Hell Below/Stars Above

After initially being scheduled to start recording in November 1999, the band entered Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood, California on January 3, 2000. The studio, which Clark Vogeler referred to as "a classic studio", had been used by many influential rock acts from the 1970s such as the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. Todd Lewis went on to cite the studio and its history as an influence on the sound of the album;[11] "[The album is] a little grander sounding, a little more '70s, I guess." [12] While they initially considered using other producers, the band decided to work with Rubberneck producers Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf again, as the band favoured their "full" production style.[7] The band aimed for a sound that was "a little bit more live, [and] not quite so mechanical" as the Pro-Tools produced Feeler sessions.[9] In order to achieve this, the album was recorded onto two-inch analog tape in order to achieve the "live" sound the band wanted.[12] The recording sessions were sometimes stop-start, most notably when recording had to be halted for two weeks, with the album near to completion, after Interscope told the band that the album’s budget still needed to be approved.[13] The album was finally completed in March 18, 2000, with the album being mixed by Andy Wallace in April and mastered in May of that year.[7]

Three songs, "Push the Hand", "Doll Skin” and "Best of Three" (renamed as "What We Have We Steal") were recovered from the Feeler sessions and re-recorded for the album, while two other songs, “Joey Let’s Go” and “Waterfall” were also re-recorded but did not make the record.[11]

While recording the album, the band, still in financial difficulties as a result of not touring for several years, relied on royalties coming from Rubberneck to keep them afloat; Todd Lewis called "Possum Kingdom", which was still receiving somewhat regular rotation several years after its release, the "pay-the-rent" song for the band.[7][14] The band decided not to do any shows whilst recording; There's not really any reason to go out and tour if you don't have a record out, Todd Lewis said. "It's just kind of pointless." In order to make up for the lack of touring money, Lisa Umbarger took on a part time role working for Starbucks, and Clark Vogeler reluctantly had to borrow money from his girlfriend for basic necessities such as toilet paper and food.[3]

Compared to the band's previous works, which were solely written by Todd Lewis, Hell Below/Stars Above was written collaboratively, writing contributions from all members of the band contributing in some capacity to the album's music. Todd explained the new songwriting approach in an interview with the Dallas Observer:

Vaden Todd Lewis: "[Hell Below/Stars Above] was more of me bringing in an idea and having the band flesh it out. We'd had enough time together as a band--me and Mark and Lisa--to start vibing that way, and kind of feeding off each other. And, uh..." Mark Reznicek: "Finishing each other's sentences."[7]

Despite Clark Vogeler being the band's newest member, he quickly became an equal part in the band's song writing process; "Clark came in and kind of snapped right into [the song writing process]", Lewis said.[7]

The band's compositions were more expansive as well, and the band took more risks. The band also experimented with vocal harmonies for the album.[12]

The album's title track, for example, has a progressive song structure, starting off as a straight forward fast rock song before expanding into a more bluesy song with a gospel choir and piano at the end. Todd Lewis wrote the first half of the song, with the rest of the band contributing something to the end of the song afterwards. The song also includes piano performed by Elliott Smith, who had worked with Rothrock and Schnapf in the past.[15][11]

While the album still contains much of the Toadies' previous grunge and hard rock energy, the band experimented with softer-sounding songs, such as "Pressed Against the Sky". Todd Lewis described the song as "..the biggest limp we went out on, because it’s really on-your-sleeve and emotionally bare, not trying to hide behind a scary story. It’s just what it is." Lewis used the song to describe his maturing lyric-writing; "Since ‘Rubberneck,’ I’ve been trying to express myself without relying on some story to hide what I’m really getting at.”[4]

The band was not interested copying modern musical trends or the album. “The charm of this record is that we don’t fit in,” Todd Lewis said to Pause And Play; “especially now with all the backwards-hats-wearing, scream-at-the-floor guys. It might be refreshing to hear somebody who can write a song and not be playing one chord on a seven-string guitar, screaming about their childhood. That’s what’s going to work with this record … there’s people actually singing and not being tuned by a computer and actually playing their instruments and actually writing a song. It has some merit to it, some hooks. It’s something to sing along to.”[4]

The lyrical content on Hell Below/Stars Above covers themes such as sex, murder, religion, and was partially inspired by the struggles the band faced.[15]

"Push The Hand" was described by Todd Lewis to be about "a relationship that gets fouled up because of sex, and about seeing how your friendship kinda goes away because you f---ed it up by, um ... f---ing."

