Vessel

Vessel
Released	January 8, 2013
Length	47:44 (standard edition) 66:06 (Europe bonus track edition) 80:23 (Japan/Korea bonus track edition)
Producer(s)	Greg Wells Tyler Joseph John Janick Chris Woltman
Recorded	2005-12
Label	Fueled by Ramen
RIAA Certification	2x-Platinum
Singles from Vessel
1. Holding On to You Released: September 11, 2012
2. Guns for Hands Released: December 26, 2012
3. Lovely Released: April 17, 2013
4. House of Gold Released: August 6, 2013
5. Fake You Out Released: September 15, 2013
6. Car Radio Released: March 18, 2014
Discography
Three Songs
Migraine (EP)

Vessel is the third album released by the American musical duo Twenty One Pilots, which was released on January 8, 2013. It is the band's first studio album released via Fueled by Ramen, and their major-label debut album.

Tracklist

All songs produced by Greg Wells.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	Ode to Sleep	Tyler Joseph	5:08
2.	Holding On to You	Joseph, Maurice Gleaton, Charles Hammond, Robert Hill, Deangelo Hunt, Bernard Leverette, Gerald Tiller, and Jamall Willingham	4:23
3.	Migraine	Joseph	3:59
4.	House of Gold	Joseph	2:43
5.	Car Radio	Joseph	4:27
6.	Semi-Automatic	Joseph	4:13
7.	Screen	Joseph	3:49
8.	The Run and Go	Joseph	3:49
9.	Fake You Out	Joseph	3:51
10.	Guns for Hands	Joseph	4:33
11.	Trees	Joseph	4:27
12.	Truce	Joseph	2:22

Europe bonus edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	Glowing Eyes (from Regional at Best)	Joseph	4:26
14.	Kitchen Sink (from Regional at Best)	Joseph	5:34
15.	Lovely (re-recorded version; from Regional at Best)	Joseph	4:18
16.	Forest (from Regional at Best)	Joseph	4:06

Japanese bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	Holding On to You (live at LC Pavilion)	Joseph	5:36
14.	Car Radio (live at LC Pavilion)	Joseph	4:30
15.	Trees (live at LC Pavilion)	Joseph, Thomas	6:10
16.	Guns for Hands (live at LC Pavilion)	Joseph	6:01
17.	Ode to Sleep (live at Newport Music Hall)	Joseph	5:32
18.	Forest (live at Newport Music Hall)	Joseph	4:50

For a list of all releases and formats, see Vessel/Releases

Background

High-school colleagues Tyler Joseph, Nick Thomas, and Chris Salih formed Twenty One Pilots in 2009. The group released their debut album Twenty One Pilots. Both Thomas and Salih parted ways with the band in 2011. Soon afterwards Josh Dun joined the band; Joseph had been friends with Dun for around a year. Joseph first saw Dun when he was playing a show with House of Heroes. Joseph said that he "loved" the performance. The band released Regional at Best later that year. In June, the duo played their first out-of-state show to a group of 12 people. The pair soon gained popularity through a series of videos made by friend Mark Eshleman. The band played their last show as an unsigned band at the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio to a crowd of 1,800 in attendance. The band signed with Fueled by Ramen in 2012.

In an exclusive commentary made for Spotify, Joseph revealed details behind many songs and the album. Whilst talking about the song Migraine, Joseph expands on what it's like to put out songs with meaning to him, and how they connect with other people.

...as a songwriter, I like to kind of just emit some sort of message, almost like a ripple in the water and when I feel that ripple bounce off of someone else who resonates with what it is I’m going through and it starts coming back at me it’s just a really cool feeling of you know, I’m not alone in what I’m going through. — Tyler Joseph on song writing

Whilst discussing Semi-Automatic, Joseph noted that the album explores what it's like at night for him and goes on to explain this theme which runs through the album.

It’s very introspective, and I know I talk about the night time a lot. I feel like I listen to a lot of pop music today that talks about the night in a completely different way than I talk about the night. There’s a lot of writers that talk about the night as in like it’s [an] awesome time, that everyone’s partying or whatever, and usually night time for me is like the worst—that’s when everything comes out for me. That’s when I realize that I don’t really understand why I’m here or what I’m doing and it’s when the doubts happen. So a lot of these songs are kind of showing you the things that I’m thinking at night. — Tyler Joseph on the album's themes

Discussing Truce, Joseph explains one of the messages he wants the album to give to its listeners.

I just wanted to tell people; “hang in there, you know, there’s someone out there who does know what you’re going through.” I know that there’s a lot of bands that say they want to use music to help people and I know a lot of that might be full of crap. But if someone is encouraged, at all, by the music that I write, then my whole life will be justified, so I mean I would be crazy not to try. — Tyler Joseph on the album's message

Production

Joseph composed the album "not knowing whether or not people were going to hear it".

