Bad Vibrations

Bad Vibrations
Studio album by A Day to Remember
Released September 2, 2016
Recorded 2015
Studio The Blasting Room,
Fort Collins, Colorado
Genre
Length 41:43
Label ADTR, Epitaph
Producer
A Day to Remember chronology
Common Courtesy
(2013)		 Bad Vibrations
(2016)
Singles from Bad Vibrations
  1. "Paranoia"
    Released: March 11, 2016
  2. "Bad Vibrations"
    Released: June 3, 2016
  3. "Bullfight"
    Released: July 25, 2016
  4. "Naivety"
    Released: August 19, 2016
  5. "We Got This"
    Released: September 1, 2016

Bad Vibrations is the sixth studio album by American rock band A Day to Remember.

Background

In December 2011, it was announced that A Day to Remember had plans of pressing charges against their label, Victory, due to breach of contract. Claiming withheld royalties of over $75,000, the group had reportedly started legal action against Victory on May 31 of that year.[1] Victory has said, on their behalf, that the lawsuit is actually about the band's refusal to fulfill their 5 album contractual commitment to Victory and their new-found desire to move to a major label.[2] While this lawsuit was ongoing, the band self-released Common Courtesy through their own label, ADTR Records in 2013.[3] Following this, the group took a break. Vocalist Jeremy McKinnon explained the band was "doing our own thing, taking it easy and trying to recharge the batteries".[4]

Composition

Writing

At the start of 2015, the group rented a cabin at Horsetooth Reservoir, located in Dakota Hogback ridge, west of Fort Collins, Colorado. The cabin was surrounded by woods.[5] According to McKinnon, the group "just wrote together in a room, which was the polar opposite of the last three albums we've made".[6] Typically, McKinnon would have some material saved to show the group, however, this time round he didn't have any.[7] McKinnon went on to describe the album as containing "an element of returning to our roots", in that the album was their first since For Those Who Have Heart (2007) to feature full contributions from all members of the band.[8] For Bad Vibrations, it was the first time since For Those Who Have Heart that the group had written together in a room. While some of the group's previous albums were written while on tour, McKinnon considered it "important to me and the rest of the band to get everybody involved in a room, properly involved and just write a record together".[7]

The group wrote music "casually for fun" without any expectations, according to McKinnon.[9] For the most part, McKinnon would have either a chorus or melody idea that the rest of the group would flesh out into a song. On some occasions, the group would jam and have a finished song in an hour.[10] For their past two albums, What Separates Me from You (2010) and Common Courtesy (2013), the group had trouble naturally writing heavy songs. McKinnon reassured that there was "a lot of heavy songs on there".[7] Cody Quistad of Wage War often accompanied the band for these writing sessions.[5][nb 1] The group wrote for 30 days, completing at least one song per day. Writing sessions lasted eight-to-ten hours.[5] By the end of this period, the group had around 40 songs in total.[7]

Tracks

McKinnon states that the album's title, Bad Vibrations, is derived from feelings of stress and anxiety.[8] The album's sound has been described as metalcore[12][13] and pop punk.[12] "Bad Vibrations", written by McKinnon, guitarists Kevin Skaff and Neil Westfall, and Quistad,[14] was the final song written for the album. According to McKinnon, the song is about "being overwhelmingly stressed and what it does to you".[5] The breakdown during the song is heavily inspired by a drum pattern that Mark Castillo of Bury Your Dead would play, according to Shelnutt.[10] One day the group were working on a song but had hit a roadblock with it and were about to call it day. McKinnon heard Skaff playing a random riff. McKinnon then "immediately heard the first half of Paranoia. I immediately showed everybody in the room how to play it".[7] The group composed the breakdown together, finishing "Paranoia" under 30 minutes. McKinnon was writing the lyrics with Skaff and Westfall during the evening, and recorded a demo the following morning.[7] The song's lyrics were inspired by an event McKinnon and his girlfriend experienced during Halloween a few years prior: a kid banged on McKinnon's window at 3am, an experience he called "terrifying".[15]

