''Icon for Hire'' is the second studio album 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

Icon for Hire Icon for Hire is an American rock band from Decatur, Illinois. Formed in 2007, the band's current lineup consists of singer Ariel Bloomer and lead guitarist Shawn Jump. They released two EPs independently before signing to Tooth & Nail Records ...

, released on October 15, 2013, through

Tooth & Nail Records Tooth & Nail Records is a Christian rock record label founded by Brandon Ebel in California in November 1993. The label later moved to Seattle, Washington where it is situated today. It is home to many well-known musical acts, including Underoat ...

. It was recorded with

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Mike Green ( All Time Low, Pierce the Veil) at

NRG Recording Studios NRG Recording Studios is a recording facility located in North Hollywood, California, that was created by producer and mixer Jay Baumgardner in 1992. Facilities The facility consists of three studio consoles: *Studio A console: custom vintage N ...

in North Hollywood,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It is a musical departure from the band's debut album '' Scripted'' (2011), incorporating elements of hip hop,

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

, dubstep, and

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

into the band's previously established

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

style. The tracks "Cynics & Critics", "Sugar & Spice", "Counting on Hearts" and "Sorry About Your Parents" were released as

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

. Upon release, the album received largely positive reviews and debuted at No. 66 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Release and promotion

The album was officially announced with a lyric video for first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

"Cynics & Critics", released on August 15, 2013.

Preorder In mathematics, especially in order theory, a preorder or quasiorder is a binary relation that is reflexive and transitive. Preorders are more general than equivalence relations and (non-strict) partial orders, both of which are special c ...

s for the album were made available the following month. A short clip of the song "Sugar & Spice" was released on October 3, 2013. Tooth & Nail announced they would be releasing another single, "Counting on Hearts". The final single was announced on September 8, 2014. The song was revealed to be "Sorry About Your Parents".

Critical reception

''Icon for Hire'' received mostly positive critical reception. William James of ''

Outburn ''Outburn'' is a print magazine and online publication focusing on alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock, indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zeala ...

'' said that the band "courageously bucks the standard female fronted act comparisons" with the release, and noted how the group "wisely self-titled this record, confidently assuring listeners that this is their definitive work." At ''

CCM Magazine ''CCM Magazine'' is a twice-monthly online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music, published by Salem Publishing, a division of Salem Communications. History ''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has bee ...

'', Matt Conner felt that the band was "clearly up to the challenge" with the album that proves "the best is yet to come from Tooth & Nail's young anchors." Mary Nikkel of New Release Tuesday described the album as an "edgy masterpiece in the tradition of

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...

," praising the lyrics for their "delicate balance between honesty...and hope," and declaring the album "a milestone moment, both for the band and for their genre as a whole."

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 ...

's Matt Collar praised the band's "passionate, high-energy music" and Ariel's "resonant vocal chops". Micah Garnett of Christian Music Zine stated "this album takes the best features from Scripted and improves upon them substantially." He concludes his review by saying "this is one of the best rock albums of the year." Kelcey Wixtrom of CM Addict called it "an impressive album." From Mind Equals Blown's Jeremy Vane-Tempest: "If you want a tonne of fun ... listen to Icon for Hire." By contrast, Jesus Freak Hideout's Michael Weaver declared that the album "finds the band trying too hard: Trying too hard to be different, trying too hard to be hip, and trying too hard to be cute and interesting lyrically," and labeled it "the very definition of sophomore slump." Second Opinion reviewer Cortney Warner further noted that the lyrics "can come across as snarky and defensive, which can sometimes make it difficult to appreciate and empathize with their music," and felt it to be a "step backwards from their debut", despite praising the "diverse" music as a highlight of the album.

Commercial performance

For the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' charting week of November 2, 2013, ''Icon for Hire'' was the No. 66 most sold album in the entirety of the United States by the ''Billboard'' 200, and it was the No. 4 Top Christian Album sold the same week. On the other charts, it was the No. 20 most sold album on Top Rock Albums chart, the No. 16 Top Alternative Albums, the No. 8

Top Hard 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 ...

, and it came in at No. 11 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.

Track listing

Personnel

Icon for Hire * Ariel – lead vocals,

keys Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

* Shawn Jump – guitar, bass, background vocals, programming, sampling, synthesizer * Josh Kincheloe – bass * Adam Kronshagen – drums Additional personnel * Mike Green – producer,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, 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 rang ...

, mixing, programming, synthesizer * Jeff Sontag – assistant engineer * Kyle Black – assistant engineer * Troy Glessner –

mastering engineer A mastering engineer is a person skilled in the practice of taking audio (typically musical content) that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distr ...

* Piper Ferguson – photography * Patrice Murciano –

artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

, portraits * Seth Lunsford – art design, package layout

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2013 albums Tooth & Nail Records albums Icon for Hire albums