Looking Back on 20 Years of Porcelain from El Paso Legends Sparta

On July 13, 2004, Sparta from El Paso, Texas would release their 2nd album, Porcelain. If Wiretap Scars was the grand introduction to the world, then Porcelain would be the album that cemented the fact that Sparta was here to stay. Their 2nd album would tell everyone that Jim & the guys had a message to tell through their music. And that message was: "let's play some songs that people will remember FOREVER".

Upon release, Porcelain would receive a great amount of praise from fans & critics

Porcelain would be the highest charting album Sparta had put out, reaching as high as #60 on the Billboard charts. Its first single, "Breaking the Broken", would capture the eyes of the public greatly after its appearance on David Letterman.

Another single that would be become a fan favorite is “While Oceana Sleeps”. This song would be performed on Conan, much to the delight of the audience.

Other songs that the fans would gravitate towards heavily include "Lines in Sand", "Tensioning", "Hiss the Villain" & the epic 8 minute long "From Now to Never".

That fact would be resonated by the number of fan covers that would be uploaded onto YouTube. Many musicians would try to learn these songs, whether it'd be guitar, bass, or my favorites, drums.

Many of these songs would still be played frequently in Jim Ward’s shows too; he played a couple of tracks at his last performance at Cool Canyon Nights on June 28, 2024.

20 years later & these albums still hold up. Not only do they hold a special place in El Paso history but rock history as well. And for that, thank you Jim for giving us these classics for us to enjoy all these years later.

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