"Naivety", written by McKinnon, Skaff and Descendents drummer Bill Stevenson,[14] talks about loss of innocence. According to McKinnon "it's that feeling before you try, and then you get killed".[15] "Exposed" was written by McKinnon, Quistad, Westfall and Skaff.[14] McKinnon described it as being "a heavy song, but it's less 2000s hardcore than a riffier, modern-heavy sound".[7] The song is about the way people make negative comments about the world.[16] "Bullfight", written by McKinnon, Westfall and Skaff,[14] is about a person who is changed when something positive happens to them. "Reassemble" was written between McKinnon and the group's long-time producer Andrew Wade. McKinnon showed it to the band and they adapted it to fit the group. The song talks about someone who struggled with addiction.[5] "Justified", written by McKinnon, Westfall, Quistad, Stevenson and Skaff,[14] came about from an idea Westfall previous had.[7] The group loved the song early on in the writing process.[5] Lyrically, the song is about judgemental people who have a distaste for others for simply having different beliefs to them.[15]

"We Got This", written by McKinnon, Westfall and Skaff,[14] is about when you're a young person in "a music scene people don’t really understand or respect, but then going to these shows and realising this is something you love".[7] The song was attempted during sessions for Common Courtesy, but the group weren't happy with it. With help from Stevenson, the group resolved the problems they had with the track.[7] "Same About You", written by McKinnon, Westfall, Skaff and drummer Alex Shelnutt,[14] talks about a person who tells you something, which causes you to look at them differently. "Turn Off the Radio", written by McKinnon, Westfall, Wade and Skaff,[14] was another song that was intended for Common Courtesy. The song's original bridge contained a rap beat and was intended to feature rapper Rick Ross.[5] Ross asked if the group were satanists. McKinnon reponded: "Evidently, somebody told him yes and we never heard from him again."[17] "Forgive and Forget", written by McKinnon, the band's former guitarist Tom Denney, Skaff and Wade,[14] is about being addicted to a significant other.[15] "Negative Space" was written by McKinnon, bassist Josh Woodard and Skaff. "In Florida" was written by McKinnon, Westfall and Skaff.[14]

Production

The band demoed all of the material they had live-in-the-studio with producers Stevenson and Jason Livermore at The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado.[7] McKinnon spoke to TeamRock about his initial concerns when preparing to record the album, stating that he was "terrified" and "stuck in this weird, high-stress mindset every day".[8] Selecting the material to be recorded for Bad Vibrations, the group narrowed the amount of songs down those they loved the most regardless of genre.[5] Previously, McKinnon would be "a little bit more "in control"",[7] having co-produced several of the band's past albums,[18][11] however, for Bad Vibrations, he "took a step back" and let Stevenson be in control.[7]

McKinnon added that he "went in to record [the album] with nothing much to offer - with hardly anything that I was excited about".[8] McKinnon later called it "one of the most unique recording experiences we've ever had", and working with Stevenson as "an awesome experience. He was a bit hard to read at first, so I think we subconsciously pushed ourselves harder to try to impress him. As a result, we gave this album everything we had".[6] The group recorded several extra tracks that didn't make the final track listing.[7] The recording sessions were engineered by Livermore, Stevenson, Andrew Berlin, Chris Beeble and Wade. Berlin also provided additional production. The album was mixed by Andy Wallace at Soundtrack Studios, located in New York City, New York. Mastering was performed by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, in New York City.[14]

Phil Norman played cello for "Forgive and Forget", "Negative Space", "Justified", "We Got This" and "Exposed". Ian Short played violin on "Forgive and Forget", "Justified" and "We Got This". Adrienne Short played violin and viola on "Forgive and Forget", "Reassemble", "Negative Space", "Justified", "We Got This" and "Exposed". Miles Stevenson, Maddie Stevenson, Wade, Nicole Dunn, Beeble, Berlin and Livermore provided background vocals for "Negative Space".[14]

Artwork and packaging

In an interview with Kerrang!, McKinnon revealed that the album's artwork wasn't finalised because "no-one's nailed it".[7] As a result, the band were unable to put up pre-orders,[7] despite the album having been completed since December 2015.[19] Eventually, illustrator Mike Cortada came up with the album's artwork. Cortada previously created artwork for a number of the band's albums and singles, as well as designs for their tours and music videos. He called creating the Bad Vibrations artwork "very intense".[20] The group didn't have any concept for the artwork other than making it display a "darker, heavier vibe".[20] After being told this, Cortada started creating the artwork. When he created the cover, he texted the band. Westfall provided "more direction", which resulted in Cortada making adjustments.[20] McKinnon then suggested an idea "until we were in a fully-fledged artistic brainstorming session".[20]

