''A Poet's Life'' is the debut solo studio album by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

musician

Tim Armstrong Timothy Ross Armstrong (born November 25, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and producer. Known for his distinctive voice, he is the singer/guitarist for the punk rock band Rancid and hip hop/punk rock supergroup Transplants. ...

. It was recorded with

The Aggrolites The Aggrolites are an American reggae band from Los Angeles, California, United States, which formed in 2002. Overview The Aggrolites are an amalgamation of two previous Los Angeles reggae and ska bands, the Vessels and the Rhythm Doctors. ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and released on May 22, 2007 via

Hellcat Records Hellcat Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. The label, an offshoot of Epitaph Records, was started as a partnership between Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion, the owner of Epitaph, and Tim Armstrong of Rancid ...

. The album was initially released for free as downloads on the internet. Later it was announced that it would be a physical product as well. The album comes with a DVD featuring a video for every song on the album.

History

On August 29, 2006, Armstrong sent out a bulletin over MySpace, the text of which later appeared on

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and emo bands ...

' site (Hellcat Records is a subsidiary of Epitaph) that explained his decision to release a solo LP. Unlike most albums, Armstrong said that it would be free and downloadable over the internet, with one song being released at a time. That same day, the first track, "Hold On", appeared as an MP3 and

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

on Epitaph's site. Almost two months later, on October 11, 2006, the second track, "Wake Up", was released in the same manner. No more tracks have been released in this manner, but in March 2007, "Into Action" was played on

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The stat ...

. At some point, Epitaph's site listed a release date of February 6, 2007 but it was later changed to June 7. When KROQ started playing the single ''Into Action'' the release date was pushed up to May 22. Despite little promotion ''Into Action'' peaked on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks at number 39 and stayed on the chart for 2 weeks. In Epitaph's last newsletter, it was said that they will be releasing the last eight tracks of the album (including the video to the track) in the coming weeks before it is released. However, they also mentioned that, they won't be telling listeners where. Those wishing to download the album have to find the songs on various websites.

Chart performance

''A Poet's Life'' peaked at number 59 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, number 18 on the

Top Rock Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

chart, number 2 on the

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' maga ...

chart, number 7 on the

Tastemakers The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart, and number 196 on the Top 200 Albums chart in France. Its lead single, "Into Action", peaked at number 39 on the

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart.

Track listing

Notes * Song "The Dark" was once listed to be on the album, but were removed or renamed for the final release * Song "Translator" was previously titled "Girl, I Only Want What's Best For You", but was renamed for the final release * Song "Lady Demeter" was previously titled "Burning Angel", but was renamed for the final release

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, mixing, producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, artwork,

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

, video director,

video editor A video editor is involved in video production and the post-production of film making. The video editor's responsibilities involve decisions about the selection and combining of shots into sequences, as well as the addition of accompanying sou ...

*Jesse Wagner – guitar,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

*Brian Dixon – guitar, engineer *Jason A. Bonner –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

*Roger Rivas –

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

*Korey Horn –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Scott Abels – drums *Saliva Cano –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

*Ritchie Stites – backing vocals (track 2, 6) *

Skye Sweetnam Skye Alexandra Sweetnam (born May 5, 1988) is a Canadian singer, actress, and music video director. She first entered the music industry in 2003 with the release of her debut single " Billy S." More than a year later, her debut studio album, ''N ...

– backing vocals (track 3) *

Daphna Dove Daphna Dove (born 14 July 1975 in Hamburg, Germany) is an American musician. She is best known for her appearance on the TV Show Rock Star: INXS. Early life Daphna was born in Germany in 1975 and raised in New York City, to which she moved at ag ...

– backing vocals (track 10) *John Morrical – additional guitar (tracks: 2, 4), piano (track 3),

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

(track 8), mixing, engineer, producer *Belinda "Bibi" McGill – additional guitar (track 5, 6, 10) *Hunter Perrin – additional guitar (track 4) *Jubal Jones –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

(track 1, 3, 4, 9) *Ethan Avineri –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

(tracks: 1, 3, 4, 9) *Tom Cook –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

(tracksL 1, 4, 9) *DJ Odie – scratches (track 6) *Gene Grimaldi – mastering *Rachel Tejada – artwork, photography, video editor, video director, dvd producer *Shaun Otsuka – assistant video editor/film technician *Steven S. Friedman – assistant video editor/film technician *Matt Ferguson – film technician *Kali Niemann – film technician *Nazeli Kodjoian – film technician *Mando Gonzalez – additional cameraman (DVD tracks: 3, 4, 7, 9) *Cameron "The Lens" Glendenning – additional cameraman (DVD track 2) *Tom D. Klime – layout *Chris Lasalle – A&R *Abe Baruck – management *Camden Lock – wardrobe *Chelsea Rebelle – wardrobe

Charts

References

External links

Epitaph Page for A Poet's Life
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poets Life 2007 debut albums Tim Armstrong albums Hellcat Records albums Albums free for download by copyright owner