American Tragedy (album)
American Tragedy | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | April 5, 2011 | |||
Recorded | June–December 2010 | |||
Studio | The Beat Suite, Hollywood | |||
Genre | Rap rock[1] | |||
Length | 50:41 | |||
Label | A&M Octone | |||
Producer |
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Hollywood Undead studio album chronology | ||||
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Singles from American Tragedy | ||||
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American Tragedy is the second studio album by American rap rock band Hollywood Undead. Production for the album began following the induction of Daniel Murillo into the band in early 2010 and lasted until December. Don Gilmore and Ben Grosse, who helped produce the band's debut album, Swan Songs (2008), also returned to produce the album along with several other producers including Kevin Rudolf, Sam Hollander, Dave Katz, Griffin Boice, Jeff Halavacs, and Jacob Kasher. The album is musically heavier and features darker lyrical content than the band's previous effort. Originally set to release in March, American Tragedy was released on April 5, 2011 in the United States and was released on various other dates that month in other countries. A remix of the album, American Tragedy Redux, was released on November 21, 2011.
The album debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200, selling approximately 67,000 copies in its first week in the United States, and ended up becoming the 142nd best selling album of 2011 in the US. It also charted in a few other countries, including Canada and the UK, a first for the band. The album also had five singles: "Hear Me Now", "Been to Hell", "Coming Back Down", "Comin' in Hot", and "My Town", with music videos being made for all of them except "Coming Back Down" as it was released on the same day as "Been to Hell". The band participated in three headlining tours: the Revolt Tour, the Endless Summer Tour, and the World War III Tour, as well as other supporting tours throughout 2011 to promote the album. Upon release, American Tragedy received mixed reviews. Critics consistently noted the darker and more serious tone of the album, but to mixed reception. Lyrics were widely criticized while the energy and instruments were praised in most reviews.
Background and promotion
The album spawned five singles in total. On December 8, 2010, the band released the artwork for the album's first single, titled "
Composition
Influences, style and themes
American Tragedy
"Pour Me", the last soft song on the album, is a dark ballad that has been often compared to Eminem's "Stan".[25] Johnny 3 Tears stated that, "We were messing around with chord progressions and that came out like a more major chord style than we were used to it. It's melodic and poppy sounding. We're talking about drinking obviously because all of us sometimes drink too much. It's one of those basic every day things that people go through but they don't know how to voice it or others around them don't know to voice it. It's almost like you're looked down upon, but no one actually talks about it."[29] "Tendencies", which is the closing track for the standard edition of the album, is a high tempo alternative metal song about murder. Johnny 3 Tears said, "When we wrote Tendencies, I wanted to make a song that kids would just go nuts to when we played it. Kids start moshpits at our shows. Not every song we have is the best mosh song, so I wanted to make a song kids could go crazy for."[29]
While the band was touring with Avenged Sevenfold, the guitarist Synyster Gates spoke about "S.C.A.V.A." stating "Holy shit, that's the craziest verse I've ever heard! The lyrics are insane."[29]
Reception
Critical reception
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
The Minaret Online | [24] |
Revolver | [34] |
At
Rick Florino of Artistdirect gave American Tragedy 5 out of 5, particularly praising the band's choice to avoid duplicating their debut album,
Revolver magazine reviewer Jeremy Borjon gave the album four out of five in his review, calling American Tragedy, "one hell of an album that will leave fans’ heads buzzing long after the clubs have let out and the hangover sets in." Borjon complimented the shift in moods throughout the album and the lyrical quality compared to Swan Songs. He praised several tracks including "Been to Hell", "Apologize", "Comin' in Hot", "Bullet", "Levitate", and "Tendencies" as numerous outstanding points in the album. Borjon did criticize the slower songs, "Coming Back Down" and "Pour Me" but dismissed that that were, "easily forgotten among the album's many undeniably addictive future hits."[34] Richard Solomon of The Minaret proclaimed that, "If you're a Hollywood Undead fan, you'll love American Tragedy. As for people who didn't care for Swan Songs, you'll probably still love American Tragedy." Instrumentally, Solomon noted one of his only complaints of the album, being that, "At times, the synthesizer seems a little too heavy handed, but it succeeds more often than not." Solomon complimented the album being different and further encouraged the Deluxe Edition tracks in addition to the album itself.[24]
Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times was more critical in his review. He praised the energy of the album, pointing out the, "Booming groove," of "Apologize", and the "disco-metal urgency," of "Levitate". Wood's biggest complaint of the album was that the band has, "filtered out any sense of humor from its music, which makes American Tragedy virtually impossible to listen to for longer than a few songs at a time."[33] Alistair Lawrence of BBC Music said that the album is, "The result is that they've ditched some of the early, growling quirkiness that at least gave them an initial, oddball appeal." Lawrence finishes his review noting, "Hollywood Undead are content to deliver clichés – more out of a lack of imagination than cynical opportunism, but it still smacks of both. That's why to seasoned ears or any genre fan requiring more than more of the same, they're very, very boring."[32]