By this point, Cortada was drawing in real-time. He then came up with a mock-up of the album booklet layout, wanting it "to be something very special and unique with a lot of depth".[20] He made a video of the layout and sent it to the band who loved the idea but weren't a fan of the illustration style. Following the creation of several additional cover sketches, McKinnon said "he liked one in particular. It was just right".[20] The colours came "naturally" to Cortada. He called the final artwork "a pretty intense and outrageous art piece" made of "illustrations, all hand drawn, pen-to-paper, and scanned".[20]

Release

"Paranoia" was premiered on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show on Apple Music on March 9, 2016.[21] A music video was released a day later,[22] directed by Ethan Lader.[23] The video features McKinnon laying on a psychiatrist's couch. Later in the video, the band is being chased by a figure that Loudwire considered "a cross between Lost's smoke monster and Disturbed's "The Guy" mascot".[24] A day after this, the song was released as a single.[25] In May, the group went on a US tour, titled Just Some Shows, with support from Parkway Drive and State Champs.[26] On June 2, Bad Vibrations was announced, and a video for "Bad Vibrations" was released.[27] The video, directed by Drew Russ, is performance-based, featuring stage lights flashing throughout it.[28] A day later, the title-track was released as a single.[29] "Bad Vibrations" was released to radio on June 15.[30] From late July to early October, the band supported Blink-182 on their North American tour.[31]

"Bullfight" was premiered on BBC Radio 1's Rock Show with Daniel P Carter,[32] before being released as a single on July 25.[33] A music video was released for "Bullfight" on August 16,[34] directed by Darren Doane. The video begins with an artist creating portraits across a number of canvases. The imagery on the canvases crosses over into real life with the artist being shot by one of his own creations. While attempting to fight his creations, he is aided by McKinnon. The video finishes with a quote from Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism. The artwork in the video was animated by Rob Prior.[35] "Naivety" was released as a single on August 19[36] and released to radio on August 24.[37] "We Got This" was premiered on Beats 1 Radio on August 31,[38] and released as a single a day later.[39]

Bad Vibrations was originally set to be released on August 19 through ADTR Records,[27] with distribution handled by Epitaph Records.[6] However, the album was pushed back to a September 2 release date[40] due to a custom cut album casing taking longer than expected to manufacture.[41] It was made available for streaming the day prior.[42] In December 2016, the band will go on an Australian tour with Of Mice & Men[43] and Tonight Alive.[44] The band is set to go on a UK arena tour in January 2017[45] with support from New Found Glory, Neck Deep and Moose Blood.[46] This will be followed by a European tour in February.[43]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic81/100[47]
Review scores
SourceRating
Alternative PressFavorable[12]
Punknews.org[48]
Rock Sound8/10[13]

Critical response

The album received a 81/100 from aggregate Metacritic.[49][50]

Commercial performance

The album reached number 1 in Australia,[51] number 2 in the United States,[52] number 6 in the United Kingdom,[53] number 7 in Austria[54] and Germany,[55] number 9 in Canada,[56] number 17 in Switzerland,[57] and number 23 in New Zealand.[58] "Paranoia" peaked at number 5 on the Rock Digital Songs chart,[59] number 8 on the Mainstream Rock Songs chart,[60] number 13 on the Hot Rock Songs chart,[61] and number 35 on the Rock Airplay chart.[62] "Bad Vibrations" peaked at number 37 on the Rock Digital Songs chart,[59] and number 48 on the Hot Rock Songs chart.[61]

Track listing

Credits per deluxe edition booklet.[14]

No. TitleMusic Length
1. "Bad Vibrations"  
 3:33
2. "Paranoia"  
  • McKinnon
  • Skaff
  • Westfall
 3:20
3. "Naivety"  
 3:19
4. "Exposed"  
  • McKinnon
  • Quistad
  • Westfall
  • Skaff
 3:38
5. "Bullfight"  
  • McKinnon
  • Westfall
  • Skaff
 4:35
6. "Reassemble"  
 3:57
7. "Justified"  
  • McKinnon
  • Westfall
  • Quistad
  • Stevenson
  • Skaff
 3:58
8. "We Got This"  
  • McKinnon
  • Westfall
  • Skaff
 3:49
9. "Same About You"  
  • McKinnon
  • Westfall
  • Skaff
  • Alex Shelnutt
 3:04
10. "Turn Off the Radio"  
  • McKinnon
  • Westfall
  • Wade
  • Skaff
 3:46
11. "Forgive and Forget"  
 4:42
Total length:
 41:41
Bonus tracks

