Black Lines
Studio album by
Mayday Parade
ReleasedOctober 9, 2015
RecordedMarch–May 2015
StudioDreamland Recording Studios
Woodstock, New York
Genre
Length44:06
LabelFearless
ProducerMike Sapone
Mayday Parade chronology
Monsters in the Closet
(2013)		 Black Lines
(2015)		 Sunnyland
(2018)
Singles from Black Lines
  1. "Keep in Mind, Transmogrification Is a New Technology"
    Released: July 31, 2015
  2. "Letting Go"
    Released: October 2, 2015

Black Lines is the fifth studio album by American rock band Mayday Parade. Recording was done between March and May 2015 with producer Mike Sapone in New York. "Keep in Mind, Transmogrification Is a New Technology" was released as a single in July. "Letting Go" was released as a single in October with the album, released through Fearless, following shortly after. The album charted at number 21 in the United States. This is the last album the band released on Fearless Records.

Background

Mayday Parade released their fourth album, Monsters in the Closet in October 2013.[1] While touring in support of that release, vocalist Derek Sanders thought the group was "beginning to become too predictable",[2] and in an interview with Kerrang!, he claimed that Monsters in the Closest sounded "very similar" to their past material.[2] This view was also expressed by the band's guitarist, Alex Garcia.[3] For the follow-up album, Sanders "really wanted [it] to feel like something different."[2] A turning point for the band came when they recorded a cover of the Bush song "Comedown" for the Punk Goes 90s Vol. 2 (2014) compilation album.[2] The band tackled the song differently from their other recordings, recording it live-in-the-studio.[2] Sanders thought this was "a much rawer way of recording" that the band haven't previously done.[2]

Composition

While the group, according to Garcia, "experiment[ed] with co-writers" in the past, they wanted to "become more internal",[3] writing all of the songs on Black Lines by themselves.[4] Kerrang! writer Paul Travers noted that while the band's past works were collections of pop rock songs, Black Lines had "a rawer, grittier sound with a more dynamic approach" to song structures.[2] The album's sound has been described as emo,[5] emo pop,[6] pop punk[7] and rock.[8] "One of Them Will Destroy the Other" features guest vocals from Real Friends' vocalist Dan Lambton.[9] "Letting Go" is about "self pity and not having the strength to get over a bad relationship. It's about that weird spot when someone breaks you down even though you know they're toxic."[10]

Recording

In March 2015, the band started recording[11] at Dreamland Recording Studios near Woodstock, New York with producer Mike Sapone.[4] The studio was in fact a converted church.[3] Guitarist Brooks Betts used his Fender Telecaster guitar, which has been used on all of the band's albums, while Garcia used his Gibson Les Paul and Fender Stratocaster guitars.[3] The pair used a Marshall JCM800 amplifier.[3] The pair used a number of effects pedals and frequently "switch[ed] them out", according to Garcia.[3] One of two specific pedals they used was the Supermoon Reverb, which Garica "absolute love[d]".[3] The other being the Kilobyte, which was used to create a lot of the ambient sounds heard on "One of Them Will Destroy the Other" and "Hollow".[3] Despite this, they wanted to "avoid cluttering the sound" as much as possible.[3]

Lambton recorded his vocals for "One of Them Will Destroy the Other" while Real Friends had an off-day from touring.[12] The initial plan for the song was to have Lambton and Sanders do call and response vocals throughout it.[12] On May 21, it was announced the band had finished recording.[13] All of the songs were mixed by Vince Ratti, except for "Look Up and See Infinity, Look Down and See Nothing", which was mixed by Sapone.[4] Claudius Mittendorfer and Sapone engineered the proceedings, with assistance from Zachary Casper and Bella Blasks.[4] Stephen Marcussen mastered the album.[4]

