the Deaf (2002) and Third Eye Blind's self-titled album (1997). Although they met with Howard Benson and Rob Cavallo, the band's "love of Eric's work kind of trumped any other meeting we had." Unlike their previous records, the group worked in a large studio (Barefoot Studios in Los Angeles, California). Warner Bros. told them, "Take your time and it's done when you're done with it," and the band did another set of demos with input from Valentine. According to Mascherino, the group knew how they wanted the upcoming album to sound, so demoing again was a "thorough way to do it." Working in a big studio, according to Lazzara, gave the band the opportunity to "have more than two guitar sounds." According to Rubano, the group wished to make a rock-oriented album—not in compositional style, but "maybe in the recording and the tones of the instruments." They brought out "a really unique character" in all the songs. During the recording, guitarist Ed Reyes used Orange and Burman amplifiers. Most of his guitar tracks were recorded with an Epiphone Casino guitar, and he also used an Epiphone Crestwood guitar. Frequently using a tape delay effect, Reyes did not use distortion pedals since the Orange amp "had a perfect gain sound in itself." Mascherino used his Gibson SG Special guitar during recording, which he said had "an amazing sound which is really warm and gives me my own sound." He channeled it through a Marshall JCM800 amplifier, and also used a Gibson Firebird guitar when the group needed "a really tight sound." The drums were recorded in three days. After positioning four microphones around (and inside) the bass drum, Valentine placed Mark O'Connell in a room "he calls the torture chamber." According to the drummer, the room's acoustics made the drums sound "insane." By November the rhythm guitar, bass and drums were done, leaving the vocals and lead guitar to be finished. Recording wrapped up on New Year's Day, 2006. The songs were recorded with Pro Tools and transferred to analog tape for mixing, which was done by Valentine. Matt Radosevich engineered the recordings, assisted by Chris Roach. The band recorded 14 songs, with 11 planned to make the final track listing. The strings on "My Blue Heaven," arranged by Anton Patzner, were performed by Judgement Day. Patzner played violin and viola, and his brother Lewis played cello. Elena Mascherino contributed backing