Vessel (Twenty One Pilots album)
Vessel is the third studio album by American musical duo Twenty One Pilots, which was released on January 8, 2013. It is the band's first album released via Fueled by Ramen, and is their major-label debut album. Vessel debuted at number 58 on the Billboard 200 chart, but reached number 21 in 2016. As of July 2019, the album has sold over two million equivalent album units.[7] All of its tracks have been certified at least Gold by the RIAA, which made Twenty One Pilots the first group or artist to achieve this feat with two separate albums.[8]
Twenty One Pilots signed to Fueled by Ramen in 2012.[9] In the summer of 2012, the duo released the Three Songs EP,[9] which featured the tracks "Guns for Hands", "Migraine", and "Ode to Sleep".[10] On December 18 2012, the album was made available for streaming via Entertainment Weekly.[11] Vessel was released through Fueled by Ramen on January 8, 2013.[11]
The songs "Ode to Sleep", "Holding on to You", "House of Gold", "Car Radio", "Guns for Hands", and "Trees" were taken from their previous independent album, Regional at Best, and re-recorded for Vessel; as a result, the former project was pulled from distribution by the band's label.[12] Joseph had composed Regional at Best "not knowing whether or not people were going to hear it" and viewed Vessel as an opportunity to complete these songs.[13]
Recording for Vessel took place at Rocket Carousel Studio, located in Los Angeles, California with Greg Wells producing.[14] Wells provided additional synths, keyboards and programming.[14] Wells mixed the album, while Ian McGregor helped with recording.[14] Mastering was performed by Howie Weinberg and Dan Gerbarg at Howie Weinberg Mastering, also in Los Angeles.[14]
The album cover features the duo's paternal grandfathers. The man on the left is Dun's grandfather Earl Owen Dun, who died shortly after the album's release,[15] and the man on the right is Joseph's grandfather Robert O. "Bobby" Joseph, who died on March 17, 2018.
In a fan interview, Joseph spoke on the meaning behind the album's name, saying that a vessel (our body) is an object carrying something far more important than the outer shell, and when we die, that is set free and lives on.[16]