Personnel

Personnel per deluxe edition booklet.[14]

A Day to Remember
  • Jeremy McKinnon – lead vocals
  • Neil Westfall – rhythm guitar
  • Josh Woodard – bass guitar
  • Alex Shelnutt – drums
  • Kevin Skaff – lead guitar, backing vocals
Additional musicians
  • Phil Norman – cello (tracks 4, 7, 8, 11 and 12)
  • Ian Short – violin (tracks 7, 8 and 11)
  • Adrienne Short – violin and viola (tracks 4, 6–8, 11 and 12)
  • Miles Stevenson – background vocals (track 12)
  • Maddie Stevenson – background vocals (track 12)
  • Andrew Wade – background vocals (track 12)
  • Nicole Dunn – background vocals (track 12)
  • Chris Beeble – background vocals (track 12)
  • Andrew Berlin – background vocals (track 12)
  • Jason Livermore – background vocals (track 12)
Production
  • Bill Stevenson – producer, engineer
  • Jason Livermore – producer, engineer
  • Andrew Berlin – engineer, additional production
  • Chris Beeble – engineer
  • Andrew Wade – engineer
  • Andy Wallace – mixing
  • Paul Suarez – Pro Tools engineer
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Mike Cortada – all artwork, layout
  • James Hartley – live photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[51] 1
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[54] 7
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[63] 30
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[64] 90
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[56] 9
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[55] 7
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[58] 23
Scottish Albums (OCC)[65] 5
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[57] 17
UK Albums (OCC)[53] 6
US Billboard 200[52] 2

