Anywhere but Here (Mayday Parade album)

Anywhere but Here
Studio album by Mayday Parade
Released October 6, 2009
Recorded 2009
House of Loud, Elmwood Park, New Jersey
Genre Alternative rock, pop punk
Length 38:37
Label Fearless, Atlantic
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 by Fearless Records in October 2009.

Background and recording

It is the first album released by the band without former vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Jason Lancaster, but is instead sung by vocalist Derek Sanders. The album was recorded and mixed at House of Loud in Elmwood Park, New Jersey.[1]

Release

Anywhere but Here was released by Fearless Records on October 6, 2009.[2] The first single off the album titled, "The Silence", was released in August 11, 2009, followed by "Kids in Love" which was released in April 6, 2010.

A video for the song "Anywhere but Here" was shot and released with the deluxe edition of the album. "Get Up" also received a promotional music video, composed of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage of the band on the Fearless Friends Tour. It was released on January 24, 2011.[3] The music video for "The Silence" was released with the deluxe edition of the album. It depicts the band playing in a desert while a woman wanders about, eventually getting in a hot air balloon. The music video for "Kids in Love" follows a fictional cross-country road trip of four young adults. The original version contains nudity and depicted drug use and has since been removed from YouTube. An amended version was later released.

Both "Kids in Love" and "Bruised and Scarred" were re-recorded acoustically for the band's next release, the Valdosta EP.

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.

Reception

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [4]
Rock Sound [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".[4]

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

All arrangements by Mayday Parade and David Bendeth.[1]

  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, Huff, David Bendeth) – 3:23
  6. "If You Can't Live Without Me, Why Aren't You Dead Yet?" (Mayday Parade, Huff) – 3:38
  7. "Save Your Heart" (Mayday Parade, Huff) – 3:42
  8. "Get Up" (Mayday Parade, 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
Bonus tracks

Personnel

Mayday Parade
  • Derek Sanders – Lead vocals, keyboards, piano
  • Alex Garcia – Lead guitar
  • Brooks Betts – Rhythm guitar
  • Jeremy Lenzo – Bass guitar, backing vocals
  • Jake Bundrick – Drums, percussion, backing vocals
Production
  • David Bendeth – Producer, mixing
  • Dan Korneff – Digital editing, engineer, mixing engineer
  • John Bender – Digital editing, engineer
  • Kato Khandwala – Digital editing, engineer
  • Mitch Milan – Assistant engineer
  • Alex Kirzhner – Art direction, design
  • John Ryan Solis – Cover illustration
  • Connie Makita – Secret art friend
  • Andrew Zaeh – Photography
  • Kristie Borgmann – Art manager
  • Michelle Piza – Packaging manager

Chart positions

Charts (2009) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard 200[10] 31
U.S. Billboard Alternative Albums[11] 8
U.S. Billboard Digital Albums[12] 12
U.S. Billboard Rock Albums[13] 12

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Anywhere but Here (Digital booklet). Mayday Parade. Fearless. 2009.
  2. ↑ AbsolutePunk.net – Mayday Parade Track Listing
  3. ↑ "Alternative Press | APTV | Mayday Parade "Get Up" behind the scenes/live video". Altpress.com. 2011-01-24. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Leahey, Andrew. "Review: Anywhere But Here". Allmusic. Retrieved 4 Oct 2009.
  5. ↑ Lewis, Faye. "Mayday Parade – Anywhere But Here". Rock Sound. Archived from the original on 7 October 2010. Retrieved 1 Oct 2010.
  6. ↑ "PropertyOfZack Interview :: Mayday Parade". PropertyOfZack. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  7. ↑ "AP.net Chat: Mayday Parade - Page 30 - News Article". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  8. ↑ "Album Charts for 10/12/2009". Hits Daily Double. 2009-10-12. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
  9. ↑ "Anywhere But Here - The Visualizer". Billboard.com.
  10. ↑ "Mayday Parade - Chart history (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Mayday Parade - Chart history (Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Mayday Parade - Chart history (Digital Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Mayday Parade - Chart history (Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 10, 2014.