Release

On July 17, 2015, Black Lines was announced for release, with the track listing and cover art revealed.[14] The artwork was done by Wolfstache with art direction from Florian Mihr.[4] On July 30,[15] "Keep in Mind, Transmogrification Is a New Technology" was made available for streaming.[16] A video for the song features an artist re-creating the album's cover art.[17] A day later, it was released as a single.[18] On August 28, a music video was released for "One of Them Will Destroy the Other",[19] directed by Caleb Mallery.[20] On October 1, "Letting Go" was made available for streaming,[21] and was released as single a day later.[22] Black Lines was released on October 9 through Fearless.[23][nb 1] In October and November, the band is set to headline the 2015 edition of the Alternative Press tour,[17] with support from Real Friends, As It Is, and This Wild Life.[25]

In January and February 2016, the band went on a tour of Europe and the UK,[26] with support from the Maine, Have Mercy and Beautiful Bodies.[27] In March and April, the band went on a co-headlining US tour with the Maine with support from Better Off[28] and the Technicolours. On March 29, a music video was released for "Letting Go". In May, the group performed at Slam Dunk Festival in the UK.[29] Before embarking on the 2016 Warped Tour,[30] a music video was released for "Let's Be Honest" on June 24, directed by Dan Fusselman.[31] In July, the group appeared at the Alternative Press Music Awards.[32]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk8.5/10[33]
Alternative Addiction[8]
Alternative PressFavorable[34]
Contactmusic3.5/5[35]
idobi7/10[36]
theMusic[5]
Ultimate Guitar Archive7.3/10[7]

The album charted at number 21 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart[37] and at number 32 in Australia.[38] Sam Law of Kerrang! wrote the album highlighted the band's "absolute best bits", specifically mentioning "Hollow", "Underneath the Tide" and "All on Me".[39] Law pondered about "hit singles" before concluding the group does not need "them when your record's as good as this throughout."[39] Writing for Rock Sound, Mischa Pearlman wrote the band showed off "their versatility [...] to varying degrees of success."[6] In some songs, such as "One of Them Will Destroy the Other" and "Keep in Mind, Transmogrification Is a New Technology", the group "cruise[d] comfortably [...] in full-on emo-pop mode."[6] In others, namely "Hollow" and "All on Me", the band are "far more interesting and exciting."[6] Overall, Pearlman closed with mention this "all makes for an ultimately uneven and unfocused journey, but one still worth investigating".[6]

Track listing

All songs written by Mayday Parade.[4]

  1. "One of Them Will Destroy the Other" (feat. Dan Lambton) – 3:10
  2. "Just Out of Reach" – 3:43
  3. "Hollow" – 3:12
  4. "Letting Go" – 3:50
  5. "Let's Be Honest" – 3:51
  6. "Keep in Mind, Transmogrification Is a New Technology" – 5:27
  7. "Narrow" – 3:07
  8. "Underneath the Tide" – 2:51
  9. "All on Me" – 4:15
  10. "Until You're Big Enough" – 3:15
  11. "Look Up and See Infinity, Look Down and See Nothing" – 2:51
  12. "One of Us" – 4:27

Personnel

Personnel per back panel.[4]

Charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[40] 32
UK Albums (OCC)[41] 107
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[42] 9
US Billboard 200[37] 21
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[43] 1

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ U.S. Fearless FRL 30217[24]

