Wiki
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Release Date
9 January 1999
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Length
12 tracks
Neon Ballroom is the third studio album by Australian alternative rock band Silverchair and was released on 8 March 1999. The album debuted at number-one on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified 4× platinum by ARIA. It was also certified Gold in the United States. It genereated the singles "Anthem for the Year 2000", "Ana's Song (Open Fire)", "Miss You Love", and "Paint Pastel Princess". Neon Ballroom out sold Freak Show in North America and throughout the world and has sold a total of 2 million albums worldwide.
Neon Ballroom was an overhaul of the band's musical style found on its first two albums, Frogstomp and Freak Show. "Anthem for the Year 2000", for example, retained much of the band's youthful rock energy but featured a new rock song structure and various electronic effects. Eight years after the album's release, Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns said: "To me, I honestly feel like our first record was Neon Ballroom. I've never felt any different. I don't feel like our first two albums were Silverchair: that's our teenage high school band. I don't like them at all. I listen to them and go, 'That's cute', especially the first one, because Frogstomp we were 14. But the second one we're like 16, I'm like 'You're getting older. You're running out of chances'".
From May 1998, Silverchair worked on their third studio album, Neon Ballroom, which had Nick Launay (Birthday Party, Models, Midnight Oil) producing again. It was released in March 1999 on Sony Records imprint Murmur and peaked at number-one in Australia – their third number-one album. Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane said, "As well as being the band’s best album to date, it was universally acknowledged as one of the best albums of the year." The band had originally intended to take a 12-month-break after the release of 1997's Freak Show, but in the end they decided to devote their time to making new music. Neon Ballroom provided three Australian top 20 singles: "Anthem for the Year 2000", "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" and "Miss You Love"; a fourth single, "Paint Pastel Princess", did not reach the top 50. The album charted in Canada, where it peaked at No. 5. It reached the top 40 on the United Kingdom Albums Chart. "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks.
In 1999, Johns announced that he had developed the eating disorder, anorexia nervosa, due to anxiety. Johns noted that the lyrics to "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" dealt with his disorder, where he would "eat what he needed … to stay awake." He revealed that his eating problems developed from the time of Freak Show and when Neon Ballroom was written he "hated music, really everything about it", but felt that he "couldn't stop doing it; I felt like a slave to it." Johns sought therapy and medication but felt "It's easier for me to express it through music and lyrics".
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