"Jigsaw Girl" was described by MTV News as "a dark, romantic ode to a former lover the narrator has chopped to pieces." Todd Lewis described the song as "the prettiest song ever, but it's about how you love this girl so much, but she doesn't love you back, so you cut her up."[16] "I think it's fun to pull off a love song that's really f---in' twisted," Lewis said about the song to MTV News. "It's funny to hear a love song about something really dark and sick that still sounds nice and pretty."[15] The Austin Chronicle compared the song to "Possum Kingdom".[17]

"Jigsaw Girl" and "Doll Skin" were later re-recorded and re-interpreted for the band's sixth studio album, Heretics. "Queen of Scars", off of the aforementioned album, is a sequel to "Jigsaw Girl".[18][16]

The stained glass window on the Dallas Power and Light building, used for the album's disc and inner tray artwork.

The album's cover is a picture of an angel, and was taken from a book called "Pillars of the Almighy" by f-stop Fitzgerland, which contains photography of churches and buildings. The band used that image to form the rest of the album's aesthetic. The disc artwork and the inner tray card is an image of a stained-glass window taken from the Dallas Power and Light building.[11][19]

Interscope's promotion of the album was extremely poor, compared to the label's promotion of Rubberneck. Whereas Rubberneck was promoted with seven music videos and radio singles, the label only released one single, and no music videos.[22] The album's only single, "Push the Hand", was promoted for two weeks on the radio, which was "the minimal amount they were legally required to do", according to drummer Mark Reznicek.[3] Todd Lewis suggested that a follow-up single could have been either “You’ll Come Down” or “Motivational”[11] (the latter which was the planned first single),[21] but soon after, Interscope informed the band that they would not be releasing a second single or promoting the album further. “We were like a paper boat in a gutter,” Umbarger explained of the album's poor promotion; “from the street to the sewer.”[3]

In a 2012 interview with Antiquiet, Clark Voleger said the band believed Hell Below/Stars Above was poorly promoted because of Interscope Records founder Jimmy Iovine's dislike of the band, stemming from a falling out over a joke the band made about Interscope on a radio station in 1994, which offended Iovine. "He was mad at them then, and by the time it was time for us to start working on our second record, he was in control, and [then-Interscope President] Tom Whalley I think was on his way out, so Jimmy Iovine just made the decision, [to] just kind of, 'fuck ’em'." He also blamed Iovine for the album's seven-year delay; "He never seemed to forgive [the band], basically, and squandered away years and years of our lives."[22][23]

The band announced a 20th anniversary vinyl reissue of the album on March 24, 2021. A release date is unknown as of April 2022.[24]

* denotes an unordered list

After hearing that Interscope would no longer promote the album or release a second single, bassist Lisa Umbarger left the band during the middle of the tour on July 14, 2001. Todd Lewis decided to break up the band three days later, saying that it was no longer the Toadies without Umbarger. "Me and Lisa [Umbarger] have been there from the start, and that just never even entered my mind," Lewis explained to the Dallas Observer. "I've said it before: This band finally got to where I wanted it--creatively and input-wise--and everybody was on an even playing field, and just everything was good as far as the band itself. Then this happened, and I just figured, well, fuck it then." Clark Vogeler was supportive Lewis' decision, saying that it "made sense".[39] As a result of Umbarger's departure, the band cancelled the five remaining tour dates in July 2001, sparking rumours about the band's imminent breakup.[44]

Todd would publicly announce the breakup of the band on the 24 August 2001,[3][1] something which came as a surpise to Umbarger, who expected the band to continue. "I thought I could have the benefits of going to Starplex and watching from backstage. I thought the Toadies as an entity would continue. I didn't know it would have such a big effect."[39]

The band played some farewell shows, with Mark Hughes of Baboon filling in on bass, through September, with their final show taking place in Amarillo, Texas on October 1, 2001.[45] Umbarger wanted to participate in the farewell shows, but could not due to scheduling conflicts; she believes that Todd Lewis deliberately planned these shows to be in conflict with her schedule.[39]

Following the split, the bandmembers did their own individual projects, and did not reunite until 2006.