The Silver Gymnasium

The Silver Gymnasium
Studio album by Okkervil River
Released	September 3, 2013
Genre	Indie rock, folk rock
Length	49:04
Label	ATO
Producer	John Agnello
Okkervil River chronology
Golden Opportunities 2 (2011) The Silver Gymnasium (2013) Away (2016)

The Silver Gymnasium is the seventh album by American indie rock band Okkervil River, released on September 3, 2013. It is the band's first release after signing to ATO Records, and their first album not released through Jagjaguwar.

Overview

The Silver Gymnasium was first announced in June 2013, its name revealed letter-by-letter via the band's website.^[1] The record is a concept album which takes place in lead-singer Will Sheff's home-town of Meriden, New Hampshire in 1986. Sheff conceived the album as a tribute to the spirit of pre-adolescence, meant to evoke the nostalgic feeling of, in his words “an action figure you found in the woods.”^[2] The album's title is taken from the Charles Lewis Silver Memorial Gymnasium found in Meriden's Kimball Union Academy, the boarding school that Sheff attended.^[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	78/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
Alternative Press	[6]
Consequence of Sound	[7]
Pitchfork	[8]
PopMatters	10/10[9]
Slant Magazine	[10]

At Alternative Press, Chris Parker called the album "Often dark, but strangely triumphant."^[6] The album charted at No. 7 on the Billboard Tastemaker album chart.^[11]

Track listing

All tracks written by Will Sheff. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"It Was My Season"	4:26
2.	"On a Balcony"	3:04
3.	"Down Down the Deep River"	6:32
4.	"Pink-slips"	3:39
5.	"Lido Pier Suicide Car"	5:31
6.	"Where the Spirit Left Us"	3:47
7.	"White"	3:06
8.	"Stay Young"	4:19
9.	"Walking Without Frankie"	5:00
10.	"All the Time Every Day"	4:36
11.	"Black Nemo"	4:58

Bonus tracks

• "Do the Crawl (CBS October 22, 1988)" – 4:43 Vinyl exclusive
• "From a Cutlass Cruiser" – 3:40 Vinyl exclusive

Charts

Chart (2013)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[12]	66
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[13]	15
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[14]	20
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[15]	7

References

1. "ATO Records". atorecords.com. 2013-06-20.
2. "ATO Records". atorecords.com. 2013-07-01.
3. "Kimball Union Academy". www.kua.org.
4. "Reviews for The Silver Gymnsaium by Okkervil River". Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
5. Monger, James Christopher. "The Silver Gymnasium - Okkervil River - Songs, Albums, Credits, Awards - AllMusic". Alllmusic. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
6. Parker, Chris (2013). "Okkervil River – The Silver Gymnasium". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. October 2013 (303): 92. ISSN 1065-1667. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
7. Caffrey, Danl (Sep 3, 2013). "Album Review: Lilver Gymnasium-Okkervil River". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved Sep 3, 2013.
8. "Pitchfork review".
9. Smith, Robin (2013-09-04). "PopMatters Review". PopMatters.com. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
10. "Slant review".
11. "Billboard 200".
12. "Okkervil River – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Okkervil River.
13. "Okkervil River – Chart history" Billboard Top Alternative Albums for Okkervil River.
14. "Okkervil River – Chart history" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Okkervil River.
15. "Okkervil River – Chart history" Billboard Top Tastemaker Albums for Okkervil River.