The Greatest Generation (album)

The Greatest Generation
Studio album by The Wonder Years
Released	May 14, 2013
Genre	Pop punk
Length	48:51
Label	Hopeless
Producer	Steve Evetts
The Wonder Years chronology
Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing (2011) The Greatest Generation (2013)
Singles from The Greatest Generation
"Passing Through A Screen Door" Released: March 27, 2013 "Dismantling Summer" Released: April 16, 2013[1]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	96/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Absolutepunk	[3]
Allmusic	[4]
Kerrang!	[5]
Punknews	[6]
Sputnikmusic	[7]

The Greatest Generation is the fourth studio album by pop punk band the Wonder Years. The album was produced by Steve Evetts,^[8] who produced their last album, Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing.

On March 25, 2013, the band held a live chat on the AbsolutePunk website, where they streamed the first single from the album, "Passing Through a Screen Door". The song was made available for download via the iTunes Store on March 27, 2013.^[9]

Promotion

On the 6th of March the band announced the album's title, artwork and track listing. On the 15th of April, the song 'Dismantling Summer' was released online for streaming. The band played four record release shows in 24 hours in support of The Greatest Generation: Philadelphia at 6pm on May 10 with Modern Baseball; New York City at 12am on May 11 with A Loss for Words; Chicago at 10am on May 11 with Mixtapes; and Anaheim at 6pm on May 11 with Versus the World and the Sheds. Due to travel complications the Anaheim show did not begin until 8pm.^[10]

Background

In the teaser video the band talked about the recording and writing process of the album. They wrote the album in a small apartment above an abandoned sandwich shop. In the teaser, "Soupy" Campbell called it a third piece in a trilogy about growing up. He also stated the album was about the end of the war he had within himself fighting depression and anxiety. The title is taken from the term coined by Tom Brokaw about how the generation that fought in World War II was 'the greatest generation'.

Reception

The Greatest Generation has received critical acclaim upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics gave the album an overall rating of 96, which indicates "universal acclaim". Scott Heisel of Alternative Press gave the album 4.5 out 5 stars saying, "It's fast, it's honest, and it'll probably make you tear up more than once." Thomas Nassif of Absolute Punk did not even give the album a standard rating from 0 to 10, stating "It is my firm belief that The Greatest Generation has no real precedent in this community. It’s my belief that there isn’t another band in pop-punk right now that can write a record this good." David Allen of TheCelebrityCafe.com, gave the album a 5/5, stating, "This album, more than ever, speaks to the fast, the angry, and the unforgiving part of the human subconscious...It feels as if this album, by itself, has been able to repossess every inch of teenage angst over the past 60 years and throw it back up into arrangements, lining it up half-hazardly, and yet purposefully, to hear.".^[11]

Commercially, it is the band's most successful album. It was their first to crack the top 20 at Billboard 200, moving 19,673 copies on its first week and reaching the #20 spot. In comparison, Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing moved 8,100 copies on its first week (#73), while The Upsides debuted with 1,852, failing to even make it to the chart.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by The Wonder Years. 

Vinyl release

+Record Release Edition with 5 Variations of Artwork

References to previous songs

• In the song, "Passing Through a Screen Door", the line "Well the highway won" is referring to a B-side off of Suburbia with the name, "Me Vs. The Highway".
• In "Passing Through a Screen Door", "I was kind of hoping you'd stay" references the chorus of "This Party Sucks", from The Upsides.
• In "We Could Die Like This", the line "I left because you asked me to" is a direct reference to "If you ask me to leave, I could leave" from the song "My Life As a Pigeon" (off of Suburbia). Moreover, "Just please leave me a note" is an upturned reference to the similar line in "Woke Up Older" ("I left a note up on your bed ...") - which is already, in itself, a reference to "Hey Thanks".
• During the verses of "Dismantling Summer" the chord progression from the verses of "Living Room Song", a B-side off Suburbia, is played.
• In "The Bastards, the Vultures, the Wolves", the line "We'll deal with it in the morning" is a nod to the song "New Years With Carl Weathers" from The Upsides; specifically, the line "We'll deal with it tomorrow".
• In "The Bastards, the Vultures, the Wolves", the line "I came out swinging but I’m still walking out with two black eyes and a split lip" is a reference to the song "Came Out Swinging" off Suburbia.
• In "Chaser", the line "When you clear out all the smoke, the memories of those years seem dimly lit like I never replaced a light-bulb." is a reference to the song "Came Out Swinging": specifically the line "I came out swinging from a South Philly basement caked in stale beer and sweat under half-lit fluorescents." off Suburbia.
• In "Chaser", the line "No more broken phones or swollen knuckles from putting holes in the booth by the back wall" references "Coffee Eyes"'s line "I watched friendships dissolve in the booth on the back wall" from Suburbia.
• In "An American Religion (FSF)", Richie's basement is mentioned - a reference to the corresponding line "So I moved myself and two boxes of things to the basement room at Richie's house" from "And Now I'm Nothing".
• The line "I'm still sitting at the coffee shop with Ken", also from "An American Religion (FSF)", is a possible reference to the West Main Diner in Lansdale, PA - a location mentioned repeatedly in songs like "Coffee Eyes" and "Hoodie Weather".
• The song "Cul-de-Sac" is a callback to "You're Not Salinger. Get Over It." off Won't Be Pathetic Forever. Both utilize the term "careless urban sprawl".
• The song "Cul-de-Sac" mention shoplifting gas stations much like the ones in "Solo & Chewy: Holdin' It Down" from Won't Be Pathetic Forever.

Personnel

Personnel per digital booklet.^[12]

References

External links

• Amazon.com Pre-Order