Box Car Racer (album)
Box Car Racer | |
---|---|
Studio album by | |
Released | May 21, 2002 |
Recorded | December 2001 – January 2002 |
Studio | Various
|
Genre | |
Length | 41:34 |
Label | MCA |
Producer | Jerry Finn |
Singles from Box Car Racer | |
Box Car Racer is the only studio album by American rock band Box Car Racer. Produced by Jerry Finn, the album was released on May 21, 2002, through MCA Records. The band was a side-project of Blink-182 members Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker, with David Kennedy completing the band's studio lineup. A bassist and friend of Barker, Anthony Celestino, later joined as the band's bassist after DeLonge recorded the bass tracks for the record.
The record is primarily based on DeLonge's post-hardcore influences, such as Fugazi and Refused. The recording sessions were particularly difficult for him, as he had recently undergone back surgery. The record is a concept album detailing the end of the world, and features dark, moody tracks mulling over confusion. Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus—the only member of that band not involved in the project—felt betrayed over his lack of inclusion, which evolved into tensions between him and DeLonge, which contributed to the band's 2005 breakup. Despite this, Hoppus provided guest vocals on the album's twelfth track "Elevator".
Box Car Racer peaked at number twelve on the US
Background
Box Car Racer was conceived by
"His reasons for starting the band were in part spawned from the dark thoughts he was immersed in post–September 11, the side-effects of the painkillers protecting him from the searing pain of his back problems and a dissatisfaction with the lyrical and musical territory he felt he could with Blink-182."
For DeLonge, he had developed an "itch to do something where he didn't feel locked in to what Blink was."
Recording and production
Box Car Racer was recorded over six weeks beginning in December 2001, primarily at Signature Sound in San Diego, California.[5][10] Sessions commenced quickly, with producer Jerry Finn having sent one whole load of equipment to Signature ahead of his arrival.[9] Barker and DeLonge worked out "80 percent" of the completed album in Barker's warehouse in Corona, California,[11] two weeks prior to recording.[12] When the musicians entered the studio, little was changed aside from certain lyrics, according to assistant engineer Sam Boukas.[9] Barker completed his drum tracks in one day at two recording facilities in Los Angeles prior to the Signature sessions. DeLonge invited musician David Kennedy, whom he had met in the San Diego music circuit some years prior, to perform lead guitar parts on the album.[5] Roger Joseph Manning Jr. plays keyboards on the record.[13]
The sessions were particularly difficult for DeLonge, who suffered chronic back pain.
The project caused division in Blink-182, mostly between DeLonge and Hoppus. Hoppus was interested in being a part of the record, but DeLonge did not want it to turn into a Blink-182 album.[18] DeLonge contended that the involvement of Barker was to refrain from having to pay a session musician. Regardless, Hoppus felt betrayed and unresolved tension dogged the band until their 2005 breakup.[6] "Nobody talked about it. It was this strange situation that nobody addressed," DeLonge told Blender.[19] Barker felt guilty when he told Hoppus they were going to tour in support of the album: "I felt like I had let him down [...] but he was ultimately more upset at Tom because they had ten years of history together before me."[20] Despite this tension, Hoppus lent vocals to the track "Elevator" and shared early ideas for the next Blink-182 album.[17] In a later Reddit AMA, Hoppus concluded, "The whole situation sucked. But I sang on the track because, at the heart of it, Tom and Travis are my friends. I'm sure Tom felt the tension and asked me as an offering. I was glad to have done it, and I was glad that he asked."[21]
Composition and artwork
Box Car Racer was inspired by and is partly a tribute to bands DeLonge credited as an influence, such as
Barker and DeLonge wrote the songs together. DeLonge would decide what key he would sing the song in, and Barker would mostly arrange the song, toying with its structure and tempo/time signature. As for his performance on the album, Barker considered it a "totally different approach to the drums ... there are, like,
Critical reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [29] |
Argus Leader | (positive)[30] |
PopMatters | (positive)[25] |
Q | (positive)[31] |
Slant Magazine | [24] |
USA Today | [26] |
Punknews.org | [28] |
Aaron Scott of Slant was favorable in his review of Box Car Racer, writing, "Neither genre-obsessed nor intent on defying convention, Box Car Racer is the perfect union between pop-punk riffs and instrumentation that spans all rock genres from indie to folk. Finally, we have a pop band that is attempting to take advantage of the potential of its instruments."[24] Adam Dlugacz of PopMatters summarized Box Car Racer as "pretty fantastic hardcore/emo/punk rock album. It seems to re-affirm the band's roots while proving that they are capable of more than the by-the-numbers approach of Blink. On the other hand, there's no reason this couldn't have been a Blink-182 album."[25] Robert Morast from Argus Leader felt the same, commenting, "The music is good with brooding melodies that fester inside the soul. But for DeLonge, it just sounds like he's lost searching for his other half."[30]
Edna Gunderson of USA Today was positive, commenting, "The music, while upbeat and even giddy, steers away from adolescent pranks and pratfalls, a welcome upgrade. The band creates a fresh breed of post-punk power pop by roughing up bright melodies."[26][16] AllMusic's Brian O'Neill gave the album three stars, calling it a "far cry from the party-boy ethos DeLonge is best known for, and he wears the emotional depth well, with songs that are just as hooky as from his bread-winning main squeeze."[29] A reviewer for Q admitted that the musicians "confound expectations with a very good record."[31] The positive reception of the album was in contrast to the reviews for Blink, which were often negative. "I think it's a cop-out for [critics] to like the music I do," DeLonge told the Arizona Daily Star. "Critics can't say they like Blink or give us any credit, 'cause we're out there goofing around."[32] Barker was more critical: "I especially don't care what the critics say. Most of them are like 50 years old and they're not really educated in what kind of music we're playing to begin with!"[12] Scott Heisel of Punknews.org denounced the album as "completely and utterly forgettable".[28]
Commercial performance
Box Car Racer was released worldwide on May 21, 2002, by MCA Records.
