''Issues'' (written as "•issues•" on the album's cover) is the debut studio album by American

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

band Issues. Released on February 18, 2014 on Rise Records, the album debuted at number 9 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling over 22,000 copies in its first week. The album was produced by

Kris Crummett Kris Crummett is an American record producer and owner of the Interlace Audio in Portland, Oregon. Crummett started recording in 2002. He has worked with many notable indie music record labels, including Rise Records, Epitaph Records, Fearless Re ...

, Matt Malpass, and the group's keyboardist and disc jockey Tyler "Scout" Acord.

Background and recording

The album's initial release was originally in November 2013, however had been pushed back to February 2014. It is the band's first release with current drummer Josh Manuel after Case Snedecor's departure in early 2013. The band released a teaser for the track, "Stingray Affliction" on November 19, 2013. The official track listing was released on December 7, 2013. The album's first single, "Stingray Affliction" was released on December 18, 2013, along with the album's artwork. The album was released as a

music download A music download (commonly referred to as a digital download) is the digital transfer of music via the Internet into a device capable of decoding and playing it, such as a personal computer, portable media player, MP3 player or smartphone. Thi ...

, CD and as an LP through Rise Records. On November 18, 2014 the deluxe edition was released, featuring the Diamond Dreams.

Critical reception

At ''

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 ...

'', Brian Kraus rated the album four stars out of five stars as he praised the album's DJ-based breakdowns and called the album a mixture of

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 ...

with elements of

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...

. Gregory Heaney 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 considerably lower score as he criticized the album's sound as the two genres (being metalcore and

mainstream pop Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

) saying, "can be a little hard to wrap your head around" and called it a new variant of the old nu metal genre. However, he praised its efforts on some tracks.

Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...

's Robert Lowe expressed negativity against the album, giving it the lowest rating. He criticized the album's use of throwing in random genres with metalcore, including R&B, hip hop and nu metal and stated this failed miserably, calling it a mixture of

Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American rap rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers. The band's music is marked by D ...

and

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

elements, and even went as far as to say, "it could be the worst album ever." The album was included at number 16 on ''Rock Sound''s "Top 50 Albums of the Year" list. The album was included at number 43 on ''Kerrang!''s "The Top 50 Rock Albums Of 2014" list.

Track listing

Personnel

;Issues * Tyler Carter – clean vocals, additional unclean vocals on "Life of a Nine", "The Langdon House" and "Disappear (Remember When)" * Michael Bohn –

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 their ...

* AJ Rebollo – guitars * Tyler "Scout" Acord –

turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

s, keyboards, synthesizers, programming * Josh Manuel – drums, percussion * Skyler Acord – bass ;Additional artists *Heather Acord –

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

*Jimmie Herrod – choir *Sonya Kaye – choir *Veronica Moss – choir *

Nylo Andrea Landis, commonly known by her stage name Nylo, is an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer from Chicago, Illinois. Life and career Landis was born and raised in Chicago. She began singing after being influenced by the ...

– vocals on track 10 ;Artwork *Peter Schreve –

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 ...

, design *Caitlin Brookins – photography ;Production *Issues – composer *

– executive producer, 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 ...

, mixing, mastering *Matt Malpass – executive producer, producer *Nylo –

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 ...

References

; Citations ;Sources *

External links

''Issues''
at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed) {{Authority control 2014 debut albums Issues (band) albums Rise Records albums Albums produced by Kris Crummett