The Best in Town

The Best in Town is the second album to by Welsh post-hardcore band The Blackout.

The Best in Town
Studio album by
The Blackout
Released25 May 2009
StudioSonic Ranch
GenrePost-hardcore, hard rock[1]
Length34:18
LabelEpitaph
ProducerJason Perry
The Blackout chronology
We Are the Dynamite
(2007)		 The Best in Town
(2009)		 Hope
(2011)
Singles from The Best in Town
  1. "Shut-the-Fuck-Uppercut"
    Released: 30 March 2009
  2. "Children of the Night"
    Released: 18 May 2009
  3. "Save Our Selves (The Warning)"
    Released: 3 August 2009
  4. "I Don't Care (This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things)"
    Released: 16 November 2009
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic54/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [3]
DIY8/10[4]
Kerrang![5]
Rock Sound[6]
Planet Loud [1]
Rock Hard7/10[7]

Background

In August 2008, vocalist Sean Smith said the band had written six new songs, and were aiming to record a new album later in the year. They were in the process of discussing with a few labels.[8] Following this, the group went on a UK tour in September and October,[9] with a handful of Christmas shows in December.[10] They recorded at Sonic Ranch Studios in Alameda, Texas with producer Jason Perry; he and Mike Morgan served as engineers. John Mitchell mixed the album at Outhouse Studios in Reading, UK. Tom Baker mastered the album at Precisions Masters in Los Angeles, California.[11]

Composition

The title for the song "I Love Myself And I Wanna Live" is a play on the title of the Nirvana song "I Hate Myself and Want to Die". The song "Save Our Selves" came about the Blackout had an untitled song for the untitled new album in 2008. They were not happy with the way it sounded, but Producer Jason Perry thought it resembled a song of his own, which he had written with friend and former bandmate Dan P Carter, and was initially given to the band "Area" that they were both working with, it was titled "Robot". Both song ideas were put together to produce "Save Our Selves (The Warning)", which ended up being the band's most commercial single from the album.

Release

On 24 February 2009, it was announced that the band had signed to independent label Epitaph Records.[12] "ShutTheFuckUppercut" was first played on BBC Radio 1, where it was announced it would be released as a free download in April. This free download was actually offered for less than a week from 26 March but was released as a digital single from 30 March. "Children of the Night" was the album's lead single, and was played for the first time on Radio 1 on 13 April 2009. The music video was released on Wednesday 15 April on MTV's website. The studio recording features vocals from the Year 6 class of Herolgerrig Primary School, Merthyr Tydfil, where the band is from.[13] In late April, the group performed at Give it a Name festival.[14] In May, the group went on a headlining UK tour.[15] The Best in Town was released on 25 May in Europe and 23 June in the US.[16] The track listing for the entire album was released by the band via their Myspace blog.[17]

On 27 May, a music video was released for "Children of the Night".[18] Following this, the band headlined the Slam Dunk Festival,[19] and appeared at the Download Festival.[20] The band performed on the Kevin Says stage at Warped Tour,[21] before headlining the Festival Republic Stage at the Reading and Leeds Festivals.[22] The video for "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things (I Don't Care)" was recorded at the Islington O2 Academy on 5 September.[23] The video features Josh Franceschi of You Me at Six, as well as members of Kids in Glass Houses and Young Guns.[24] The video was posted online on 16 November.[25] In January and February 2010, the band supported All Time Low[26] on the Kerrang! tour.[27] They played at Download Festival in June,[28] before headlining the Rock Sound Cave stage at GuilFest in July.[29] In December, the band supported You Me at Six on their headlining UK tour.[30]

"Save Ourselves (The Warning)" was nominated at the Kerrang! Awards for Best Single, but lost to "Liquid Confidence" by You Me at Six.[31] In January 2014, the group performed the album in its entirety for a one-off performance.[32]

Track listing

Track listing per sleeve.[11]

