Go Down In History
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''Go Down in History'' is an EP by American
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Four Year Strong Four Year Strong is an American pop punk band from Worcester, Massachusetts, formed in 2001. The group consists of vocalists and guitarists Dan O'Connor and Alan Day, bassist Joe Weiss, and drummer Jake Massucco. They have released seven studio al ...
. It features the first new material from the band since their 2011 album, '' In Some Way, Shape, or Form''.


Background

Four Year Strong released '' In Some Way, Shape, or Form'' (2011) through Republic Records-imprint
Universal Motown Universal Motown Records was an American record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company tha ...
. With the album, the group attempt to explore territory they thought their fans would enjoy; however, they received a negative reaction to it. Following this, the band were moved to Motown's parent label, away from the staff members that had signed them to the label. They eventually parted ways with the company and spent time with their respective families. Vocalist/guitarist Alan Day started the side project The Here and Now, bassist Joe Weiss operated a woodworking company, and vocalist/guitarist Dan O'Connor worked on his house. They eventually reconvened for a writing session; all of the tracks evolved from jam sessions. They purposely focused on incorporating their live energy into the songs when writing. In March and April 2014, the group supported Bayside on their headlining US tour, dubbed The Great American Cult Tour. Following this stint, the band spent more time writing, before they planned to record anything. O'Connor said they had come up with more guitar riffs than they had for ''
Enemy of the World ''Enemy of the World'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Four Year Strong. It is the final album to feature keyboardist Josh Lyford prior to his departure from the band in April 2011. Release On December 18, 2009, it was announced ...
'' (2010), though he was unsure if their next release was going to be an album or EP.


Production and composition

''Go Down in History'' was recorded at The Machine Shop in New Jersey with producer Machine. He engineered the sessions with Andy Gomoll and Alberto De Icaza; the latter pair also handled editing. They were assisted by Johnny Rieg throughout the sessions. Machine mixed the recordings with assistance from Icaza; mixing and mastered was also done at The Machine Shop. ''Go Down in History'' saw the group move away from the
arena rock Arena rock (also known as AOR, melodic rock, stadium rock, anthem rock, pomp rock, corporate rock and dad rock; ; ) is a style of rock music that originated in the mid-1970s. As hard rock bands and those playing a softer yet strident kind of po ...
experimentation of ''In Some Way, Shape, or Form'', and back to the sound of their ''
Rise or Die Trying ''Rise or Die Trying'' is the second studio album from American rock band Four Year Strong. The name "Rise or Die Trying" comes from a lyric to "Go Long Dad", a song from their first album, ''It's Our Time''. Background and production The group re ...
'' (2007) and ''
Enemy of the World ''Enemy of the World'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Four Year Strong. It is the final album to feature keyboardist Josh Lyford prior to his departure from the band in April 2011. Release On December 18, 2009, it was announced ...
'' (2010) albums: riff-centric
pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti- suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other p ...
with
call-and-response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...
vocals from Day and O'Connor. The EP featured the band playing at "turbocharged" tempos, with "intricate" guitar riffs; '' Revolver'' said the songs acted as a bridge between pop punk and
melodic hardcore Melodic hardcore is a broadly defined subgenre of hardcore punk with a strong emphasis on melody in its guitar work. It generally incorporates fast rhythms, melodic and often distorted guitar riffs, and vocal styles tending towards shouting and ...
. "What's in the Box?" was the most reminiscent of the ''Rise or Die Trying'' era. The title-track incorporated
gang vocals Screaming is an extended vocal technique that is popular in "aggressive" music genres such as heavy metal, punk rock, and noise music and others. It is common in the more extreme subgenres of heavy metal, such as death and black metal as w ...
that recalled the closings tracks of both ''Rise or Die Trying'' and ''Enemy of the World''. "So You're Saying There's a Chance" builds to a hook through a variety of
time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note va ...
changes. Its title is a reference to the film ''
Dumb and Dumber ''Dumb and Dumber'' is a 1994 American buddy comedy film directed by Peter Farrelly, who cowrote the screenplay with Bobby Farrelly and Bennett Yellin. It is the first installment in the ''Dumb and Dumber'' franchise. Starring Jim Carrey a ...
'' (1994).


Release and reception


Promotion and touring

On May 23, 2014 the band announced they had signed to
Pure Noise Records Pure Noise Records is an American punk rock record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded by Jake Round in 2009 while he was an editor at '' AMP''; the previous fall, friends of his in the band No Bragging Rights told him they were ...
. Though the band had talked to various labels, they met Pure Noise founder Jake Round through mutual friends. After hearing all of the positive things about Round and his label, the group signed with him. Four days later, ''Go Down in History'' was announced for release in July. Alongside this, the EP's artwork and track listing was revealed. On June 5, "Tread Lightly" was made available for streaming. Between June and August, the band performed on the 2014
Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touri ...
. On July 11, "Living Proof of a Stubborn Youth" premiered through '' AbsolutePunk''. On July 18, a music video for "Go Down in History", filmed on the Warped Tour, premiered through ''
Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...
'' website. ''Go Down in History'' was released on July 22. In November, the group embarked on a headlining US tour, with support from
Transit Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world * ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...
, Such Gold and Seaway. In January 2015, they went on another US headlining tour, this time with support from Comeback Kid,
Expire Expire was an American hardcore punk band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, active from 2009 to 2017. They were signed to Bridge 9 Records. History Expire was formed in 2009. They released three full-length albums, three EPs and one spl ...
,
Handguns A handgun is a short- barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced ...
and Heart to Heart.


Critical response

''Go Down in History'' received generally positive reviews from music critics, according to review aggregator
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
. The release marks a return to form for the band and reverts to their
pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti- suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other p ...
/
melodic hardcore Melodic hardcore is a broadly defined subgenre of hardcore punk with a strong emphasis on melody in its guitar work. It generally incorporates fast rhythms, melodic and often distorted guitar riffs, and vocal styles tending towards shouting and ...
roots for the first time since their 2010 release ''
Enemy of the World ''Enemy of the World'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Four Year Strong. It is the final album to feature keyboardist Josh Lyford prior to his departure from the band in April 2011. Release On December 18, 2009, it was announced ...
'', the only difference being the lack of keyboards. The EP was included at number 34 on ''
Rock Sound ''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more " underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, ...
''s "Top 50 Albums of the Year" list.Bird, ed. 2015, p. 24


Track listing

Track listing per booklet:


Personnel

Personnel per booklet. ;Four Year Strong * Alan Day – lead vocals, guitar * Dan O'Connor – lead vocals, guitar * Joe Weiss – bass guitar, * Jake Massucco – drums ;Production * Machine – producer, mixing, engineer * Andy Gomoll – engineer, editing * Alberto De Icaza – editing, engineer, mix assistant * Johnny Rieg – assistant * Sam Kaufman – design


References

; Citations ;Sources *


External links


''Go Down in History''
at
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(streamed copy where licensed) {{Four Year Strong 2014 EPs Four Year Strong albums Pure Noise Records EPs Albums produced by Machine (producer)