Weapons (album)
Weapons | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 2 April 2012[1] | |||
Recorded | May–November 2011 NRG Recording Studios, Hollywood[2][3] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 51:07 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | Ken Andrews[3][4] (List of additional production) | |||
Lostprophets chronology | ||||
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Singles from Weapons | ||||
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Weapons is the fifth and final
Like the earlier Liberation Transmission, it features Latin on the front, which reads deus velox nex. When translated it reads God is swift death.[10]
Writing and recording history
The band started writing new material after finishing The Betrayed Tour. The album was produced by Ken Andrews at Hollywood.[3][4] Several songs were debuted before it official release date. "Bring Em' Down" was played live in the warm up shows for the 2011 V Festival, and was aired as the first single from Weapons on Zane Lowe's Hottest Record on 6 February 2012.[11] "We Bring an Arsenal" made its debut on 25 February 2012.[12] The song "Better Off Dead" received its first radio play by BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe as his "Hottest Record in the World".[13] As of 6 January 2012 it was made available for download from the band's official website.[14]
Release and promotion
This was Lostprophets' only studio release through Epic (UK) and Fearless (US) after leaving their long-time served record, Visible Noise.[15][16] Lostprophets also announced an extensive tour of the UK and Ireland, consisting of 14 shows which commenced on the 15 April 2012 in Dublin and finished on the 4 May 2012 in London.[17] It was released in the UK on 2 April 2012 and it was released in the US on 19 June 2012.[18] Because the fourth studio album The Betrayed was not released in North America, it's the band's fourth released album in some regions. The "deluxe edition"[9] of the albums contains three "Garage sessions" tracks, recorded in 2007 as demos for the ultimately-abandoned album sessions with John Feldmann[19] prior to The Betrayed, with the track "Weapon" from the same sessions included as a hidden track on all versions of the album. Further more bonus tracks are found on the Japanese "deluxe edition".[20][21] The US "deluxe edition" is different from the UK edition.[22] Lostprophets headlined the Warped Tour UK in November 2012.[23]
Singles
The first single, "
Reception
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Q | [32] |
Rock Sound | 8/10[32] |
Sputnikmusic | [35] |
Uncut | 5/10[32] |
As of May 2012, the album held a normalised score of 56 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating "mixed or average reviews", making it the lowest rated album released by the band to date.[26] As a result, critics generally viewed the album as a decline in the band's career.[26]
BBC Music and The Guardian similarly reviewed the album positively, with the same "us-against-the-world" feeling of the band's second studio album, Start Something.[29][31]
Track listing
All lyrics are written by Ian Watkins; all music is composed by Lostprophets[2]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Bring 'Em Down" | 4:09 |
2. | "We Bring an Arsenal" | 3:26 |
3. | "Another Shot" | 4:08 |
4. | "Jesus Walks" | 4:35 |
5. | "A Song for Where I'm From" | 3:52 |
6. | "A Little Reminder That I'll Never Forget" | 4:16 |
7. | "Better Off Dead" | 3:37 |
8. | "Heart on Loan" | 4:08 |
9. | "Somedays" | 3:42 |
10. | "Can't Get Enough" (includes hidden track, "Weapon") (5:00 on deluxe edition and US edition, without hidden track) | 15:14 |
Total length: | 51:07 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
11. | "The Dead" (Garage sessions) | 3:34 |
12. | "Save Yourself" (Garage sessions) | 3:59 |
13. | "If You Don't Stand for Something, You'll Fall for Anything" (Garage sessions) | 4:39 |
14. | "Another Shot" (Demo) | 2:59 |
15. | "Bring 'Em Down" (Russell Block Party remix) (includes hidden track, "Weapon") (3:43 on Japanese deluxe edition, without hidden track) | 10:15 |
Total length: | 66:18 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
16. | "Young Pretenders" | 3:25 |
17. | "Undefeated" (includes hidden track, "Weapon") | 10:15 |
Total length: | 73:26 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "4:AM Forever" (music video) | 4:20 |
2. | "For He's a Jolly Good Felon" (music video) (edit) | 3:16 |
3. | "For He's a Jolly Good Felon" (music video) (full-length version) | 7:49 |
Total length: | 15:25 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
11. | "Weapon" (although "Weapon" is available on all editions as a hidden track, on the US edition it is featured as a separate, non-hidden track.) | 2:47 |
Total length: | 43:39 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
12. | "If You Don't Stand for Something, You'll Fall for Anything" (Garage sessions) | 4:39 |
13. | "Undefeated" | 4:55 |
14. | "Young Pretenders" | 3:25 |
15. | "Bring 'Em Down" (acoustic version) | 3:12 |
16. | "We Bring an Arsenal" (acoustic version) | 3:32 |
Total length: | 62:02 |
Personnel
Credits for Weapons adapted from liner notes.[2]
Lostprophets
- Ian Watkins – lead vocals, art direction
- Lee Gaze – lead guitar
- Mike Lewis – rhythm guitar
- engineered
- Jamie Oliver - piano, keyboards, samples, vocals
- Luke Johnson - drums, percussion
Additional musicians
- Ilan Rubin – drums, percussion (Garage session tracks and "Weapon")
Production
- Ken Andrews – production, engineered, mixing, additional guitar, synth, backing vocals
- Justin Hopfer – co-production, additional engineered
- Romesh Dodabgoda – co-production, additional engineered
- Sean Curiel – assistant engineered
- Marco Ruiz – assistant engineered
- Rouble Kapoor – assistant engineered
- Liam Ross – assistant engineered