Accolades
Year | Nominated work | Award | Result | Place | |||||||||
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2011 | "Been to Hell" | AOL Radio: Top 10 Rock Songs of 2011[35] | Won | 5th | |||||||||
"—" denotes a nomination that did not place or places were not relevant in the award. |
Commercial performance
Prior to release, American Tragedy was projected by several publications to sell about 65,000 copies in the first week of release in the United States, and was expected to reach number three on the
, and Radiohead's The King of Limbs.Upon learning of the album's first-week sales, Jordon Terrell, also known to fans of the band as "Charlie Scene." jokingly remarked, "I gotta be honest with everyone: I was really looking forward to the opportunity to be on top of Britney this week, but being right behind her and Adele is a memory we'll relish forever."[36] The album also debuted at number one on the US Hard Rock charts, number two on the US Rock, Digital, and Alternative charts, and number 11 on the Tastemaker Albums charts. Outside of the US, American Tragedy charted number five in Canadian albums charts and number 43 in the UK albums charts.[37][38]
Track listing
All tracks are written and performed by Hollywood Undead, with specific writers detailed for each track.[39]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
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1. | " George Ragan, Jordon Terrell | Don Gilmore | 3:23 | |
2. | "Apologize" | Busek, Decker, Murillo, Ragan, Terrell | Griffin Boice | 3:27 |
3. | "Comin' in Hot" | Dylan Alvarez, Murillo, Terrell | Griffin Boice | 3:43 |
4. | "My Town" | Alvarez, Busek, Murillo, Ragan | Sam Hollander, Dave Katz | 3:36 |
5. | "I Don't Wanna Die" | Murillo, Ragan, Terrell | Griffin Boice | 3:59 |
6. | "Hear Me Now" | Decker, Murillo, Ragan, Terrell | Sam Hollander, Dave Katz | 3:34 |
7. | "Gangsta Sexy" | Alvarez, Busek, Murillo, Terrell | Don Gilmore | 3:54 |
8. | "Glory" | Busek, Decker, Murillo, Ragan | Don Gilmore | 3:34 |
9. | "Lights Out" | Alvarez, Busek, Decker, Murillo, Terrell | Ben Grosse | 3:51 |
10. | "Coming Back Down" | Decker, Murillo, Ragan | Kevin Rudolf, Jeff Halavacs, Jacob Kasher | 3:23 |
11. | "Bullet" | Decker, Murillo, Ragan, Terrell | Griffin Boice | 3:18 |
12. | "Levitate" | Decker, Murillo, Ragan, Terrell | Kevin Rudolf, Jacob Kasher | 3:24 |
13. | "Pour Me" | Murillo, Ragan | Don Gilmore | 4:03 |
14. | "Tendencies" | Busek, Decker, Murillo, Ragan | Griffin Boice | 3:32 |
Total length: | 50:41 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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15. | "Mother Murder" | Murillo, Ragan, Terrell | 4:10 |
16. | "Lump Your Head" | Alvarez, Busek, Decker, Murillo, Ragan, Terrell | 3:37 |
17. | "Le Deux" | Alvarez, Decker, Murillo, Terrell | 3:45 |
18. | "S.C.A.V.A." | Busek, Murillo, Ragan | 4:04 |
Total length: | 66:17 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
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19. | "Undead" (live) | Busek, Decker, Aron Erlichman, Ragan, Terrell | Erlichman, Danny Lohner | 4:48 |
Total length: | 71:05 |
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Hear Me Now" (music video) | 3:47 |
2. | "No. 5" (music video) | 3:22 |
3. | "Undead" (censored version) (music video) | 3:14 |
4. | "Young" (music video) | 3:35 |
5. | "Everywhere I Go" (music video) | 4:06 |
Total length: | 17:24 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
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19. | "Street Dreams" | Busek, Decker, Murillo, Ragan, Terrell | Don Gilmore | 4:04 |
Total length: | 70:21 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
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20. | "Comin' in Hot" (instrumental) | Alvarez, Murillo, Terrell | Griffin Boice | 3:43 |
21. | "Apologize" (instrumental) | Alvarez, Busek, Murillo, Ragan, Terrell | Griffin Boice | 3:27 |
Total length: | 77:31 |
Personnel
- Hollywood Undead
- Daniel "Danny" Murillo – lead vocals
- Jorel "J-Dog" Decker – rap vocals (tracks 1-2, 4, 6, 8-10, 12, and 14; bonus track 16), piano (track 14)
- Matthew "Da Kurlzz" Busek – hype vocals (tracks 1-2, 4, 9, and 14; bonus tracks 16 and 18-19)
- Dylan "Funny Man"/"King Kong" Alvarez – rap vocals (tracks 1, 3-4, 7, and 9; bonus tracks 16-17)
- George "Johnny 3 Tears" Ragan– rap vocals (tracks 1-2, 4-6, 8, and 10-14; bonus tracks 15-16 and 18-19)
- Jordon "Charlie Scene" Terrell – vocals (tracks 1-7, 9, and 11-12; bonus tracks 15-17 and 19), guitars (tracks 1 and 11)
- Production
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Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Release history
Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog | Ref |
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European Union | April 4, 2011 | Polydor | CD, Digital download | B004NTVMRY | [49] |
Deluxe edition CD and digital download | B004QHBMZK | [50] | |||
United States | April 5, 2011 | A&M/Octone
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CD, Digital download | 15275 | [39] |
Deluxe edition CD and digital download | 2762142 | [51] | |||
Australia | April 8, 2011 | Universal Music Australia | 00602527621425 | [52] | |
Japan | April 13, 2011 | Universal | CD, Digital download | UICA1058 | [53] |
Deluxe edition CD and digital download | UICA9031 | [54] |
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United States (RIAA)[55] | Gold | 500,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
External links
References
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