Citations

  1. ↑ Beringer, Drew (July 29, 2013). "Mayday Parade Announce New Album". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Travers 2016, p. 42
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Sharma, Amit (September 25, 2015). "Mayday Parade's Alex Garcia talks new album Black Lines". MusicRadar. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Black Lines (Back panel). Mayday Parade. Fearless. 2015. FRL30217-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. 1 2 Beresford, Mark (October 12, 2015). "Mayday Parade Black Lines". theMusic. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Pearlman 2015, p. 86
  7. 1 2 UG Team (October 23, 2015). "Black Lines Review | Mayday Parade | Compact Discs | Reviews". Ultimate Guitar Archive. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Album Review of Black Lines by Mayday Parade". Alternative Addiction. Archived from the original on October 15, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  9. ↑ Sayce, Rob (September 2, 2015). "Mayday Parade + Dan From Real Friends = This Song". Rock Sound. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  10. ↑ James (October 2, 2015). "Hear The New Mayday Parade Song, Letting Go". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on October 13, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  11. ↑ Sharp, Tyler (May 21, 2015). "Mayday Parade finish recording new album". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  12. 1 2 Richman, Jesse (October 16, 2015). "Real Friends' Dan Lambton talks Mayday Parade collaboration, AP Tour, more". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on October 17, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  13. ↑ Tate, Jason (May 21, 2015). "Mayday Parade Finish Recording". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  14. ↑ Sharp, Tyler (July 17, 2015). "Mayday Parade announce new album, 'Black Lines'". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on July 19, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  15. ↑ Tate, Jason (July 30, 2015). "Mayday Parade Stream New Song". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  16. ↑ Emily (July 31, 2015). "Mayday Parade Stream New Single, Keep In Mind…". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  17. 1 2 Payne, Chris (July 30, 2015). "Mayday Parade Premieres Awesome First Song Off New Album 'Black Lines': Exclusive". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Keep in Mind, Transmogrificatio... | Mayday Parade". 7digital. Archived from the original on August 30, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  19. ↑ Tate, Jason (August 28, 2015). "Mayday Parade Share "One Of Them Will Destroy The Other" Video". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Mayday Parade | One of Them Will Destroy the Other | Music Video". MTV. September 23, 2015. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  21. ↑ Tate, Jason (October 1, 2015). "Mayday Parade Stream "Letting Go"". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Letting Go (2015) | Mayday Parade". 7digital. Archived from the original on October 15, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  23. ↑ Emily (July 20, 2015). "Mayday Parade To Release New Album, Black Lines". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on July 30, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Black Lines – Mayday Parade | Release Info". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  25. ↑ Paul, Aubin (July 23, 2015). "Tours: Mayday Parade / Real Friends / As It Is / This Wild Life". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  26. ↑ Emily (August 11, 2015). "Mayday Parade Announce Black Lines 2016 Headline Tour". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on December 21, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  27. ↑ Sayce, Rob (October 1, 2015). "Here's A New Mayday Parade Song". Rock Sound. Archived from the original on October 4, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  28. ↑ Sharp, Tyler (December 16, 2015). "Mayday Parade, the Maine announce co-headlining tour". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on December 18, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  29. ↑ AltPress (March 29, 2016). "Mayday Parade release emotional new music video for "Letting Go"". Alternative Press. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  30. ↑ Sharp, Tyler (March 22, 2016). "First 10 bands announced for Warped Tour 2016". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on March 25, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  31. ↑ Ralph, Caitlyn (June 24, 2016). "Mayday Parade release new music video". Alternative Press. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  32. ↑ AltPress (April 27, 2016). "Of Mice & Men, more announced to play 2016 APMAs". Alternative Press. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  33. ↑ Beringer, Drew. "Mayday Parade – Black Lines – Album Review". AbsolutePunk. Archived from the original on March 19, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  34. ↑ Richman, Jesse (December 8, 2015). "Mayday Parade explore grittier sound in new album – Reviews". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on October 15, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  35. ↑ Brannon, Sophie (October 19, 2015). "Mayday Parade | Black Lines Album Review". Contactmusic. Archived from the original on October 21, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  36. ↑ Pierangelo, Hannah (October 14, 2015). "Album Review: Mayday Parade – Black Lines". idobi. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  37. 1 2 "Mayday Parade Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  38. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (October 17, 2015). "ARIA Albums: Boy & Bear 'Limit of Love' Debuts at No 1". Noise11. Archived from the original on October 26, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  39. 1 2 Law 2015, p. 53
  40. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Mayday Parade – Black Lines". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  41. ↑ "Chart Log UK: New Entries Update". Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  42. ↑ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  43. ↑ "Mayday Parade Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 21, 2015.

Sources

  • Law, Sam (October 10, 2015). McMahon, James (ed.). "Reviews". Kerrang!. London: Bauer Media Group (1589). ISSN 0262-6624.
  • Pearlman, Mischa (October 2015). Bird, Ryan (ed.). "Reviews". Rock Sound. London: Freeway Press Inc. (205). ISSN 1465-0185.
  • Travers, Paul (January 9, 2015). McMahon, James (ed.). "Reaching for Greatness". Kerrang!. London: Bauer Media Group (1601). ISSN 0262-6624.
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