Handwritten (The Gaslight Anthem album)

Handwritten
Studio album by The Gaslight Anthem
Released July 23, 2012
Recorded January 23 – February 18, 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genre Alternative rock, heartland rock, folk punk, punk rock
Length 40:50
Label Mercury
Producer Brendan O'Brien
The Gaslight Anthem chronology

American Slang
(2010)		 Handwritten
(2012)		 Singles Collection: 2008-2011
(2013)
Singles from Handwritten
  1. "45"
    Released: June 2, 2012
  2. "Here Comes My Man"
    Released: October 24, 2012
Deluxe Edition Cover

Handwritten is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Gaslight Anthem, released on July 20, 2012 by Mercury Records. Produced by Brendan O'Brien, the album was preceded by the single "45", and features liner notes by Nick Hornby.

Writing

As of July 2010, Brian Fallon said he was working on new material for a fourth album.[1] Subsequently, Fallon stated on his blog that the band would start writing their record in January 2011.[2] However, prior to playing at Pinkpop in June 2011, Fallon stated that they had just started working on the new album and that it would not be released for at least a few months.[3] In the same interview, Fallon said the band's next record would sound closer to their breakthrough record, The '59 Sound, rather than American Slang.[4] During this time, Fallon was also working with good friend Ian Perkins, putting the finishing touches on their side project The Horrible Crowes.

On October 6, 2011, the Gaslight Anthem announced via Facebook that they had officially signed with Mercury Records. They stated that they were sorry to leave their friends at SideOneDummy Records, but felt that the change was necessary for their musical career.

Recording

On October 14, 2011, the Gaslight Anthem announced that their last show before going into the studio to record their new album would be on December 9 at the Asbury Park Convention Hall.[5]

On January 12, 2012, the band announced via their Twitter feed that they would be recording the following week in Nashville.[6] Recording took place at Blackbird Studios, Nashville.[7] On February 17, 2012, they announced that recording of original songs for the album had been completed and they would soon be recording b-sides and covers.[8] It was announced on February 22, 2012, via the band's Twitter feed that their fourth album would be titled Handwritten.[9]

The band announced on their official Facebook page on April 26, 2012, that the album's lead single would be "45", and it would be receive its worldwide premiere as Zane Lowe's Hottest Record in the World on BBC Radio 1 on April 30.[10]

On April 30, 2012, the band announced that the album would be released July 23, 2012, in the UK and July 24 in the US.

Critical Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 72/100[11]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [12]
Alternative Press [13]
The A.V. Club B+[14]
Consequence of Sound [15]
Entertainment Weekly B+[16]
The Guardian [17]
NME 8/10[18]
Pitchfork Media 5.7/10[19]
PopMatters [20]
Punknews.org [21]
Rolling Stone [22]
Spin 4/10[23]
Sputnikmusic 4/5[24]
Uncut 7/10[25]

The album received very positive reviews, and ended up charting in the Top 10 in eight countries.

The Toronto Maple Leafs briefly used the song "Howl" as their goal song in the 2014-15 NHL season.

Commercial Performance

The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 chart with first week sales of 40,000 copies in the United States, making this their most successful debut to date.[26]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Brian Fallon, Alex Rosamilia, Alex Levine, and Benny Horowitz, except where noted[27]. 

No. Title Length
1. "45"   3:23
2. "Handwritten"   3:58
3. "Here Comes My Man"   3:35
4. "Mulholland Drive"   3:53
5. "Keepsake"   4:02
6. "Too Much Blood"   5:07
7. "Howl"   2:04
8. "Biloxi Parish"   3:46
9. "Desire"   3:15
10. "Mae"   4:07
11. "National Anthem"   3:40
Total length:
 40:50

Personnel

Band[27]
Additional musicians[27]
Production[27]

Chart performance

Chart (2012) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[28] 14
Austrian Albums Chart[29] 5
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[30] 16
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[31] 103
Canadian Albums Chart[32] 5
Croatian Albums Chart[33] 45
Danish Albums Chart[34] 37
Dutch Albums Chart[35] 3
Finnish Albums Chart[36] 45
German Albums Chart[37] 2
Irish Albums Chart[38] 7
Italian Albums Chart[39] 82
Norwegian Albums Chart[40] 18
Scottish Albums Chart[41] 1
Swedish Albums Chart[42] 25
Swiss Albums Chart[43] 12
UK Albums Chart[44] 2
UK Rock Albums Chart[45] 1
US Billboard 200[32] 3
US Alternative Albums[32] 1
US Rock Albums[32] 1

