''Famous Last Words'' is the second full-length album by Hedley released on October 30, 2007. It debuted at number three on the

Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocea ...

upon release. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the album is known as ''Never Too Late'' and was released on May 12, 2009. The album only includes 8 tracks from the Canadian release and contains 5 tracks from '' Hedley'', which replaced the missing tracks from ''Famous Last Words''. Unlike ''Famous Last Words'', ''Never Too Late'' has a blue background on its album cover, whereas the Canadian release has a red background on its cover.

Background and recording

The group began working on their second studio album in May 2007 with producers

Dave Genn David Robert Madison Genn is a Canadian musician, producer, and songwriter. He is a member of the rock group 54-40, and a former member of the Matthew Good Band. Early life Genn was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on 2 March 1969. He is the ...

and

Greig Nori Greig Andrew Nori (born November 21, 1962) is a producer and musician from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and is well known as the frontman, co-lead vocalist and guitarist of the pop punk band Treble Charger. In the late 1990s, he began working as a ...

. The album was recorded at

Hipposonic Studios Hipposonic Studios is a music recording studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1989 by Robert Darch. The studio houses one mixing, recording and overdubbing room with a Solid State Logic 4000G+ Series. Over the years Hi ...

and

The Warehouse Studio The Warehouse Studio is a multi-media recording facility and photography studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, owned by Bryan Adams. Building Originally built by the Oppenheimer Brothers in June 1886 as Vancouver's first wholesale g ...

in Vancouver, British Columbia and in Rock Beach Recording in White Rock, British Columbia. According to Hoggard the album took a long time to finish.

Singles

The first single from the album, "She's So Sorry", was released to radio on August 21, 2007. The video was shot in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

on August 30 and premiered on

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

on September 20, 2007. The album's second single, " For the Nights I Can't Remember", was released in November 2007. The song peaked at number six on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

. The third single, " Never Too Late", was released in April 2008, and peaked at number four on the Canadian Hot 100. The fourth single from the album, " Old School" was released in August 2008, and peaked at number 10 on the Canadian Hot 100.

Critical reception

''Famous Last Words'' was received with mixed to low reviews. Andrew Leahey of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave the album a 2.5/5 star rating. He said, "''Famous Last Words'' delivers the same kick of Hedley's innumerable pop-punk colleagues, relying on a blend of snot-nosed vocals and guitar muscle that evokes the likes of SR-71 and Hot Topic in the same breath. He ends off stating, "''Famous Last Words'' does sound destined for airplay as a result, proving that

Jacob Hoggard Jacob William Hoggard (born July 9, 1984) is a Canadian convicted sex offender and former singer-songwriter who was the lead singer for the pop-rock band Hedley. Before Hedley was formed, Hoggard competed on the second season of ''Canadian Ido ...

knows how to stay in the spotlight better than he knows how to craft original music. Nick of Tunelab.com gave the album a 5/10 star rating. He stated, "If you are familiar with Hedley’s sound, then their often times hard to take seriously and borderline sugarcoated approach shouldn’t come as a shock." Kaj Roth of

Melodic A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combinat ...

called the tracks " For the Nights I Can't Remember" and "Dying to Live Again" as "modern rock version of

Hanson Hanson or Hansson may refer to: People * Hanson (surname) * Hansson (surname) * Hanson (wrestler), ringname of an American professional wrestler Musical groups * Hanson (band), an American pop rock band * Hanson (UK band), an English rock ...

." Adrian Mack of ''

The Georgia Straight ''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools, ...

'' stated that the group, "abandoned any effort to distinguish itself from the network of tatty Canadiana it finds itself caught up in, settling for an almost mathematically perfect melding of

Treble Charger Treble Charger is a Canadian rock band formed in 1992 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, consisting of vocalist and guitarist Greig Nori, vocalist and guitarist Bill Priddle, bassist Rosie Martin and drummer Richard Mulligan. They began with a melodic ...

and

Sum 41 Sum 41 is a Canadian rock band from Ajax, Ontario. Originally called Kaspir, the band was formed in 1996 and currently consists of Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), Dave Baksh (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jason "Cone" McCas ...

Track listing

Never Too Late (USA Release)

Personnel

Adapted from the ''Famous Last Words'' booklet. ;Hedley *

– Vocals and piano * Tommy Mac – Bass and backing vocals *

Dave Rosin Dave Cameron Rosin (born July 28, 1981) is a Canadian guitarist and singer. Rosin was the lead guitarist of the rock band Hedley. Career Dave Cameron Rosin was part of a band named ''Day Theory'' in 2003. Rosin, Tommy Mac and Chris Crippin were ...

– Guitar and backing vocals *

Chris Crippin Chris Crippin (born August 4, 1974) is a Canadian musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the rock band Hedley. Crippin departed the band in 2017. Outside of Hedley, he was the drum technician on the 2000 album '' Drawing Black Lines ...

– Drums and backing vocals ;Additional musicians * Brian Howes – Guitar solo (on "She's So Sorry") *

– Guitar solo (on "Brave New World") *Ray Garraway – Drums (on "Never Too Late") *Gillian Mott (Violin), Joshua Belvedere (Violin), Bernard Kane (Viola), Alexandra Sia (Cello) – Strings (on "Old School" and "Dying to Live Again") *Sal Ferreres – Percussion *

– Guitars, string arrangements, piano, keyboards, additional production *Ben Kaplan – Additional keyboards *Elaine Shepherd, April White, Carly "Charly" Campbell – Back-up singers ;Production * Mike Fraser – Mixing *Dean Maher – Engineering *

Brian Gardner Brian Knapp Gardner, also known as Brian "Big Bass" Gardner, is an American mastering engineer. He has worked on a number of recordings since the mid-1960s, including classic rock, funk, disco, alternative rock, R&B, hip hop, pop punk and dance- ...

– Mastering (

Bernie Grundman Mastering Bernie Grundman is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chris Bellman, Patricia Sullivan, and Mi ...

;

Los Angeles 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' ...

) *Alex Aligizakis – Additional recording *Dave Ottoson – Pre-Pro recording, mixing *Shawn O'Hara – Assistant engineer (Rock Beach Recording) *Brendon Brown, Brock McFarlane, Chris Michael – Assistant engineers (Hipposonic Studios) *Eric Mosher – Assistant engineer (Warehouse Studios) ;Artwork *Garnet Armstrong – Art direction, design *Matt Barnes – Photography *Simon Paul – Design *Steve McArdle – 3D illustration

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Famous Last Words (Hedley Album) 2007 albums Albums recorded at Hipposonic Studios Albums recorded at The Warehouse Studio Hedley (band) albums Universal Music Canada albums