Against Me! as the Eternal Cowboy

Against Me! announced plans to record the album in July 2003, stating that they would work with producer Rob McGregor, who had recorded their first album and two previous EPs, and that the album would be released November 4.[1] The band planned to record at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, where they could make an all-analog recording with very few overdubs.[2] In order to ensure that McGregor would be familiar with the new songs by the time they went to Memphis, the band recorded demos for the entire album at his Goldentone Studios in their hometown of Gainesville, Florida on July 15 in the span of a few hours.[2] The rest of the album was recorded that August at Ardent.[3] The version of "Cavalier Eternal" from the July 15 Goldentone session was used on the album, as Fat Wreck Chords head Fat Mike preferred it to the version recorded at Ardent.[3][4] The entire Goldentone demo session was released in 2009 by Fat Wreck Chords as The Original Cowboy.

Against Me! as the Eternal Cowboy was mixed and engineered by Pete Matthews and assistant engineer Adam Hill, and was mastered by Brad Blackwood at Euphonic Masters. Singer/guitarist Laura Jane Grace designed the album's artwork and layout, using photographs taken by Bryan K. Wynacht.[3]

The album's title and track listing were announced in September 2003, followed by news that the band's previous label No Idea Records would release the singles for "Cavalier Eternal" and "Sink, Florida, Sink", using alternate versions of the songs from the recording sessions, including the version of "Cavalier Eternal" recorded at Ardent.[5][6]

Grace described the record in 2003 as a concept album "that explores love and war", explaining an ambiguity with regards to the album's title's reference to its songs: an Eternal Cowboy can be "symbolic of the power structure" or of "someone forever wandering, lost and alone".[7]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
Sputnikmusic	(4/5)[9]

Critic Charles Spano of Allmusic gave Against Me! as the Eternal Cowboy four stars out of five, remarking that "The Gainesville, FL, outfit may have embraced a slightly slicker production than with its fan favorite, Reinventing Axl Rose, but no matter how you stack it, As the Eternal Cowboy is an accomplished record of country-folk-punk that would only qualify as over-polished by the most hard-lined, anti-bar code punk kids' criteria."[8] He also called it "one of the few early-2000s punk albums that transcends its genre and has the rock & roll clout to storm the mainstream."[8] Nick Greer of Sputnikmusic also scored the album four out of five, noting that "This CD is the first in their discography to include a more rock feel to the music. The drumming is slower, the background vocals less prominent, the singing less gruff and less like screaming. Some songs are riff-based instead of chord progression-based, which utterly betrays punk and folk alike for rock and roll. This change, an obvious turnoff for original fans, isn't terrible."[9]

All lyrics are written by Laura Jane Grace; all music is composed by Grace, James Bowman, Andrew Seward, and Warren Oakes.

Band

• Laura Jane Grace – guitar, lead vocals, art concepts and layout
• James Bowman – guitar, backing vocals
• Andrew Seward – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Warren Oakes – drums

Production

• Rob McGregor – producer
• Pete Matthews – mixing engineer, engineer
• Adam Hill – assistant engineer
• Brad Blackwood – mastering
• Bryan K. Wynacht – photography

The Original Cowboy
Demo album by Against Me!
Released	July 7, 2009
Recorded	July 15, 2003 at Goldentone Studios in Gainesville, Florida
Genre	Punk rock
Length	22:11
Label	Fat Wreck Chords
Producer	Rob McGregor
Against Me! chronology
New Wave (2007) The Original Cowboy (2009) White Crosses (2010)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]

On July 7, 2009 Fat Wreck Chords released the entire July 15, 2003 demo session for Against Me! as the Eternal Cowboy under the title The Original Cowboy.[2] The recordings were mastered in 2009 by Emily Lazar and Joe LaPorta at The Lodge.[12] Reflecting on the session, Grace remarked that "The Original Cowboy was only meant to be a trial run, but, listening to it today, there's a part of me that feels foolish for ever recording these songs a second time."[2] The label posted an MP3 of the demo version of "Unsubstantiated Rumors (Are Good Enough for Me to Base My Life On)" for free download prior to the album's release.[13]

• Against Me! as the Eternal Cowboy at Fat Wreck Chords
• The Original Cowboy at Fat Wreck Chords