Release history

Country Date Label
Australia[46] July 20, 2012 Universal Music
Germany[47]
France[48] July 23, 2012
United Kingdom[49] Mercury Records
United States[50] July 24, 2012
Italy[51] Universal Music

References

  1. ↑ Sterdan, Darryl (July 13, 2010). "Gaslight Anthem Kicks Up A Gear". Toronto Sun. Sun Media.
  2. ↑ "The Band is Blowing Dixie, Double Four Time...". Cassettes In The Mailbox. December 5, 2010. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  3. ↑ "[3FM Pinkpop 2011] Brian en Alex van The Gaslight Anthem in de studio". YouTube. July 13, 2011.
  4. ↑ O'Donnell, Kevin (May 26, 2011). "Gaslight's Brian Fallon on "Radical" Side-Project". Spin. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
  5. ↑ "New Show Added". gaslightanthem.com. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Heading to record in Nashville ...". Twitter. January 12, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
  7. ↑ Scaggs, Austin (March 29, 2012). "Gaslight Anthem Rip It Up And Start Again in Nashville". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Every song done! Now recording ...". Twitter. February 17, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  9. ↑ "We're gonna call our new record ...". Twitter. February 22, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Finally! We are...". Facebook. April 26, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
  11. ↑ "The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  12. ↑ Heaney, Gregory. "Review: The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  13. ↑ Heisel, Scott. "Review: The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". Alternative Press. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  14. ↑ Heller, Jason (2012-07-24). "Review: The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  15. ↑ Hadusek, Jon (2012-07-25). "Review: The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  16. ↑ Maerz, Melissa (2012-07-18). "Review: The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  17. ↑ Empire, Kitty (2012-07-21). "Review: The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  18. ↑ Cooper, Leonie (2012-07-30). "Review: The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". NME. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  19. ↑ Deusner, Stephen (2012-07-26). "Review: The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  20. ↑ Franco, Michael (2012-07-24). "Review: The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". PopMatters. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  21. ↑ Yancey, Bryne (2012-07-24). "Review: The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". Punknews.org. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  22. ↑ Rosen, Jody (2012-07-19). "Review: The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  23. ↑ Harris, Keith (2012-07-26). "Review: The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". Spin. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  24. ↑ Knott, Adam (2012-07-28). "Review: The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  25. ↑ Mueller, Andrew. "Review: The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". Uncut. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  26. ↑ http://www.spin.com/articles/who-charted-gaslight-anthem-and-passion-pit-score-top-10-debuts/
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 Handwritten (CD booklet). The Gaslight Anthem. New York City: Mercury Records. 2012. B0017213-02.
  28. ↑ "The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". Australian Recording Industry Association. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  29. ↑ "The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten" (in German). IFPI Austria. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  30. ↑ "The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  31. ↑ "The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten" (in French). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 "Handwritten – The Gaslight Anthem". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  33. ↑ "Top Kombiniranih – Tjedan 30. 2012." (in Croatian). Hrvatska Diskografska Udruga. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  34. ↑ "The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". IFPI Denmark. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
  35. ↑ "The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  36. ↑ "The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". IFPI Finland. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  37. ↑ "The Gaslight Anthem, Handwritten" (in German). Media Control. charts.de. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  38. ↑ "Top 75 Artist Album, Week Ending 26 July 2012". Irish Recorded Music Association. Chart-Track. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  39. ↑ "Artisti – Classifica settimanale dal 23/07/2012 al 29/07/2012" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  40. ↑ "The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". Verdens Gang. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
  41. ↑ "2012 Top 40 Scottish Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. August 4, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  42. ↑ "The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". Swedish Recording Industry Association. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
  43. ↑ "The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten". Media Control. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  44. ↑ "2012 Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. August 4, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  45. ↑ "2012 Top 40 Rock & Metal Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. August 4, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  46. ↑ "The Gaslight Anthem Store – Handwritten". Getmusic. Universal Music Australia. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  47. ↑ "The Gaslight Anthem – Diskografie – Handwritten" (in German). Universal Music Germany. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  48. ↑ "Handwritten : Gaslight Anthem" (in French). Fnac. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  49. ↑ "Gaslight Anthem: Handwritten". HMV. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  50. ↑ "Handwritten: The Gaslight Anthem". Amazon.com. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  51. ↑ "Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten" (in Italian). Internet Bookshop Italia. Retrieved August 2, 2012.