Agony & Irony

Agony & Irony
Studio album by Alkaline Trio
Released July 1, 2008
Genre Pop punk,[1][2] alternative rock,[2] punk rock[3]
Length 39:42
Label Epic
Producer Josh Abraham
Alkaline Trio chronology
Remains
(2007)Remains2007		 Agony & Irony
(2008)		 This Addiction
(2010)This Addiction2010
Singles from Agony & Irony
  1. "Help Me"
    Released: April 28, 2008
  2. "Love Love, Kiss Kiss"
    Released: June 24, 2008
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk.net(76%) [3]
AllMusic [2]
The A.V. ClubB+ [4]
Blender [1]
IGN8.3/10 [5]
Melodic [6]
Rolling Stone [7]

Agony & Irony is the sixth studio album by American rock band Alkaline Trio, released July 1, 2008.

Background

While on the 2007 edition of Warped Tour, the band performed a new track, titled "In Vein".[8]

Composition

Regarding this album, vocalist and guitarist Matt Skiba stated that the band set out to record an "anthemic hard rock record."[9] Regarding the record's sound and influences, Skiba states that he was "listening to a lot of Pat Benatar, Def Leppard and a lot of the 80’s MTV music that I grew up with. So that was a big influence in the writing process, bands like The Cars". Norwegian experimental band Ulver contributed strings, programming and vocals on "Lost & Rendered" and "In My Stomach." Douglas P. of English neofolk group Death in June contributed a spoken word introduction to "I Found Away".

In an interview promoting the album, Matt Skiba cites that:

there’s a theme of duality on the record, it’s sort of a spin on ‘ebony and ivory’ which of course represents black and white. The songs on the new album sort of represent a struggle between good and evil, light and dark, and despair and hope. We felt Agony and Irony was appropriate, I mean we fancy ourselves as being pretty clever, and we felt a play on words was also fitting for the new record. It's also a lyric from 'Flagpole Sitta' by Harvey Danger, so we thought we earn double points for that.[9]

Release

On April 4, "In Vein" was made available for streaming through the band's Myspace profile. It was mentioned that the band's untitled next album would be released in July. through Epic Records.[8] The following day, the band appeared at the Bamboozle Left festival.[10] On April 14, the album's title, Agony & Irony, and track listing was revealed.[11] On April 22 an "In Vein" EP was released on iTunes. The EP featured two tracks which had already been heard by fans and a new song entitled "Into the Night". "Help Me" was released to radio stations on April 22.[12] In May and June, the band participated in the Zumiez Couch Tour[13] alongside Kandi Coded, Our Last Night and Dr. Manhattan.[14] Agony & Irony was made available for streaming on June 27 on their Myspace.[15] Three days later, a music video for "Help Me" was released. According to Alternative Press, the video "features 100% less on-the-road and concert footage and 100% more Matt Skiba dressed up as someone from Young Guns flying with a jetpack."[16]

Agony & Irony was released on July 1 through Epic Records.[11] The second single has been confirmed to be "I Found Away".[9] and a video was set to be shot in the fall of 2008. In October and November, the band supported Rise Against on their headlining tour of the US.[17] Due to Rise Against vocalist Tim McIlrath becoming ill, Alkaline Trio performed two shows with another band on the tour, Thrice.[18] "Over and Out" impacted radio on October 21.[19] In February 2009, the band went on a tour of the UK,[20] followed by a tour of Europe with the Audition[21] and Broadway Calls.[22] In February and March, the band toured Australia as part of the Soundwave festival.[23] Also in March, the band launched a contest for fans to remix "I Found Away" that would be included on an digital release titled Remix EP.[24] In April, the band went on a tour of the east coast and Midwest with Saves the Day[25] and were supported by Death in the Park.[26] Further dates were added, extending the tour into mid-May.[27] Following this, the band supported the Offspring on their Shit Is Fucked Up Tour in May and June.[28]

Track listing

All Tracks by Alkaline Trio.

  1. "Calling All Skeletons" – 3:19
  2. "Help Me" – 3:44
  3. "In Vein" – 3:57
  4. "Over and Out" – 3:14
  5. "I Found Away" – 4:01
  6. "Do You Wanna Know?" – 3:36
  7. "Live Young, Die Fast" – 4:14
  8. "Love Love, Kiss Kiss" – 3:25
  9. "Lost and Rendered" – 3:23
  10. "Ruin It" – 3:36
  11. "Into the Night" – 3:23
Bonus tracks
Deluxe edition bonus disc
  1. "Burned Is the House" – 4:26
  2. "Maybe I'll Catch Fire (acoustic)" – 3:04
  3. "Live Young, Die Fast (acoustic)" – 3:19
  4. "Into the Night (acoustic)" – 3:12
  5. "Over and Out (acoustic)" – 2:47
  6. "Lost and Rendered (acoustic)" – 3:13

References

  1. 1 2 Blender review
  2. 1 2 3 Agony & Irony at AllMusic
  3. 1 2 Absolute Punk review
  4. ↑ The A.V. Club review
  5. ↑ Thompson, Ed (July 1, 2008). "Alkaline Trio – Agony & Irony Review". IGN. Archived from the original on February 17, 2009. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  6. ↑ Roth, Kaj (June 22, 2005). "Alkaline Trio - Agony and Irony". Melodic. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  7. ↑ Rolling Stone review
  8. 1 2 "Alkaline Trio post new song, set release date for new album". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. April 4, 2008. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 http://www.bombshellzine.com/newspage/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3306%5B%5D
  10. ↑ "Blaqk Audio, Hot Water Music, H2O added to Bamboozle Left". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. February 15, 2008. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  11. 1 2 "Alkaline Trio unveil title, tracklist for upcoming album". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. April 14, 2008. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  12. ↑ "AllAccess.com Alternative eWeekly". AllAccess. April 15, 2008. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Alkaline Trio, Scary Kids Scaring Kids on Zumiez Couch Tour". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. April 2, 2008. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Bayside, Dr. Manhattan, more added to Zumiez Couch Tour". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. April 30, 2008. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Alkaline Trio launches full stream of ‘Agony And Irony’". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. June 27, 2008. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Alkaline Trio release official "Help Me" video". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. June 30, 2008. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Rise Against announce fall tour routing". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. July 28, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Rise Against cancel TX shows due to illness; Alkaline Trio and Thrice reschedule". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. October 26, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  19. ↑ "AllAccess.com Alternative eWeekly". AllAccess. October 14, 2008. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Alkaline Trio to tour UK next year". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. October 22, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  21. ↑ "The Audition begin recording for 2009 album". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. December 17, 2008. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Side One Dummy signs Broadway Calls". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. January 6, 2009. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  23. ↑ Hutton, Sarah (September 23, 2008). "Soundwave Line-up 2009". FasterLouder. Junkee Media. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  24. ↑ Remix Alkaline Trio's "I Found Away"!. Noise Press. Retrieved on 2009-03-21
  25. ↑ "Alkaline Trio / Saves The Day tour announced". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. March 10, 2009. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Death In The Park (ex-Hot Rod Circuit) added to Alkaline Trio / Saves The Day tour". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. April 4, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  27. ↑ "Alkaline Trio/Saves The Day tour extended into May". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. March 13, 2009. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  28. ↑ "Offspring plan tour with Alkaline Trio, Dropkick Murphys, Sum 41". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. March 23, 2009. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.