"
Touring
To support the album, the project morphed into a full band, with Barker, DeLonge, and Kennedy. Barker invited his friend Anthony Celestino to play bass. He had initially wanted Alex Barreto, who was in the original Box Car Racer, to be a part of the "second version" of the band, but he could not get in touch with him.[4] They played their first four shows in April 2002.[45][39] The group commenced a full-scale tour behind the album in October 2002, with 22 North American shows supported by the Used[36] and H2O.[42]
Though DeLonge would joke around at shows, as he was known for doing with Blink-182, the overall mood was much different. "With Blink, I can't wait until I get done playing a song so I can say something stupid. With this band I hardly talk at all," he told Las Vegas Weekly.[15] He expounded upon this in another interview: "It's a much more powerful, emotional experience than it is with Blink. To play songs and have them showcased to where it represents what this kind of music is all about is a welcome experience. It's not about anything but the music itself."[32]
Aftermath
In a 2003 interview with Kerrang!, DeLonge claimed the album was only an attempt to "challenge myself to do different shit": "I did it for myself, whether it sold a million copies or just one, it was for myself." He clarified the band's future succinctly: "There are a lot of emotions between Mark and I and that's why there's never going to be another Box Car Racer album. It was never meant to be something that would alienate anybody." The article's author, Tom Bryant, describes the album's effect on subsequent Blink-182 albums: "It allowed [DeLonge], and therefore the band, to assess whether, approaching or in their 30s, they still really wanted to be writing songs about splitting up from teenage sweethearts or whether it was time to address something a little more serious and a little more important."[2]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker, and arranged by Box Car Racer
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "I Feel So" | 4:29 |
2. | "All Systems Go" | 3:15 |
3. | "Watch the World" | 3:52 |
4. | "Tiny Voices" | 3:28 |
5. | "Cat Like Thief" (featuring Tim Armstrong & Jordan Pundik) | 4:20 |
6. | "And I" | 3:12 |
7. | "Letters to God" | 3:17 |
8. | "My First Punk Song" | 1:04 |
9. | "Sorrow" | 3:27 |
10. | "There Is" | 3:16 |
11. | "The End with You" | 3:11 |
12. | "Elevator" (featuring Mark Hoppus) | 2:45 |
13. | "Instrumental" | 1:58 |
Total length: | 41:34 |
Personnel
Information adapted from CD liner notes.[13]
Box Car Racer
Production
Management
|
Artwork
Additional musicians
|
Charts
Weekly charts
Chart (2002) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA)[46] | 30 |
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[37] | 7 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[47] | 89 |
Irish Albums (IRMA)[48] | 49 |
UK Albums (OCC)[49] | 27 |
US Billboard 200[50] | 12 |
Year-end charts
Chart (2002) | Position |
---|---|
Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[51] | 177 |
Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[52] | 57 |
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada)[38] | Gold | 50,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[53] | Silver | 60,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
References
- ^ a b c d e f Moss, Corey (April 9, 2002). "Box Car Racer about end of the world, not end of Blink-182". MTV News. Archived from the original on August 14, 2010. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
- ^ ISSN 0262-6624.
2002 was a very difficult year for Blink-182. After a grueling tour, Tom DeLonge's back pain finally got the better of him. Dosed up on painkillers and neurosis-inducing side effects…
- ^ ISSN 1355-5049. Archived from the originalon December 12, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
- ^ a b c Barker & Edwards 2015, p. 163.
- ^ a b c d Shooman 2010, p. 92.