  1. "Shut-the-Fuck-Uppercut" - 3:14
  2. "Save Our Selves (The Warning)" - 3:35
  3. "Top of the World" - 3:28
  4. "The Fire" - 3:31
  5. "Children of the Night" - 2:57
  6. "Said and Done" - 3:22
  7. "Silent When We Speak" - 4:13
  8. "I Love Myself and I Wanna Live" - 3:14
  9. "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" (featuring Josh Franceschi of You Me at Six) - 3:33
  10. "We're Going to Hell... So Bring the Sunblock" - 3:10

Personnel

Personnel per booklet.[11]

References
  1. Graham Finney (2009-05-25). "Planet loud.com The Best In Town: Record Review". Planet Loud. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  2. http://www.metacritic.com/music/the-best-in-town/the-blackout
  3. Tim Sendra (2009-06-09). "The Best In Town > Overview". allmusic. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  4. http://diymag.com/archive/the-blackout-the-best-in-town
  5. Correction Archived 2009-05-23 at the Wayback Machine - kerrang.com
  6. Kearns, Emily (June 2009). "The Blackout – The Best in Town." Rock Sound (123): 91.
  7. Pfeifle, Katharina (17 June 2009). "The Blackout – The Best in Town". Rock Hard (in German). Archived from the original on 9 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  8. Rock Sound (4 August 2008). "The Blackout Writing New Jams". Rock Sound. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  9. Rock Sound (18 September 2008). "The Blackout Upgrade And Add Dates". Rock Sound. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  10. Rock Sound (26 October 2008). "The Blackout Announce Xmas Tour". Rock Sound. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  11. The Best in Town (sleeve). The Blackout. Epitaph Records. 2009. 7024-2.CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. "Epitaph signs the Blackout". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. 24 February 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  13. "News - South Wales Valleys - Merthyr - Blackout's deal of a lifetime". WalesOnline. 2009-03-05. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  14. Dan (5 February 2009). "Give It A Name 2009 line-up in full". Kerrang!. Bauer Media Group. Archived from the original on 12 April 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  15. Rock Sound (27 March 2009). "The Blackout Announce Full UK Tour". Rock Sound. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  16. The Blackout Sign to Epitaph Records Worldwide - epitaph.com
  17. "THE BEST IN TOWN... van THE BLACKOUT op Myspace". Blogs.myspace.com. 2009-02-12. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  18. Rock Sound (27 May 2009). "The Blackout - Children Of The Night". Rock Sound. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  19. Rock Sound (13 March 2009). "You Me At Six To Headline Slam Dunk 2009 - News". Rock Sound. Patrick Napier. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  20. Rock Sound (27 February 2009). "Five More For Download". Rock Sound. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  21. "Final bands revealed for Warped Tour's Kevin Says Stage". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  22. Rock Sound (9 June 2009). "Festival Republic Stage For Reading And Leeds". Rock Sound. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  23. Rock Sound (3 September 2009). "The Blackout Shooting New Video This Saturday". Rock Sound. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  24. RRW (2009-09-09). "EBTM: The Blackout - New Video Shoot". Ebtmactive.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  25. Rock Sound (16 November 2009). "The Blackout - I Don't Care". Rock Sound. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  26. Rock Sound (7 October 2009). "All Time Low Plot New UK Tour - News". Rock Sound. Patrick Napier. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  27. Paul, Aubin (14 December 2009). "All Time Low / The Blackout / Young Guns / My Passion". Punknews.org. Aubin Paul. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  28. Rock Sound (12 June 2010). "Download 2010: The Blackout Give Score Prediction Ahead Of England Match Tonight". Rock Sound. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  29. Rock Sound (12 April 2010). "The Blackout Headline The Rock Sound Cave At Guilfest". Rock Sound. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  30. "NEWS: Canterbury to release single 'Calm Down' on October 25th!". Dead Press!. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  31. Dan (29 July 2010). "And the winners are..." Kerrang!. Bauer Media Group. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  32. Rock Sound (2 December 2013). "The Blackout Announce 'The Best In Town' Show". Rock Sound. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
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