Recording for Vessel took place at Rocket Carousel Studio, located in Los Angeles, California with Greg Wells producing. Wells provided additional synths, keyboards and programming. Wells mixed the album, while Ian McGregor helped with recording. Mastering was performed by Howie Weinberg and Dan Gerbarg at Howie Weinberg Mastering, also in Los Angeles.

Release

In the summer of 2012, Twenty One Pilots released the Three Songs EP, which featured the tracks "Guns for Hands", "Migraine", and "Ode to Sleep". On September 11, "Holding On to You" was released as a single. On December 18, the album was made available for streaming via Entertainment Weekly. Vessel was released through Fueled by Ramen on January 8, 2013. The two elderly men pictured on the album cover are Joseph and Dun's grandfathers. The pair did it to see what the label's reaction was and when the label said yes the group said "Okay, maybe this is going to work!" In an 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.

To help support the album, the band toured internationally throughout the year. "House of Gold" was released as a radio single on August 6, 2013. On September 15, "Fake You Out" was released as a single. On October 4, the music video for "House of Gold" was released. The video was directed by Warren Kommers and filmed on Will Smith's ranch outside of Los Angeles, California. "Car Radio" was released as a radio single on March 18, 2014.

The album is available on CD, digital download, a limited edition Clear Vinyl, and a limited edition white cassette. All physical copies are available through the Official Twenty One Pilots Store (store.twentyonepilots.com). Hot Topic released an exclusive red vinyl, which is no longer being sold by TOP or Hot Topic, and is worth around $80 - $200 on eBay, depending on physical condition.

Artwork

The album's cover features both Dun and Joseph's grandfathers on the left and right respectively. Photography for this album was done by Reel Bear Media. Art Direction and Design was done by Reel Bear Media and Virgilio Tzaj.

Album cover

Standard back cover

CD Label

Back page of booklet

Tray liner

Reception

In May 2015, it was announced the album had sold 265,000 copies in the United States. The album has consistently sold more than 1,000 copies a week since its release. By December, the album's U.S. sales stood at 375,000. In July 2016, the album received Platinum RIAA certification, indicating over 1,000,000 domestic sales. On July 31, 2019, Truce received Gold RIAA certification, making Vessel to be the second Twenty One Pilots album to have every track RIAA certified, and making history for the band as the first act to have two albums with every track RIAA certified.

RIAA Certifications for Vessel

Track	RIAA Certification	Date of Certification
Ode to Sleep	Gold	July 14, 2017
Holding On to You	Platinum	July 7, 2017
Migraine	Platinum	February 1, 2019
House of Gold	Platinum	July 7, 2017
Car Radio	2x-Platinum	March 1, 2018
Semi-Automatic	Gold	February 1, 2019
Screen	Gold	January 17, 2019
The Run and Go	Gold	January 17, 2019
Fake You Out	Gold	February 27, 2019
Guns for Hands	Gold	July 14, 2017
Trees	Gold	January 17, 2019
Truce	Gold	July 31, 2019

Credits

Credits per booklet.

• Tyler Joseph - Lead vocals (all tracks) Keyboards, Programming (tracks 1-11 & "Lovely", Piano (tracks 1, 11 & 12), Ukulele (tracks 4 & 7) Mellotron (track 7)
• Josh Dun Drums (tracks 1-8, 10, 11 & "Lovely") , Percussion (track 10)

Written and Produced by	Tyler Joseph and Greg Wells
Drums and Auxiliary Percussion	Josh Dun
Programming, Piano, Keys, Vocals and Ukulele	Tyler Joseph
Additional Synths and Programming	Greg Wells
Production and Mixing	Greg Wells
Additional Production	Tyler Joseph
Additional Keyboards and Programming	Greg Wells
Recording	Ian MacGregor
Executive Producers	John Janick and Chris Woltman
A&R	Pete Ganbarg
Art Direction and Design	Reel Bear Media and Virgilio Tzaj
Photography	Reel Bear Media
Marketing Direction	Katie Robinson and Thom Skarzynski
Digital Marketing	Adam Samiljan
A&R Administration	Anne DeClemente
Management	Chris Woltman at Element 1 Music
Legal	Martin F. Frascogna of Frascogna Entertainment Law, PLLC
Booking	Andrew Simon and Jeff Krones at CAA
International Booking	Mark Ngui at CAA
Business Affairs	Erica Bellarosa at Atlantic Records
Art Manager	Rob Gold
Packaging Production	Josh Skubel
Parents	Mr. and Mrs. Joseph; Mr. and Mrs. Dun
Publishing	Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp (BMI) / Fueled By Music (BMI) / Stryker Joseph Music (BMI) All rights on behalf of itself and Stryker Joseph Music Administered by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp

Era  · Discography  · Vessel (album)  · Videography  · Performances  · Trip for Concerts  · Quiet Is Violent World Tour Ode to Sleep Holding on to You Migraine House of Gold Car Radio Semi-Automatic Screen The Run and Go Fake You Out Guns for Hands Trees Truce Glowing Eyes (Bonus track) Kitchen Sink (Bonus track) Lovely (Bonus track) Forest (Bonus track)