The Poison

The Poison is the debut album by Welsh heavy metal band Bullet for My Valentine. The album was released on October 3, 2005 through Visible Noise Records in the UK, and on February 14, 2006 in the United States through Trustkill Records. The album included 11 new songs and two previously heard songs, "Cries in Vain", which was previously heard from their self-titled UK EP and from their US EP, Hand of Blood, as well as from "4 Words (To Choke Upon)" was previously included on the same US release. Different editions of the album contain the song "Hand of Blood", previously heard from these EPs, replacing "Spit You Out".^[1]^[2]

The album debuted at No. 128 on the Billboard 200^[3] and No. 2 on the Heatseekers Chart,^[3] and as of January 30, 2009, the album has sold 1,200,000 copies worldwide^[4] and 500,000 copies in the US.^[5] It's the first album released through Trustkill Records to be officially certified gold by the RIAA.^[6]^[7]

1 Reception
2 Track listing
- 2.1 Limited Edition Multimedia Content
3 Singles
4 Personnel
5 Release history
6 References

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[8]
Big Cheese
Kerrang
Metal Hammer
Q
Total Guitar
Ultimate Guitar Archive	^[9]

The album has received generally many favorable reviews from the critics. Corey Apar of Allmusic awarded the album 3 stars out of 5, stating "Overall, The Poison is a well-produced, solid effort — but seeing as they're now trying to take over American hearts, it would be nice to see future attempts to distinguish themselves more from the new-school pack."^[8]

The Poison^[3]

Year	Chart	Peak position
2006	The Billboard 200	128
2006	Top Heatseekers	2
2006	Top Independent Albums	2

Track listing

All lyrics written by Matthew Tuck, all music composed by Bullet for My Valentine.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Intro" (featuring Apocalyptica)	2:22
2.	"Her Voice Resides"	4:17
3.	"4 Words (To Choke Upon)"	3:43
4.	"Tears Don't Fall"	5:48
5.	"Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)"	3:35
6.	"Hit the Floor"	3:30
7.	"All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)"	3:45
8.	"Room 409"	4:01
9.	"The Poison"	3:39
10.	"10 Years Today"	3:55
11.	"Cries in Vain"	3:56
12.	"Spit You Out"	4:07
13.	"The End"	6:48
Total length:		57:19

Alternate version
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Intro" (featuring Apocalyptica)	2:22
2.	"Her Voice Resides"	4:17
3.	"4 Words (To Choke Upon)"	3:43
4.	"Tears Don't Fall"	5:56
5.	"Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)"	3:35
6.	"Hit the Floor"	3:30
7.	"All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)"	3:45
8.	"Hand of Blood" (replaced "Spit You Out")	3:36
9.	"Room 409"	4:01
10.	"The Poison"	3:39
11.	"10 Years Today"	3:55
12.	"Cries in Vain"	3:56
13.	"The End"	6:48

Deluxe Version Bonus Tracks
No.	Title	Length
14.	"Seven Days"	3:24
15.	"My Fist, Your Mouth, Her Scars"	3:52
16.	"Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" (Metallica cover)	6:13
17.	"Tears Don't Fall" (Acoustic)	4:37

Bonus DVD Included in the Deluxe Version
No.	Title	Length
1.	"4 Words (To Choke Upon)" (Filmed Live at Club Quattro, Shibuya, Tokyo)	3:47
2.	"Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)" (Filmed Live at Club Quattro, Shibuya, Tokyo)	3:41
3.	"Cries in Vain" (Filmed Live at Club Quattro, Shibuya, Tokyo)	4:17
4.	"All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)" (Filmed Live At Brixton Academy, London, England)	3:53
5.	"Her Voices Resides" (Filmed Live At Brixton Academy, London, England)	4:26
6.	"Hand of Blood" (Video)	3:34
7.	"4 Words (To Choke Upon)" (Video)	3:51
8.	"Tears Don't Fall" (Video)	4:40
9.	"All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)" (Video)	3:58

UK Re-issue bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
14.	"Seven Days"	3:24
15.	"My Fist, Your Mouth, Her Scars"	3:52
16.	"Spit You Out" (Live at the Brixton Academy)	4:16
17.	"All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)" (Live at the Brixton Academy)	4:03

Japanese Deluxe bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
14.	"Room 409" (Live)	4:00
15.	"Spit You Out" (Live)	4:03

