Billy Talent III

Billy Talent III
Studio album by Billy Talent
Released July 10, 2009
Recorded November 2008–April 2009 at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California; Southern Tacks in Atlanta, Georgia
Genre Post-punk, emo, post-hardcore, punk rock, experimental rock
Length 43:30
47:15 (German edition)<br, >51:14 (iTunes edition)
1:41:48 (Guitar Villain edition)
Label Warner Music Canada / Roadrunner[1]
Producer Brendan O'Brien
Billy Talent chronology

666
(2007)		 Billy Talent III
(2009)		 iTunes Session
(2010)
Singles from Billy Talent III
  1. "Turn Your Back"
    Released: September 16, 2008
  2. "Rusted from the Rain"
    Released: May 19, 2009
  3. "Devil on My Shoulder"
    Released: August 26, 2009
  4. "Saint Veronika"
    Released: February 1, 2010
  5. "Diamond on a Landmine"
    Released: June 21, 2010
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [2]
BBC (favourable)[3]
Chart [4]
Drowned in Sound [5]
The Fly [6]
NME [7]
Now [8]
Q [9]
Rock Sound [10]
Sputnikmusic [11]
Uncut [12]

Billy Talent III is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Billy Talent. It was released on July 10, 2009 in Europe, July 13 in the United Kingdom, July 14 in Canada, and September 22 in the US. The album debuted at #1 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling over 40,000 copies in its first week.[13] A demo version of one of the album's songs, "Turn Your Back", was released as a single in September 2008 and featured the band members of Anti-Flag, with the first legitimate single spawned by Billy Talent III is "Rusted from the Rain", which premiered May 17, 2009 on Triple J. The album version of "Turn Your Back" does not include Anti-Flag's vocals, as the single version does.

The second single from the album, "Devil on My Shoulder" was released on August 26, 2009.

A promotional website located at billytalent3.com has been launched to showcase the making of the album. Part of the promotion also included the Billy Talent Widget which allowed listeners to become the "Ultimate Billy Talent Fan". The widget rewarded users with rare tracks, videos, pictures and interviews as fans "level up" their widgets.

On June 8, 2009, the band announced on their website, the release of a special deluxe edition of the album, entitled Billy Talent III: Guitar Villain Edition.[14] The special edition includes a second disc of the album, with the guitar tracks removed so fans can play along. This edition includes also 4 additional demo songs, as well as guitar tabs for the whole album transcribed on 2 full size posters.

The band embarked on a supporting tour on February 21, 2009, starting with an Australian first leg.

In April 2010, the album won a Juno Award for best rock album of the year.

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "Devil on My Shoulder"   3:49
2. "Rusted from the Rain"   4:13
3. "Saint Veronika"   4:09
4. "Tears into Wine"   4:12
5. "White Sparrows"   3:14
6. "Pocketful of Dreams"   3:21
7. "The Dead Can't Testify"   4:27
8. "Diamond on a Landmine"   4:30
9. "Turn Your Back"   3:22
10. "Sudden Movements"   3:39
11. "Definition of Destiny"   4:03
US digital Special Edition
No. Title Length
12. "Bloody Nails + Broken Hearts" (B-Side) 3:37
13. "Don't Need To Pretend" (B-Side) 3:45
14. "Devil on My Shoulder" (Demo) 4:06
German bonus tracks
No. Title Length
12. "Don't Need to Pretend" (Musicload.de exclusive) 3:45

Special Guitar Villain edition second CD

In addition to having the entire album featured without guitars (referred to as "Guitar Villain Demos") plus a Guitar Tab of the whole album, the Guitar Villain second disc also features four demo tracks:

Guitar Villain bonus tracks
No. Title Length
12. "Tears into Wine" (Demo) 3:51
13. "White Sparrows" (Demo) 3:58
14. "Pocketful of Dreams" (Demo) 3:42
15. "Turn Your Back" (Demo) 3:22

Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart 44[15]
Austrian Albums Chart 2
Canadian Albums Chart 1
German Albums Chart 2
Finnish Albums Chart 3[16]
Norwegian Albums Chart 28[17]
US Billboard 200 107
US Billboard Rock Albums 43[18]

Year-end charts

Chart (2009) Rank
German Albums Chart [19] 32
Swiss Albums Chart[20] 93
Country Certifications Sales/Shipments[21]
Germany Platinum [22] 200,000+

Personnel

Release history

Date Region
July 10, 2009 Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and The Netherlands
July 13, 2009 France, Norway, Denmark, South Africa, UK and Ireland
July 14, 2009 Canada, Finland, Spain and Sweden
July 17, 2009 Australia and New Zealand
September 22, 2009 US
November 11, 2009 Japan

References

  1. ↑ "Billy Talent Gets US Release Date - News Article". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  2. ↑ Lymangrover, Jason. "Billy Talent III: Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  3. ↑ Bruce, Sophie (July 8, 2009). "BBC - Music - Review of Billy Talent - Billy Talent III". BBC. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  4. ↑ Harper, Kate (July 14, 2009). "Billy Talent — Billy Talent III". Chart. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  5. ↑ Wink, Richard (July 15, 2009). "Billy Talent - III :Releases: Releases: Drowned in Sound". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  6. ↑ Johnny K. "Billy Talent/Billy Talent III".
  7. ↑ Patashnik, Ben (July 9, 2009). "Canadian Punks keep it real". NME. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  8. ↑ Keller, Jason. "NOW Magazine: Music: Billy Talent". NOW. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  9. ↑ Q: 101. August 2009. It may not be an unpleasant listen, but it's a strangely soulless one. Missing or empty |title= (help);
  10. ↑ Durham, Victoria. "Billy Talent - 'Billy Talent III'". Rock Sound. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  11. ↑ Knott, Adam. "Billy Talent Billy Talent III". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  12. ↑ Uncut: 79. September 2009. Maybe they should have bigger ambitions. Missing or empty |title= (help);
  13. ↑ "Billy Talent debuts at No. 1". Jam!. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  14. ↑ Ambrose, Anthony. "inTuneMusic Online: Billy Talent Announced Guitar Villain". Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  15. ↑ Top 50 Albums Chart - Australian Recording Industry Association
  16. ↑ Suomen virallinen lista
  17. ↑ VG-lista
  18. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/285049/billy+talent/chart?f=408
  19. ↑
  20. ↑ "Swiss Year-End Charts 2009". Media Control. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 6, 2009.
  21. ↑ Certification for every country in the world IFPI. Retrieved December 29, 2008.
  22. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank ('Billy Talent III')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie./
Preceded by
Number Ones by Michael Jackson		 Canadian number one album
July 19, 2009 		Succeeded by
Breakout by Miley Cyrus

External links