- ^ a b James Montgomery (October 28, 2005). "Tom DeLonge: No More Compromises". MTV News. Archived from the original on August 15, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ a b "Box Car Racer Won't Derail Next Blink-182 Album". Billboard. June 5, 2002. Archived from the original on February 6, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
- ^ "Blink-182 Moves in for The Kill". J-14. December 2001 – January 2002. p. 19.
- ^ a b c Shooman 2010, p. 91.
- ^ a b Vineyard, Jennifer (January 31, 2002). "Blink-182's Tom DeLonge salutes his roots on new album". MTV News. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
- ^ a b Barker & Edwards 2015, p. 378.
- ^ a b c d e "Guitar Center Talks with Box Car Racer". GuitarCenter.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2002.
- ^ a b c Box Car Racer (liner notes). Box Car Racer. US: MCA Records. 2002. 088 112 894-2.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Shooman 2010, p. 90.
- ^ a b Todd Peterson. "It's all about the Blink-Blink". Las Vegas Weekly. Archived from the original on December 22, 2003. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ a b Neil Baron (November 22, 2002). "Box Car Racer Tries Sophistication". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno, Nevada. p. 82.
- ^ a b Shooman 2010, p. 93.
- ^ Shooman 2010, p. 94.
- ^ Blender, issue unknown, 2004
- ^ Barker & Edwards 2015, p. 164.
- ^ "Everything We Learned From Blink-182's AMA On Reddit". NME. November 26, 2015. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ Wallace, Brian (April 2, 2002). "Blink-182 offshoot Box Car Racer make live debut". MTV News. Archived from the original on February 11, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
- Buffalo News. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
- ^ a b c Scott, Aaron (May 28, 2002). "Box Car Racer: Box Car Racer : Music Review : Slant Magazine". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
- ^ a b c d "Box Car Racer: Self-titled. – Popmatters music review". Popmatters. September 5, 2002. Archived from the original on February 7, 2005. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
- ^ a b c Edna Gunderson (June 11, 2002). "Dirty Vegas' clean pop; Saadiq's 'Instant' classic". USA Today. sec. Life p. 06d.
- ^ a b Shooman 2010, p. 96.
- ^ a b c Heisel, Scott (May 28, 2002). "Box Car Racer - Box Car Racer". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
- ^ a b O'Neill, Brian. "-allmusic (((Box Car Racer > Review)))". All Music Guide. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
- ^ a b Robert Morast (May 24, 2002). "Box Car Racer Pays Homage". Argus Leader. Sioux Falls, South Dakota. p. 38.
- ^ a b Review in Q, June 2002
- ^ a b Rob Bailey (October 18, 2002). "Roaring up the charts". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. p. 56.
- Rovi Corporation. Archivedfrom the original on March 9, 2017. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
- ^ "On With The 'Show': Eminem Album An Instant No. 1". Billboard. May 30, 2002. Archived from the original on May 15, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ Sean Gorman (November 1, 2002). "Box Car Racer, a Blink-182 Spinoff, Heads to Philadelphia". Courier-Post. Camden, New Jersey. p. 87.
- ^ a b "Box Car Racer, The Used Hit The Road". Billboard. August 8, 2002. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ a b "Box Car Racer Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ a b "Canadian album certifications – Box Car Racer – Box Car Racer". Music Canada.
- ^ a b Corey Moss (March 26, 2002). "Blink-182 Side Project Shoots Video, Plans Handful Of Shows". MTV News. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ "Alternative Songs: June 29, 2002". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ "Alternative Songs: November 16, 2002". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ a b Joe D'Angelo (August 30, 2002). "Travis Barker Gets Busy With Transplants, New Blink-182 LP". MTV News. Archived from the original on November 11, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- Rovi Corporation. Archivedfrom the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ Box Car Racer (back cover credits). Box Car Racer. US: MCA Records. 2002. 088 113 970-9.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Brian Wallace (April 2, 2002). "Blink-182 Offshoot Box Car Racer Make Live Debut". MTV News. Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ "Australiancharts.com – Box Car Racer – Box Car Racer". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- Phononet GmbH. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ 2, 2002/7502/ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ "Box Car Racer Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ "Top 200 Albums of 2002 (based on sales)". Jam!. Archived from the original on September 6, 2004. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
- ^ "Canada's Top 200 Alternative albums of 2002". Jam!. Archived from the original on December 4, 2003. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
- ^ "British album certifications – Box Car Racer – Box Car Racer". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
- Shooman, Joe (June 24, 2010). Blink-182: The Bands, The Breakdown & The Return. Independent Music Press. ISBN 978-1-906191-10-8.
- Barker, Travis; Edwards, Gavin (2015). Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums. William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-06-231942-5.
External links
- Box Car Racer at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)