''Hell Is What You Make It'' is the third studio album by

electronic rock Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s, when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrum ...

duo

Breathe Carolina Breathe Carolina are an American electronic music duo from Denver, Colorado, currently composed of David Schmitt and Tommy Cooperman. The band formed in 2007 and have released five albums, and nine EPs. Their latest studio album, '' Dead: The A ...

. It was released on July 12, 2011 through Fearless Records. Recording for the album took place in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

between 2010-2011 whilst

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

was handled by

Ian Kirkpatrick Ian Andrew Kirkpatrick (born 24 May 1946) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. Described as "supremely athletic, fast, fearless and with an uncanny sense of anticipation", Kirkpatrick is widely regarded as one of the greatest flankers t ...

. Musically, the album is mainly rooted in dance, pop,

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

and post-hardcore genres but also uses elements of

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

and

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who commended its " catchiness" and "radio-friendly" songs. It debuted at number 42 on the '' Billboard''

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, as well as the top 10 of the Dance/Electronic, Rock, Alternative and Independent Albums charts. Promotion of the album was primarily through live concerts and television performances, such as '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' and ''

The Daily Habit ''The Daily Habit'' is a sports telecast airing on Fuel TV hosted by Pat Parnell. The show features personalities in the world of extreme sports, including surfboarding, skateboarding, snowboarding, as well as other personalities from entertain ...

''. Its

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

, " Blackout", has since become a commercial success, peaking within the charts 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 Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

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 territori ...

, while being certified

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling more than 1 million copies. A deluxe edition titled ''Hell Is What You Make It: RELOADED'' was scheduled to be released on July 10, 2012, including two new original tracks, one remix, and a new version of "Last Night (Vegas)". It is their final release with founding member Kyle Even.

Background and recording

On December 22, 2010, Fearless Records posted a video featuring a 30-second preview of the track "Blackout". Recording took place in Los Angeles, California in early 2011. It is the first album in which Breathe Carolina recorded as a full band. It was officially announced on April 28, 2011 when the band launched a website to promote the album. The website contained a video featuring a forty-second preview of the track "Wooly" whilst displaying the album's title and release date in flash animation. On May 15, 2011, a demo of the track "Sweat It Out" was temporarily posted on YouTube before being shortly taken down. On May 19, the promotional website was updated, containing the album's cover art and track listing.

Release and promotion

The album was released on July 12, 2011 through Fearless Records. The duo participated in the 2011 Scream It Like You Mean It Tour to promote the album. The group embarked on a co-headlining tour called the Blackout Forever Tour in 2012 with

the Ready Set Jordan Mark Witzigreuter (born November 14, 1989), known professionally as The Ready Set, is an American singer-songwriter from Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. He is the lead vocalist and sole member of the act, using a backup band while on ...

. Prior to the album's release, "Wooly" and "Sweat It Out" were available for streaming on the duo's official social networking sites.

Singles

The album's lead single, " Blackout", was available for streaming via MTV Buzzworthy on June 13, 2011, and was released for digital download the following day. It has since become the duo's most commercially successful single to date, charting within

, the

and

, while also being certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling more than 500,000 copies. It has also received generally favorable reviews from music critics, with ''

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 ...

'' calling it an "irresistible synth-pop song". A lyric video was uploaded onto the duo's official YouTube account on June 24. An accompanying music video was released onto the duo's official

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

page on YouTube on September 20, and has since garnered more than 1 million views. The video features shots of the duo partying and getting into trouble, as well as performing the song at a live event. It was shot during summer 2011 in

, California. The duo also performed the song live on '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' in their first televised performance ever. An

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

titled ''Blackout: The Remixes EP'' was released on September 27 via iTunes. "

Hit and Run In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions. Additional obligation In many jurisdictions, there may be a ...

" exclusively premiered via ''

'' on May 21, 2012, while being available for digital download the following day. It is featured on the

deluxe edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...

of the album.

Critical reception

The album has received generally positive reviews from music critics. Tim Sendra 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 databa ...

'' gave a positive review, scoring the album 3 and a half stars out of 5, saying, "Hell Is What You Make It finds the duo of Kyle Even and David Schmitt refining their amalgamation of sounds into something both slicker and more powerful than past efforts". The album's singles, "Blackout", "Last Night (Vegas)", and "Take It Back" were indicated as the AMG Track Picks. ''

'' also gave a positive review, scoring the album 3 and a half stars out of 5, saying, "The band—and producer

—bring a lot of dishes to this sonic buffet—and most of them are to be consumed on the dancefloor". While praising "Blackout", an "irresistible synth-pop song", "Wooly", the opening track "where house-techno sequencers and melodic vocals parry with screamo-metal breakdowns and growling", and "Waiting", "the head-nod initiator" that "would sound sweet bumping at a hipster club at 4 a.m," they criticized the tracks "Last Night (Vegas)", "Take It Back", and "Chemicals", calling them a "smack of blatant careerism". Jon Caramanica of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called the album, "one of the year's best pure pop albums." He stated, "Rivulets of teen pop, pop-punk, screamo and club music all feed these songs, which are propulsive and cheerful even when the subject matter is grim."

Commercial performance

It debuted and peaked at number 42 on the ''Billboard''

, only one number higher than their previous album, '' Hello Fascination''. It also charted within the ''Billboard'' Rock, Alternative, Dance and Independent Album Charts. As of March 2014, the album has sold 64,000 copies in the United States.

Track listing

All songs produced by

except "Chemicals", produced by

Matt Squire Matt Squire (born May 7, 1976) is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixing engineer, and songwriter. His production, songwriting, and mixing credits include Underoath, Panic! at the Disco, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Kes ...

Personnel

;Breathe Carolina *Kyle Even –

unclean vocals A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for the ...

, clean vocals *David Schmitt – clean vocals, keyboards, guitars, bass, drums ;Additional musicians *Eric Armenta – drums, percussion *Joshua Aragon – keyboards, guitars, background vocals *Luis Bonet – keyboards ;Production *

–

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

, mixing *

– programming, production, engineering, mixing *Carlos De Garza – drum engineering *Sol Amstutz – artwork *Shervon Esfahani – A&R *Chris Foitle – A&R

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2011 albums Breathe Carolina albums Fearless Records albums Albums produced by Matt Squire