Wolves (Rise Against album)

Wolves
Studio album by Rise Against
Released June 9, 2017 (2017-06-09)
Studio Rock Falcon Studio, Nashville, Tennessee
Genre
Length 40:04
Label Virgin
B002678602
Producer Nick Raskulinecz
Rise Against chronology
The Black Market
(2014)The Black Market2014		 Wolves
(2017)
Singles from Wolves
  1. "The Violence"
    Released: April 20, 2017

Wolves is the eighth studio album by the American punk rock band Rise Against.[4] It was released on June 9, 2017. It is their first studio album in eleven years to be produced by the band without long time producers, Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore, and their first album to be released through Virgin Records.[5] The album's lead single, "The Violence", was released on April 20, 2017. Two more songs, "House on Fire" and "Welcome to the Breakdown" were released on May 19 and June 2, respectively, as pre-release buzz tracks.

The album debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200 albums chart, becoming their fifth straight top ten record.

Background and recording

Rise Against released their seventh studio album, The Black Market, in 2014. When it came time for the band to record a follow-up, they initially struggled to find a direction. Vocalist Tim McIlrath recalled, "I was trying to figure out where Rise Against fitted in - in the musical world and our fans' lives. We got started and then the U.S. election happened. That's when things clicked into place. The frontline became very visible to me and I knew exactly what we needed to do. We had to get off our asses and engage."[6]

The band recorded Wolves in Nashville, Tennessee, a city with a majority pro-Trump population. McIlrath recalled "It was clear we'd also put ourselves physically outside of our comfort zone by leaving Chicago, which is this liberal nest where you're hard-pressed to find someone who disagrees with the progressive politics of Rise Against... I think it's really good for anybody to see both sides of the fence and spend time in a place that is hurting—and helping to create the narrative of the country you live in. That was something that was kind of always on my mind, knowing that there are people out there who fell for someone like Donald Trump, who were conned by him, and that these are people just like you and me. So we have to work out how to bridge that gap and figure out where the truth lies in a lot of our arguments with each other."[7]

The deluxe edition of the album, exclusive to Best Buy, contains two bonus tracks, "Megaphone" and "Broadcast[Signal]Frequency", that have been described as a return to Rise Against's faster hardcore sound exemplified in earlier albums such as The Unraveling and Revolutions per Minute. When asked in a Reddit AMA about why they were not included on the standard album, McIlrath responded, "because lazy Tim didn't finish the lyrics in time."[8]

Music and lyrical themes

The lyrics in Wolves follow the band's usual political themes; however, this time around, the band tackles the 2016 presidential election. Songs like "How Many Walls", "Welcome to the Breakdown" and the title track oppose the views of Donald Trump (just as they did George W. Bush during his time in office) since the band members are supporters of Democratic party, while tracks like "House on Fire" and "Politics of Love" are more personal while retaining some political leanings.[9] The lyrics do not specifically refer to American issues; McIlrath stated that "We're not an American band, we're a global one. We have Trump, the U.K. has Brexit. This is a human problem."[6]

McIlrath stated in an interview with The Shrine Auditorium that "In many ways, a Rise Against show is a safe space for our fans. But I realized that I don't only want to create safe spaces, I want to create dangerous spaces where misogyny can't exist, where xenophobia can't exist. I want to create spaces where those sentiments don't have any air, and they suffocate: where those ideas die. Wolves isn't about creating a safe space, it's about creating a space that's dangerous for injustice."[9]

The video for lead single "The Violence" was banned from shooting due to being "anti-government".[10] The band had gained a permit to film the video in a field containing busts of all 43 United States presidents; however, the permit was rescinded by the field's board of directors in the middle of filming due to Rise Against's "anti-American" message.[11]

Album title

According to McIlrath, the title Wolves refers to "being wolves at the gate, being angry at authority, being angry at the direction of the country and the world, and fighting back. We are the wolves, and the wolves are the good guys in the narrative. We're taking back control."[6] During the writing process, the album was to be titled Mourning in America. However, after the 2016 United States presidential election, McIlrath changed his mind, proclaiming "Fuck that. Fuck grieving."[6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic76/100[12]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[13]
Metal Hammer[14]
Paste5.8/10[15]
Rock Sound7/10[16]
Sputnikmusic2.2/5[17]

