Fast Times at Barrington High

Fast Times at Barrington High
Studio album by The Academy Is...
Released August 18, 2008
Recorded Spring — Summer 2008 at Avatar Studios in New York City, New York
Genre Pop punk, power pop, alternative rock
Label Fueled by Ramen, Decaydance
Producer S*A*M and Sluggo
The Academy Is... chronology

Santi
(2007)
Fast Times at Barrington High
(2008)
Lost in Pacific Time: The AP/EP
(2009)
Singles from Fast Times at Barrington High
  1. "About a Girl"
    Released: July 15, 2008
  2. "Summer Hair = Forever Young"
    Released: 2008
  3. "His Girl Friday"
    Released: 2009
  4. "The Test"
    Released: 2009
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AbsolutePunk (68%)[1]
Allmusic [2]
Alternative Press [3]
Entertainment Weekly (B+)[4]
IGN [5]
Kerrang!
The New York Times (favorable)[6]
Rolling Stone
Spin [7]

Fast Times at Barrington High is the third and final studio album by American rock band The Academy Is..., released in August 2008.[8][9] It was produced by S*A*M and Sluggo. The title refers to the high school to which William Beckett and Adam Siska went,[10] and a play on the title of the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The album cover photo was taken by William Beckett's sister, Courtney Beckett, and shows William sitting on a couch with Naomi, a friend of the band.

Pete Wentz posted a blog entry saying that he heard the demos for the new album and called them, "Mind blowing. Miles away from where they were."[11] The first single off the album is "About a Girl", which was released on July 15, 2008. Collaborations include Andrew McMahon from Jack's Mannequin; Gabe Saporta, Ryland Blackinton and Alex Suarez from Cobra Starship; and Mason Musso and Blake Healy from Metro Station.

The album sold 35,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number 17 on the Billboard 200.[12] It was named the 46th best album of 2008 by Rolling Stone.[13]

Promotion

The Academy Is... held a contest for releasing new tracks, email addresses were entered on a page off the main website page and 8 winners were selected at random to receive a song off the album and also a call from the band and a free signed copy of Fast Times at Barrington High. The contest winners were encouraged to post the songs over the internet and the winner with the most song listens would receive a special unknown prize.

The band performed "About a Girl" and "Summer Hair = Forever Young" on the Vans Warped Tour and their Australian tour with Panic! at the Disco and Cobra Starship. Hot Topic released two new The Academy Is... T-shirts, one of which comes with a code for the free download of an acoustic version of "His Girl Friday".

Track listing

All lyrics written by William Beckett; all music composed by The Academy Is... with Sam Hollander and Dave Katz on tracks 1–6 and 11.

  1. "About a Girl" – 3:30
  2. "Summer Hair = Forever Young" – 3:39
  3. "His Girl Friday" – 3:41
  4. "The Test" – 3:29
  5. "Rumored Nights" – 3:45
  6. "Automatic Eyes" – 3:26
  7. "Crowded Room" – 3:07
  8. "Coppertone" – 3:18
  9. "After the Last Midtown Show" – 5:13
  10. "Beware! Cougar!" – 3:38
  11. "Paper Chase" – 3:30
  12. "One More Weekend" – 3:43[14]
iTunes bonus tracks
  1. "Every Burden Has a Version" – 4:08
  2. "Sodium" – 3:46
  3. "About a Girl" (Acoustic version) – 3:22
Hot Topic bonus track
  1. "His Girl Friday" (Acoustic version) – 3:42
7" vinyl bonus track
  1. "Tokyo Bay" – 2:59

Release history

Country Release date
New Zealand August 18, 2008
United Kingdom
United States August 19, 2008
Australia August 23, 2008

Chart positions

Chart Position
Billboard 200 17
Rock Albums 5
Digital Albums 17
Alternative Albums 5

Personnel

Contributions

Allusions

References

  1. "The Academy Is... - Fast Times at Barrington High - Album Review". AbsolutePunk.
  2. "Fast Time at Barrington High - The Academy Is...". Allmusic.
  3. "The Academy Is... - Fast Times At Barrigton High". Alternative Press.
  4. "Fast Times at Barrington High Review". Entertainment Weekly. 19 August 2008.
  5. "The Academy Is... Fast Times at Barrington High". IGN.
  6. "Critics' Choice". The New York Times. 18 August 2008.
  7. "The Academy Is..., 'Fast Times at Barrington High' (Decaydance/Fueled by Ramen". Spin.
  8. Gamboa, Glenn (10 June 2008). "The Academy Is... ready to rock". Newsday. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  9. Shultz, Brian (26 June 2008). "The Academy Is... set third album name and date". Alternative Press. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  10. "Question and Answers with William and Sisky". Friends Or Enemies. 9 October 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  11. Wentz, Pete (11 July 2008). "Pete Wentz on the new album". Friends Or Enemies. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  12. "'Fast Times at Barrington High' chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  13. Fricke, David; Will Hermes; Christian Hoard; Melissa Maerz; Jody Rosen (25 December 2008). "Fast Times at Barrington High at No.46 in Rollingstone.com's Best albums list of 2008". RollingStone.com. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  14. DeAndrea, Joe (11 July 2008). "Fast Times At Barrington High's Track List". Absolutepunk.com. Retrieved 7 June 2009.

External links