The Silver Gymnasium

The Silver Gymnasium was first announced in June 2013, its name revealed letter-by-letter via the band's website.[1] The record is a concept album which takes place in lead-singer Will Sheff's home-town of Meriden, New Hampshire in 1986. Sheff conceived the album as a tribute to the spirit of pre-adolescence, meant to evoke the nostalgic feeling of, in his words “an action figure you found in the woods.”[2] The album's title is taken from the Charles Lewis Silver Memorial Gymnasium found in Meriden's Kimball Union Academy, the boarding school that Sheff attended.[3]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.4/10[4]
Metacritic	78/100[5]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Alternative Press	[7]
American Songwriter	[8]
The A.V. Club	B+[9]
The Guardian	[10]
Mojo	[11]
NME	7/10[12]
Pitchfork	6.8/10[13]
Q	[14]
Uncut	8/10[15]

The album has been given a Metacritic rating of 78 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews.[5] At Alternative Press, Chris Parker called the album "Often dark, but strangely triumphant."[7]

The album charted at No. 66 on Billboard 200,[16] and No. 7 on the Billboard Tastemaker album chart,[17] selling 5,800 copies in the first week. The album has sold 22,000 copies in the United States as of August 2016.[18]