References

Footnotes
  1. ↑ Quistad previously worked with the band; co-writing "Sometimes You're the Hammer, Sometimes You're the Nail" from Common Courtesy.[11]
Citations
  1. ↑ Maxw (December 15, 2011). "A Day To Remember to sue Victory Records | News". Kill Your Stereo. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
  2. ↑ Shaw, Zack (December 15, 2011). "A Day To Remember Suing Victory Records". Metal Insider. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
  3. ↑ McMahon ed. 2016, p. 16
  4. ↑ Childers, Chad (March 2, 2016). "A Day to Remember's Jeremy McKinnon Talks Self Help Festival". Loudwire. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 McMahon ed. 2016, p. 20
  6. 1 2 3 DiVita, Joe (July 25, 2016). "A Day to Remember Release Catchy New Song 'Bullfight'". Loudwire. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Jen (June 16, 2016). "ADTR On Their New Album: "It's More Heavy Than The Last Three Put Together"". Kerrang!. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Kielty, Martin (July 7, 2016). "A Day To Remember's Jeremy McKinnon recalls studio terror". TeamRock. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  9. ↑ Emily (March 9, 2016). "A Day To Remember Premiere New Single, Paranoia". Kerrang!. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  10. 1 2 Rose, Willie (August 1, 2016). "Alex Shelnutt of A Day to Remember on Bad Vibrations". Modern Drummer. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  11. 1 2 Common Courtesy (Digital booklet). A Day to Remember. ADTR, LLC. 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 Lucy, Evan (September 1, 2016). "A Day To Remember Bad Vibrations". Alternative Press. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  13. 1 2 Sayce, Rob (September 1, 2016). "A Day To Remember - 'Bad Vibrations'". Rock Sound. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Bad Vibrations (Booklet). A Day to Remember. ADTR. 2016. 7486-2.
  15. 1 2 3 4 McMahon ed. 2016, p. 18
  16. ↑ McMahon ed. 2016, pp. 18–19
  17. ↑ Benjamin, Jeff (November 25, 2013). "Metalcore Band A Day to Remember: "Rick Ross Asked If We're Satanists" - Exclusive Interview - Fuse". Fuse.tv. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  18. ↑ What Separates Me from You (Booklet). A Day to Remember. Victory. 2010. VR603.
  19. ↑ McMahon ed. 2016, p. 21
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 George (August 11, 2016). "Meet The Man Behind A Day To Remember's Killer Artwork". Kerrang!. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  21. ↑ Ryken, Atreyue (March 9, 2016). "Stream A Day To Remember's new song, "Paranoia"". Alternative Press. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  22. ↑ Sharp, Tyler (March 10, 2016). "Watch A Day To Remember's new "Paranoia" music video". Alternative Press. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  23. ↑ A Day to Remember (March 10, 2016). A Day To Remember - Paranoia (OFFICIAL VIDEO). YouTube. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  24. ↑ Childers, Chad (March 11, 2016). "A Day To Remember Stalked in 'Paranoia' Video". Loudwire. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Paranoia - A Day to Remember - Release Information, Reviews and Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  26. ↑ Emily (February 3, 2016). "A Day To Remember Announce U.S. Shows With Parkway Drive And State Champs". Kerrang!. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  27. 1 2 Sharp, Tyler (June 2, 2016). "A Day To Remember announce new album, release new song". Alternative Press. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  28. ↑ Childers, Chad (June 2, 2016). "A Day to Remember Announce 'Bad Vibrations' Disc + New Video". Loudwire. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Bad Vibrations - A Day to Remember - Release Information, Reviews and Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  30. ↑ "FMQB Airplay Archive: SubModern Rock". Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Incorporated. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  31. ↑ Hartmann, Graham (April 28, 2016). "Blink-182 to Tour North America With A Day to Remember, All American Rejects + All Time Low". Loudwire. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  32. ↑ wookubus (July 24, 2016). "A Day To Remember Premiere "Bullfight" (Updated)". The PRP. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  33. ↑ "Bullfight - A Day to Remember - Release Information, Reviews and Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  34. ↑ Sharp, Tyler (August 16, 2016). "A Day To Remember release new music video—watch". Alternative Press. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  35. ↑ Childers, Chad (August 17, 2016). "A Day to Remember Deliver Violent Art Piece With 'Bullfight' Video". Loudwire. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  36. ↑ "Naivety - A Day to Remember - Release Information, Reviews and Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  37. ↑ "A Day to Remember - Naivety". PlayMPE. August 24, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  38. ↑ "Instagram photo by A Day To Remember • Aug 30, 2016 at 9:47pm UTC". Instagram. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  39. ↑ "We Got This - A Day to Remember - Release Information, Reviews and Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  40. ↑ James (July 25, 2016). "A DAY TO REMEMBER CHANGE BAD VIBRATIONS RELEASE DATE". Kerrang!. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  41. ↑ https://twitter.com/Kevineffinskaff/status/757667764362326016
  42. ↑ Sharp, Tyler (September 1, 2016). "Stream A Day To Remember's best album since 'Homesick'". Alternative Press. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  43. 1 2 Sharp, Tyler (July 5, 2016). "A Day To Remember announce world tour dates with Of Mice & Men". Alternative Press. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  44. ↑ Mack, Emmy (August 29, 2016). "Tonight Alive Announced As Support For A Day To Remember's Australian Tour". MusicFeeds. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  45. ↑ James (July 5, 2016). "A Day To Remember Announce Huge UK Tour". Kerrang!. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  46. ↑ Biddulph, Andy (September 1, 2016). "A Day To Remember Have Announced Tour Supports, And They're AWESOME". Rock Sound. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  47. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/music/bad-vibrations/a-day-to-remember
  48. ↑ RENALDO69 (August 30, 2016). "A Day To Remember - Bad Vibrations". Punknews.org. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  49. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/music/bad-vibrations/a-day-to-remember
  50. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/person/a-day-to-remember
  51. 1 2 "Australiancharts.com – A Day to Remember – Bad Vibrations". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  52. 1 2 "A Day to Remember – Chart history" Billboard 200 for A Day to Remember. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  53. 1 2 "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  54. 1 2 "Austriancharts.at – A Day to Remember – Bad Vibrations" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  55. 1 2 "Offiziellecharts.de – A Day to Remember – Vibrations" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  56. 1 2 "A Day to Remember – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for A Day to Remember. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  57. 1 2 "Swisscharts.com – A Day to Remember – Bad Vibrations". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  58. 1 2 "Charts.org.nz – A Day to Remember – Bad Vibrations". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  59. 1 2 "A Day to Remember - Chart history (Rock Digital Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  60. ↑ "A Day to Remember - Chart history (Mainstream Rock Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  61. 1 2 "A Day to Remember - Chart history (Hot Rock Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  62. ↑ "A Day to Remember - Chart history (Rock Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  63. ↑ "Ultratop.be – A Day to Remember – Bad Vibrations" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  64. ↑ "Ultratop.be – A Day to Remember – Bad Vibrations" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  65. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
Sources
  • McMahon, James, ed. (August 13, 2016). "Breaking Bad". Kerrang!. London: Bauer Media Group (1632). ISSN 0262-6624. 

External links

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