- Tom Manning – assistant engineered
- Brendan Davies – assistant engineered
- Aaron Rubin – A&R, production, mixing (tracks: 11–15 and "Weapon")
- Tom Baker – mastered
- Russell Lissack– production (track: 15)
- James Ellis – production (track: 15)
- Dick Beetham – mastered (tracks 11–17 and "Weapon")[37]
- Dan Mandell – art direction
- Andrew Whitton – photography
Charts
Chart (2012) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA)[38] | 55 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[39] | 76 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[40] | 86 |
Irish Albums (IRMA)[41] | 52 |
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[42] | 22 |
UK Albums (OCC)[43] | 9 |
1 | |
US Billboard 200[45] | 145 |
Release history
Region | Date | Label | Format |
---|---|---|---|
Europe | 30 March 2012 | Sony | |
Australia | 6 April 2012 | ||
Japan | 11 April 2012 | ||
United Kingdom | 2 April 2012 | Epic |
|
United States | 19 June 2012 | Fearless |
References
- ^ a b c Winwood, Ian (2012). "Lostprophets Weapons Review". BBC Music. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
- ^ a b c Weapons (album) (liner notes). Lostprophets. UK: Epic. 2012.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ a b c "Lostprophets records Weapons at Hollywood with Ken Andrews". NME. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
- ^ a b "Lostprophets announce UK and Ireland tour". Kerrang!. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
- ^ a b ""Bring 'Em Down" digital download". iTunes. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- ^ a b "Lostprophets release new single We Bring An Arsenal and announce UK tour". Purple Revolver. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
- ^ a b "Lostprophets to release Jesus Walks as new single". HailtheHero. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
- ^ "Lostprophets Family Tree". BBC. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ^ a b c "Lostprophets Weapons (Deluxe Edition)". HMV.
- ^ "Mike Lewis talks about Weapons". Dead Press.
- ^ ""Bring Em' Down" confirmed to be first official single". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
- ^ "Lostpeophets plays "We Bring an Arsenal" for the first time at Brisbane Soundwave 25 February 2012". Setlist.fm. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
- ^ Lowe, Zane (6 January 2012). "Hottest Record - Lostprophets - Better Off Dead". BBC Radio 1. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
- ^ "Lostprophets Announce Details Of New Album". Rock Sound. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
- ^ "Lostprophets have announced they will release their fifth studio album, 'Weapons' on April 02 through Epic". Rocksound.tv. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
- ^ "Lostprophets announce April release of fifth album". Nme.com. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
- ^ Zane Lowe. "Zane Lowe's Hottest Records blog: Hottest Record - Lostprophets - Bring 'Em Down". BBC. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
- ^ "Lostprophets signed with Fearless Records". Fearless Records. Archived from the original on 11 April 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
- ^ "United They Stand", Kerrang!, pp. 22–27, 7 October 2009
- ^ a b c "Lostprophets Weapons (Japanese Deluxe Edition)". HMV Japan. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
- ^ a b c "Lostprophets Weapons (Japanese Deluxe Edition)". Amazon Japan. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
- ^ a b c "Lostprophets Weapons (US Deluxe Edition)". iTunes. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
- ^ "Lostprophets announces to headline Warped Tour UK". Warp Tour. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
- TheGuardian.com. 19 December 2012.
- ^ Sullivan, Caroline (10 July 2014). "Lostprophets: 'He said he was innocent'". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
The last time Lee Gaze saw Ian Watkins was in December 2012, when the pair met in London to film the video for a single from Lostprophets' fifth album, Weapons. Though the rest of the band were in America, leaving the guitarist and singer to shoot the clip on their own, Watkins was upbeat.
- ^ a b c "Metacritic Lostprophets". Metacritic. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
- ^ Allmusic. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
- ^ Alternative Press. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
- ^ a b Winwood, Ian (28 March 2012). "Review of Lostprophets - Weapons". BBC Online. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
- ^ Sullivan, Caroline (29 March 2012). "Lostprophets: Weapons – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
- ^ DIY. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
- ^ BBC Wales. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
- ^ Green, Laurence (2 April 2012). "Lostprophets - Weapons". MusicOMH. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
- ^ Murry, Kelly (30 March 2012). "Lostprophets: Weapons – review". NME. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
- ^ Knott, Adam (8 April 2012). "Lostprophets - Weapons". Retrieved 16 May 2012.
- ^ "Lostprophets Weapons (US CD)". Best Buy. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ^ Weapons (JPalbum) (liner notes). Lostprophets. Japan: Epic. 2012.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - Pandora Archive.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – Lostprophets – Weapons" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
- Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Lostprophets". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
- ^ "{{{title}}}". Oricon. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
- ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
- ^ "Lostprophets Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.