Wolves received mostly positive reviews from critics. It attained a score of 76 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on an aggregate of nine professional reviews. AllMusic's James Christopher Monger gave the album 3.5 stars out of 5, proclaiming that "the 11-track set doesn't deviate much from the formula the band established on its prior outings, but it will no doubt please longtime fans just looking for something new to pump their fists to."[13] Rowan of Sputnikmusic was more critical, stating that "Wolves is a whole bunch of sound and fury, signifying nothing - Tim is angry about some stuff, to be sure, but he's angry about so many badly defined things he ends up running out of things to say," while praising "Welcome to the Breakdown" and "Miracle" as standout tracks.[18]

Commercial performance

Wolves debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200 with 29,000 album-equivalent units, of which 27,000 were pure album sales.[19]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Wolves"3:37
2."House on Fire"3:14
3."The Violence"3:48
4."Welcome to the Breakdown"3:03
5."Far from Perfect"3:32
6."Bullshit"4:12
7."Politics of Love"4:09
8."Parts Per Million"3:40
9."Mourning in Amerika"3:19
10."How Many Walls"3:50
11."Miracle"3:40
Total length:40:04

Personnel

Charts

Chart (2017) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[21] 5
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[22] 5
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23] 27
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[24] 81
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[25] 3
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[26] 76
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[27] 5
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[28] 20
Scottish Albums (OCC)[29] 26
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[30] 92
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[31] 11
UK Albums (OCC)[32] 38
US Billboard 200[33] 9
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[34] 1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[35] 1
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[36] 1

References

  1. ↑ "Cryptic rock Album review". crypticrock. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  2. ↑ "Wolves album review". upsetmagazine. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "Wolves Album Review - Teamrock". teamrock. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  4. ↑ "Rise Against Announce 'Wolves' Album, Release 'The Violence'". Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  5. ↑ "Rise Against release new song "The Violence" from upcoming new album "Wolves"—listen - News - Alternative Press". Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  7. ↑ "Rise Against's Tim McIlrath says rebellion in the age of Trump is more important than ever - Features - Alternative Press". Alternative Press. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  8. ↑ "We are Tim McIlrath and Joe Principe from the band Rise Against. Ask Us Anything! • r/punk". reddit. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
  9. 1 2 "Shrine Auditorium - Wolves".
  10. ↑ "Rise Against's "The Violence" video shoot shut down for being "anti-government" - News - Alternative Press". Alternative Press. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  11. ↑ "Rise Against Says 'The Violence' Video Shoot Permit Pulled Because It Was Deemed 'Anti-Government'". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  12. ↑ "Reviews for Wolves by Rise Against". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  13. 1 2 Monger, James Christopher. "Wolves - Rise Against". AllMusic. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  14. ↑ Young, Nik (May 28, 2017). "Rise Against - Wolves album review". Metal Hammer. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  15. ↑ Heisel, Scott (June 7, 2017). "Rise Against: Wolves Review". Paste. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  16. ↑ Sayce, Rob (June 1, 2017). "Rise Against - Wolves'". Rock Sound. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Review: Rise Against - Wolves | Sputnikmusic". www.sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
  18. ↑ "Review: Rise Against - Wolves | Sputnikmusic". www.sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
  19. ↑ Caulfield, Keith (June 18, 2017). "Katy Perry Scores Third No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Witness'". Billboard. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  20. ↑ "Rolling Stone - The Violence".
  21. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Rise Against – Wolves". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Rise Against – Wolves" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  23. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Rise Against – Wolves" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  24. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Rise Against – Wolves" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Rise Against – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Rise Against. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Rise Against – Wolves" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  27. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Rise Against – Wolves" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  28. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Rise Against – Wolves". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  29. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  30. ↑ "Top 100 Albumes — Semana 24: del 09.06.2017 al 15.06.2017" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  31. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Rise Against – Wolves". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  32. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  33. ↑ "Rise Against – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Rise Against. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  34. ↑ "Rise Against – Chart history" Billboard Top Alternative Albums for Rise Against. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  35. ↑ "Rise Against – Chart history" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Rise Against. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  36. ↑ "Rise Against – Chart history" Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums for Rise Against. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
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