit source]

Band

Additional musicians

  • Ana Lenchantin – cello on "Of a Broken Heart"

Production

  • Bjorn Thorsrud – producer, additional mixing
  • Alan Moulder – mixer
  • Ron Lowe – engineer
  • Manny A. Sanchez – engineer
  • Mathieu LeJeune – engineer
  • Greg Norman – engineer
  • Rob Bochnik – engineer
  • Azuolas Sinkevicius – assistant engineer
  • Lionel Darenne – assistant engineer
  • Mark Twitchell – second assistant engineer
  • Jarod Kluemper – second assistant engineer
  • Russ Arbuthnot – second assistant engineer
  • Tim Harrington – guitar sound re-enforcer
  • Linda Strawberry – production assistance, vocal editing to Thorsrud
  • Howie Weinberg – mastering
  • Roger Lian – digital editing
  • Geoff McFetridge – design

For Your Love DVD personnel

  • Lester Cohn – director
  • Greg Sylvester – cameras
  • Damon Ranger – cameras
  • Lester Cohn – cameras
  • Brian Churchwell – cameras
  • Tony "Tadpole" Mysliwiec – audio mastering
  • David May – DVD producer
  • Penny Marciano – DVD production director
  • Raena Winscott – DVD graphics coordinator
  • Davi Russo – DVD graphics design
  • Jim Atkins – authoring

Charts[edit | edit source]

Album[edit | edit source]

Chart (2003) Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[19] 6
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[20] 44
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[21] 44
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[22] 17
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[23] 4
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[24] 18
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[25] 30
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[26] 14
French Albums (SNEP)[27] 40
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[28] 17
Irish Albums (IRMA)[29] 10
Italian Albums (FIMI)[30] 14
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[31] 10
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[32] 12
Scottish Albums (OCC)[33] 24
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)[34] 43
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[35] 17
Swiss Albums (Swiss Hitparade)[36] 50
UK Albums (OCC)[37] 33
US Billboard 200[38] 3

Singles[edit | edit source]

Title Year Chart positions
US Modern Rock
[39] 		US Mainstream Rock
[40] 		AUS
[19] 		GER
[41] 		UK
[42]
"Honestly" 2002 7 21 26 86 28
"Lyric" 2003 — — — — 44

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ "Billy Corgan's Blog". Archived from the original on 2009-12-22. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
  2. ↑ Kot, Greg (April 24, 2005). "Billy Corgan comes clean, starts over". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  3. ↑ "Reviews for Mary Star of the Sea by Zwan". Metacritic. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  4. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Mary Star of the Sea – Zwan". AllMusic. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
  5. ↑ Browne, David (January 24, 2003). "Mary Star of the Sea". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 9, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  6. ↑ Simpson, Dave (February 7, 2003). "Zwan: Mary Star of the Sea". The Guardian. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  7. ↑ Hochman, Steve (January 26, 2003). "Corgan carves a Pumpkinless path". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  8. ↑ Mulvey, John (February 4, 2003). "Zwan : Mary Star Of The Sea". NME. Archived from the original on May 16, 2009. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  9. ↑ Schreiber, Ryan (January 30, 2003). "Zwan: Mary, Star of the Sea". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Zwan: Mary Star of the Sea". Q (200): 100. March 2003.
  11. ↑ Sanneh, Kelefa (February 6, 2003). "Zwan: Mary Star Of The Sea". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 18, 2003. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  12. ↑ Klosterman, Chuck (March 2003). "Zwan: Mary Star of the Sea". Spin. 19 (3): 118–19. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  13. ↑ "Zwan: Mary Star of the Sea". Uncut (70): 95. March 2003.
  14. ↑ "Metacritic: Best Albums of 2003". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
  15. ↑ "Metacritic: Zwan, Mary Star of the Sea". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
  16. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Mary Star of the Sea - AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  17. ↑ Martens, Todd. "Dixie Chicks Return 'Home' to No. 1". billboard.com. February 5, 2003.
  18. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/label/36917-Marthas-Music?sort=year&sort_order=asc
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Australiancharts.com – Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Zwan Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  24. ↑ "Danishcharts.dk – Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  26. ↑ "Zwan: Mary Star of the Sea" (in Finnish). w:Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  27. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  28. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea" (in German). w:GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  29. ↑ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Zwan". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  30. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  31. ↑ "Charts.nz – Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  32. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  33. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  34. ↑ Salaverrie, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in español) (1st ed.). Madrid: Fundación Autor/SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  35. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  36. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  37. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  38. ↑ "Zwan Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  39. ↑ "Zwan Chart History: Alternative Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  40. ↑ "Zwan Chart History: Mainstream Rock". Billboard. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  41. ↑ "Chartverfolgung / Zwan / Single". musicline.de (in Deutsch). PHONONET GmbH. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  42. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 618. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.

External links[edit | edit source]

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