Simple Plan (album)

This article is about the band Simple Plan's self-titled CD. For the article on the band, see Simple Plan.
For other uses, see A Simple Plan (disambiguation)
Simple Plan
Studio album by Simple Plan
Released February 12, 2008
(see release dates below)
Recorded JulySeptember 2007 in New York, US and Montreal, Canada
Genre Alternative rock, pop punk, pop rock
Length 43:33
Label Lava, Atlantic
Producer Dave Fortman
Danja[1]
Max Martin[1]
Simple Plan chronology

MTV Hard Rock Live
(2005)
Simple Plan
(2008)
Get Your Heart On!
(2011)
Singles from Simple Plan
  1. "When I'm Gone"
    Released: October 29, 2007
  2. "Your Love Is a Lie"
    Released: February 28, 2008
  3. "Take My Hand (digital single)"
    Released: March 17, 2008
  4. "Save You"
    Released: August 14, 2008
Original cover
Rejected on December 14, 2007.
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic (51/100)[2]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [3]
Alternative Press [4]
The A.V. Club D[5]
Billboard (favorable)[6]
Blender [2]
Entertainment Weekly C-[7]
iAfrica [8]
Q [2]
Rolling Stone [9]
Spin (4/10)[2]

Simple Plan is the self-titled third studio album by French-Canadian pop punk band Simple Plan, released on February 12, 2008. The album was a large musical departure from the band's previous albums, as its theme was more love-based than teen angst. It reached No. 2 on the Canadian album charts, No. 14 on the US Billboard 200 and charted in the top 10 worldwide in countries including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Sweden and Switzerland.

History

Having finished most touring in support of Still Not Getting Any... in March 2006, Simple Plan took some time off and then began work on writing new material with Arnold Lanni, who had produced their first album. On July 1, 2007, they went to the studio and began tracking. They started with drum tracking in Los Angeles after pre-production, then went back to Montreal to finish the rest of the recording process. They also hired David Campbell to arrange and conduct strings for the songs "The End", "What If", "I Can Wait Forever" and "No Love". During September 2007, the band had finished recording and went back to L.A. to mix the album with Chris Lord-Alge. After mixing, the band went to New York to master the album, thus finishing the building of the album. This was announced on October 21.

The CD was originally set for release on January 29, 2008. However, on November 29, 2007, the band announced a two weeks' delay due to production difficulties, and the need to re-record some lyrics from the song "Generation". The released version of "Generation" would be considerably different from that distributed on the review copies of the CD, with the latter beginning "This world's so sad and lonely/Won't you come and spend some time with me?"[10]

An album cover was released in early December 2007. Soon afterwards, in his MySpace blog, band frontman Pierre Bouvier responded to fan concerns about the cover, defending the artwork. However, on December 12, the band released a second proposed album cover, and invited fan views by email about each, indicating (despite Bouvier's earlier comments) that they were fine with either cover. On December 14, 2007, the alternative cover depicted above was announced as selected over the original one depicted below. In April 2008, the rejected CD was released as a limited-edition CD cover in Australia.

"Your Love Is a Lie" was first publicly performed at a taping for YouTube on December 18, 2007. All the songs on the CD, except "Holding On" were played at a small show in Montreal on January 11, 2008.

The album would also be nominated for the 2008 Juno Awards in the "Best Album" category, but lost to Nickelback's Dark Horse.

The album took more of an alternative rock sound than their previous albums, which usually feature a pop punk style. However pop punk influences are present in the tracks, "When I'm Gone", "Take My Hand", "Generation" and "Time to Say Goodbye".

Singles and notable songs

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "When I'm Gone"  Pierre Bouvier, Chuck Comeau, Nate Hills, Arnold Lanni 3:48
2. "Take My Hand"  Bouvier, Comeau, Lanni 3:52
3. "The End"  Bouvier, Comeau, Hills, Lanni 3:22
4. "Your Love Is a Lie"  Bouvier, Comeau, Lanni 3:42
5. "Save You"  Bouvier, Comeau, Lanni 3:45
6. "Generation"  Bouvier, Comeau, Hills, Lanni, Max Martin 3:02
7. "Time to Say Goodbye"  Bouvier, Comeau 2:56
8. "I Can Wait Forever"  Bouvier 4:54
9. "Holding On"  Bouvier, Comeau, Lanni 5:03
10. "No Love"  Bouvier, Comeau, Lanni 3:15
11. "What If"  Bouvier, Comeau, Lanni 5:54
Total length:
43:33

Release dates

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[14] 6
Austrian Music Chart[15] 9
Brazil – ABPD[16] 8
Canadian Albums Chart[17] 2
Finnish Albums Chart 19
France Albums Chart 16
Mexican Albums Chart[18] 15
New Zealand Albums Chart[19] 12
Netherlands Albums Chart[20] 43
Spain Albums Chart[21] 13
Swedish Albums Chart[22] 7
Swiss Albums Chart[22] 7
UK Albums Chart 31
U.S. Billboard 200 14
U.S. Billboard Alternative Albums 4
U.S. Billboard Rock Albums 3
U.S. Billboard Digital Albums 7

Sales

Chart (2008) Position Sales
U.S. Billboard 200 14 250,000+
Australian ARIA Albums Chart[14] 6 35,000+
Brazil - ABPD[23] 1 100,000
Canadian Albums Chart[17] 2 150,000
Finland Album Chart 19 15,000
México Albums Chart AMPROFON[18] 15 50,000
Spain PROMUSICAE Albums Chart[21] 13 30,000
Sweden Album Chart[22] 7 10,000
UK Albums Chart 31 60,000

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Simple Plan Back In Action With Third Album". Billboard. October 24, 2007.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Critic Reviews for Simple Plan at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  3. Simple Plan (album) at AllMusic
  4. Feb 2008, p. 109.
  5. Earles, Andrew (February 11, 2008). "Simple Plan: Simple Plan | Music | Music Review". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  6. Mikael Wood. "Simple Plan". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 11, 2008. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
  7. Simon Vozick-Levinson (February 8, 2008). "Simple Plan Review | Music Reviews and News". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  8. Jonhenry Wilson (February 29, 2008). "Simple Plan". iAfrica. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  9. Hoard, Christian (February 21, 2008). "Simple Plan : Simple Plan : Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 10, 2008. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  10. Review copy of CD, registered number #1763, issued to Naoko Isozaki of bayfm and subsequently purchased on eBay, track 6
  11. Channelnewsasia.com
  12. 12.0 12.1 Bilboard.com
  13. Release date in Argentina MusiMundo.com
  14. 14.0 14.1 Australian Record Industry Association
  15. "Austrian Charts > Simple Plan" (in German). austriancharts.at Hung Medien. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  16. ABPD.org.be
  17. 17.0 17.1 Canoe.cam, Music SoundScan Charts
  18. 18.0 18.1 Mexicancharts.com, Mexican Charts – Albums – 12.12.2008
  19. "French Charts > Simple Plan" (in French). lescharts.com Hung Medien. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  20. "Dutch Album Charts > Simple Plan" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl Hung Medien. Retrieved 2009-12-25.
  21. 21.0 21.1 ProMusicae.es
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 Acharts.us, Simple Plan – Simple Plan – Music Charts
  23. "Associação Brasileira de Produtores de Disco".