The Artist in the Ambulance is the third studio album by American rock band Thrice. It was released on July 22, 2003 through Island Records, becoming their first release on a major label. The band released their second studio album The Illusion of Safety in February 2002; by July of that year, they were writing material for their next album. Recording sessions were held with producer Brian McTernan at Bearsville Studios in Bearsville, New York; Salad Days Studios in Beltsville, Maryland; and Phase Studios in College Park, Maryland.
Following tours of the United States and Europe—the latter as part of the Deconstruction Tour—"All That's Left" was released as the lead single from The Artist in the Ambulance. Thrice briefly appeared on Warped Tour before the track "Under a Killing Moon" was released on a split seven-inch vinyl single with a track by Thursday. Thrice appeared at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in the United Kingdom before embarking on a European tour supporting co-headliners Rancid and Alkaline Trio. Thrice closed 2003 with another UK tour, and a US tour with Thursday and Coheed and Cambria. Thrice also toured Japan, Australia and Europe in 2004, leading into US tours; one with Poison the Well and Darkest Hour, and one supporting Dashboard Confessional on the Honda Civic Tour.
The Artist in the Ambulance received generally positive reviews from music critics, many of whom highlighted Thrice's musicianship and the quality of the songwriting. The album peaked at number 16 on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming Thrice's first entry on that chart. It topped the Top Internet Albums chart, and peaked at number 109 on the main UK Albums Chart and at number nine on the UK Rock Albums Charts. "All That's Left" appeared on three Billboard component charts; its highest peak was number 24 on the Alternative Airplay chart, on which "Stare at the Sun" reached number 39. A re-recorded version, featuring various guest vocalists, appeared in 2023.
Background
In June 2000, Thrice released their debut album Identity Crisis through independent label Greenflag Records. Sometime afterwards, Louis Posen of Sub City Records took an interest in Thrice and re-issued the album. The band's second album, the Brian McTernan-produced The Illusion of Safety, followed in February 2002. Prior to this, Island Records' A&R member Robert Stevenson became interested in Thrice and saw them perform at Chain Reaction, a venue in California. The members of Thrice liked Stevenson's appreciation of the punk rock scene; he had grown up listening to New York hardcore bands and had previously signed Rival Schools. Thrice came to the attention of major labels such as Capitol, Columbia and MCA Records. Thrice toured with Anti-Flag; before or after every show on the tour, Thrice had a meeting with a representative of one of those labels. Around this time, the band was also being courted by music producer Rick Rubin.
Thrice's manager Nick Bogardus spent time at Time Bomb Recordings, which helped him make contact with Epic Records A&R member Pete Giberga. Giberga, who also enjoyed New York hardcore, said while Epic had no interest in signing Thrice, he advised Bogardus and the band which A&R people were worth talking to. In June 2002, Thrice signed to Island Records and formally announced the signing the following month. The same month, Thrice spent time at home writing material for their next album. The band then performed on the main stage at Warped Tour before playing club shows in October and November 2002. For two weeks, drums were recorded at Bearsville Studios in Bearsville, New York, with engineer Michael Barbiero and Pro Tools operator Matt Squire; Bill Synan assisted the pair. Breckenridge felt they were not prepared upon entering the studio, saying that he would often be writing his bass parts as he was recording them, which increased the pressure for McTernan. Thrice struggled to record guitars for "Under a Killing Moon" because of problems with tuning, resulting in them re-recording the guitars.