Anywhere but Here (Mayday Parade album)

Anywhere But Here
Studio album by Mayday Parade
Released October 6, 2009
Recorded 2009
Genre Alternative rock, pop punk
Length 38:37
Label Atlantic
Fearless
Producer David Bendeth
Mayday Parade chronology
A Lesson in Romantics
(2007)
Anywhere but Here
(2009)
Valdosta
(2011)
Singles from Anywhere But Here
  1. "The Silence"
    Released: August 11, 2009
  2. "Kids in Love"
    Released: April 6, 2010

Anywhere But Here is the second studio album by American rock band Mayday Parade, released through both Atlantic and Fearless Records on October 6, 2009.[1] It is the first album released by the band without former vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Jason Lancaster. The album is also Mayday Parade's final release through on Fearless. The first single, "The Silence", was released in August, followed by "Kids in Love", released in April.

Contents

Reception

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AbsolutePunk.net (77%) [2]
AllMusic [3]
Rock Sound [4]
Sputnikmusic (B+) [5]

The album generally received mixed to positive reviews from critics. In his review for AllMusic, Andrew Leahey commented that the album was "entirely risk-free" but that the band does "an adequate job".[3] Jeremy Aaron of AbsolutePunk agreed, adding that while the album "isn't anything groundbreaking... it's mostly enjoyable."[2]

Fan reception was much more critical, particularly towards the album's lyrics in comparison to the band's previous works with Jason Lancaster as the primary lyricist. In a May 2011 interview, lead singer Derek Sanders commented on the recording process of Anywhere but Here, stating that "there was a lot of outside influence from the label and we did a lot of co-writes... our producer had a lot more to do with everything and had a heavier hand in everything. We kind of let it go that way because we didn’t want to rock the boat too much and we didn’t really want to make Atlantic mad. In the end, it turned out that we were recording a bunch of songs that we didn’t care about as much..."[6] Bundrick also commented on the pressure from Atlantic Records saying, "The other frustrating part was having everyone not believing in us as a band without Jason. We love Jason and I'll admit he really helped with "A Lesson" but the 6 of us made that record...We made it better together. I feel like with Jason leaving it sparked Atlantic to make us co-write because they didn't think we could do it ourselves. Who knows? That's just how I feel about it." [7]

Commercial Performance

Anywhere but Here debuted at number 31 on the Billboard 200, selling 17,780 copies in its first week.[8] The following week, the album fell to number 76. On November 14, 2009, the album was at 175 before falling off the chart the next week. The album's last spot on the chart was November 28, 2009, when it re-entered at number 187, before falling off for good. The album spent a total of five weeks on the chart.[9]

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Kids in Love"   Mayday Parade, Gregg Wattenberg 3:36
2. "Anywhere But Here"   Mayday Parade, David Hodges 3:09
3. "The Silence"   Mayday Parade, Bobby Huff 3:35
4. "Still Breathing"   Mayday Parade, Dave Bassett 3:52
5. "Bruised and Scarred"   Mayday Parade, Bobby Huff, David Bendeth 3:23
6. "If You Can't Live Without Me, Why Aren't You Dead Yet?"   Mayday Parade, Bobby Huff 3:38
7. "Save Your Heart"   Mayday Parade, Bobby Huff 3:42
8. "Get Up"   Mayday Parade, Bobby Huff 3:03
9. "Center of Attention"   Mayday Parade, Sam Hollander, Dave Katz 3:01
10. "I Swear, This Time I Mean It"   Mayday Parade 4:01
11. "The End"   Mayday Parade 3:37
Total length:
38:37
iTunes Deluxe Edition bonus tracks
No. Title Length
12. "So Far Away"   4:38
13. "The Memory"   4:10
14. "The Silence" (music video) 3:34
15. "Anywhere But Here" (music video) 3:13

Singles

Other appearances of songs

An acoustic version of "The Silence", recorded in Hurley's studio, appeared on the Take Action! Vol. 9 compilation and "If You Can't Live Without Me, Why Aren't You Dead Yet?" was selected for the second disc of the Warped Tour 2010 Tour Compilation.

Song notes

Chart performance

Charts Peak
position
US Billboard 200[11] 31
US Billboard Alternative Albums[11] 8
US Billboard Rock Albums[11] 12

Personnel

References