Limited Edition Multimedia Content

Hand Of Blood - Video Clip
4 Words (To Choke Upon) - Video Clip
Behind The Scenes - Video Clips
Wallpaper

Singles

Year	Title	Peak chart positions
Year	Title	Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	Hot Modern Rock Tracks
2005	"4 Words (To Choke Upon)"	—	—
2005	"Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)"	—	—
2006	"All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)"	13	30
2006	"Tears Don't Fall"	24	32

Personnel

Bullet for My Valentine

Matthew Tuck – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, guitar solo on "4 Words (To Choke Upon)" & "Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)", first half of the solo in "Hand of Blood" and second half of the solos in "Her Voice Resides" and "Tears Don't Fall"
Michael "Padge" Paget – lead guitar, backing vocals
Jason James – bass guitar, vocals
Michael "Moose" Thomas – drums

Additional musicians

Eicca Toppinen – arrangement (on "Intro")
Apocalyptica - cellos (on "Intro")

Production details

All lyrics by Matt Tuck
All music by Bullet for My Valentine
- Except "Intro" cellos by Apocalyptica, arrangement by Eicca Toppinen
- Except "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" by Metallica
Published by Harmageddon Publishing Ltd / Universal Music Publishing SAS
All tracks Produced & Mixed by Colin Richardson
- Except "Hit the Floor" Produced & Mixed by Colin Richardson & Andy Sneap
All tracks Mixed at The Chapel, Lincolnshire
- Except "4 Words (To Choke Upon)" mixed at The Sonic Ranch, El Paso, Texas
- Except "Hit the Floor" mixed at Backstage Studios, Derbyshire
Engineered by Dan Turner
Engineering assistance by Will Bartle, Matt Hyde & Justin Leigh
Recorded at The Chapel (Lincolnshire), Backstage Studios (Derbyshire), Notting Pill Studios (Newport) & SUSI Studios (Finland)
(p) & (c) 2005 20-20 Entertainment, LLC released under exclusive license to Visible Noise in the UK
A&R - Martin Dodd
A&R UK - Julie Weir (www.VisibleNoise.com)
Worldwide Management - Paul Craig at Supervision Management Ltd (info@supervisionmgt.com)
Agent - Paul Ryan at The Agency Group (excluding USA)
Artwork by S2 at www.LaBoca.co.uk
Video footage filmed and edited by Dan Fernbach at Static Films
Band photographs by Patrick Ford

Release history

Country	Date
United Kingdom	3 October 2005
Japan	30 January 2006
United States	14 February 2006

References

^ http://www.bandit.fm/service/lookup.do?fChannelId=13&fArtistId=594&mpWiType=1&mpAlId=1039030
^ http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/the-poison/id262616083
^ ^a ^b ^c "The Poison - Charts & Awards (Billboard Albums)". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r807324/charts-awards.
^ "Scream Aim Fire". BBC. 19 January 2008. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/chartblog/2008/01/bullet_for_my_valentine_scream.shtml.
^ "Biography". Facebook. 14 April 2011. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/BulletForMyValentine?sk=info.
^ "The Poison - Our First Official RIAA Certified Gold Record!". Trustkill. December 16, 2009. http://gb.trustkill.com/label/news/comments.php?id=776. Retrieved February 12, 2010.
^ "Bullet For My Valentine - The Poison Review". justpressplay. 9 June 2011. http://www.justpressplay.net/reviews/1046-the-poison.html=info.
^ ^a ^b "The Poison - Overview". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r807324.
^ [http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/compact_discs/bullet_for_my_valentine/the_poison/index.html Ultimate Guitar review]

Bullet for My Valentine

Matthew Tuck • Jason James • Michael Paget • Michael Thomas
Nick Crandle

Studio albums
and singles

The Poison	"4 Words (To Choke Upon)" • "Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow" • "All These Things I Hate" • "Tears Don't Fall"

Scream Aim Fire	"Scream Aim Fire" • "Hearts Burst into Fire" • "Waking the Demon"

Fever	"Your Betrayal" • "The Last Fight" • "Bittersweet Memories" • "Fever"

Non-studio albums

EPs	Bullet for My Valentine • Hand of Blood

Live albums	The Poison: Live at Brixton • Scream Aim Fire: Live at London Alexandria

Discography