''Paper Walls'' is the sixth studio album by American
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 pu ...
band
Yellowcard
Yellowcard is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1997 and was based in Los Angeles beginning in 2000. The band is recognized for having a distinct sound in their genre, primarily due to the prominent use o ...
, released on July 17, 2007. This is also the first Yellowcard album with Ryan Mendez, their last with
Peter Mosely
Peter Michael Mosely (born June 6, 1980) is an American rock musician. He is one of the two guitarists and vocalists and the pianist for the American punk rock band Inspection 12, as well as the former bassist for the American pop punk band Yell ...
, and their last studio album to be released through
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
. The album was recorded at Ocean Studios in
Burbank,
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 ...
and was mixed at South Beach Studios in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
.
Background and production
Prior to the release of ''
Lights and Sounds
''Lights and Sounds'' is the fifth studio album by American Rock music, rock band Yellowcard, released on January 24, 2006, in the United States through Capitol Records. ''Lights and Sounds'' is Yellowcard's first concept album, which was inspire ...
'' (2006), it was announced that guitarist Ben Harper had parted ways with the band.
He was replaced by Ryan Mendez.
''Lights and Sounds'' failed to reach sales expectations compared to their break-through album ''
Ocean Avenue Ocean Avenue may refer to:
Roads in the United States
* Ocean Avenue (San Francisco), California, see Ocean Avenue/CCSF Pedestrian Bridge station
* Ocean Avenue (Santa Monica), California
* Ocean Avenue (Palm Beach), Florida; see
* Ocean Avenue ( ...
'' (2003).
Violinist Sean Mackin called the group "a little too jaded" and ''Lights and Sounds'' "a little too dark ... We all went a bit too far." Mackin insisted that the band did not see the album as a mistake, but more of a "learning experience".
On October 16, 2006, the band announced over their official website that they were back in the studio doing pre-production.
On January 2, 2007, the band announced they had begun recording a new album. Sessions were held at Ocean Studios in Burbank, California, with producer
Neal Avron
Neal Avron (born December 31, 1965) is an American record producer, mixer, audio engineer, and musician. Working predominantly in rock music, Avron began working on records in 1993 and achieved his production breakthrough when he co-produced Eve ...
, who also handled recording. Erich Talaba did additional engineering, with assistance from Bret Rausch and Bryce Iverson.
Tom Lord-Alge
Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground f ...
mixed the recordings, with assistance from Femio Hernandez, at South Beach Studios in Miami, Florida, before they were mastered by
Ted Jensen
Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''.
Biography
Ted ...
at Sterling Sound.
[ Prior to the album's release, the group released 10 behind-the-scenes videos documenting the recording process via their Myspace profile.][
]
Composition
Shortly after the album's leak and release date, the songs "Shadows and Regrets" and "Five Becomes Four" were first believed to have been written about former guitarist Ben Harper
Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...
, who left the band to focus on his record label, after recording ''Lights and Sounds
''Lights and Sounds'' is the fifth studio album by American Rock music, rock band Yellowcard, released on January 24, 2006, in the United States through Capitol Records. ''Lights and Sounds'' is Yellowcard's first concept album, which was inspire ...
'' last year. However, recently it has been said that "Shadows and Regrets" is about Scott Shad, former drummer of Inspection 12
Inspection 12 is an American pop punk band from Jacksonville, Florida, founded by Robert Reid, Dan McLintock, John Comee and Scott Shad. They have released two full-length recordings internationally, one on Honest Don's Records and one on Suburba ...
and best friend of Ryan Key, who died in a car crash. The song seems to reflect this interpretation better, as the chorus states "We were only kids. And we were best of friends. And we hoped for the best. Let go of the rest." While this could understandably be about Ben Harper, he and Key only met in high school, whereas Key and Shad knew each other their entire lives.
Throughout the months of October 2006 to March 2007, Yellowcard engaged in feedback response with their fans to somewhat suggest or influence the outcome of the upcoming album. When asked about the direction of the album, Ryan Mendez responded that this follow-up to ''Lights and Sounds'' "has the energy and intensity that ''Ocean Avenue'' had and some similarities, but not necessarily exactly the same". He also stated on the official Yellowcard message board on October 21, 2006 that three songs were currently completed and that " ereally thinks fans of both older and newer Yellowcard are going to be very happy."
In an interview with Jason Tate of AbsolutePunk.net released on June 17 (one month before the release of the album), vocalist Ryan Key
William Ryan Key (born December 17, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the pop punk band Yellowcard. He is the owner/operator of a recording studio in Jacksonvil ...
described the album as
Release and promotion
In January 2007, some sample demo songs were released on the band's MySpace, though they were only rough recordings from pre-production and not the final recorded versions. One demo was a 30-second rough recording of "Date Line (I Am Gone)". Another was the intro to "Bombers", which ultimately did not make it onto the album. The first Yellowcard show since October 2006, when the album began production, took place on March 29, 2007 at the Troubadour in Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* 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 ...
. During the show, Yellowcard played two songs from their new album ("Fighting
Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...
" and "The Takedown"). The band played an acoustic set the next night at the Troubadour and also played two new songs, "Shadows and Regrets" and " Light Up the Sky".
In May 2007, the band appeared at The Bamboozle
The Bamboozle is an annual three-day music festival which was held in New Jersey from 2003 to 2012, and is scheduled for a 2023 revival by its founder. Every year, new bands competed for spots during the two days. The event evolved out of the ...
festival. On May 14, 2007, the band revealed that their new album would be titled ''Paper Walls''. Alongside this, "Fighting" was made available for streaming via the band's Myspace account, followed by "Light up the Sky" the next day. On May 18, the album's track listing was revealed. On June 6, 2007, "Five Becomes Four" was posted on their Myspace. A few days later, the cover art for the album was posted on the band's MySpace profile, along with new promotional pictures. The cover art of the album shows the night skyline of Jacksonville
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
, Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, the band's hometown. It was announced in a press release for the album that Paper Walls would be released in an additional CD/DVD format, much in the same vein as ''Lights and Sounds
''Lights and Sounds'' is the fifth studio album by American Rock music, rock band Yellowcard, released on January 24, 2006, in the United States through Capitol Records. ''Lights and Sounds'' is Yellowcard's first concept album, which was inspire ...
'' was the previous year. " Light Up the Sky" was released to radio on June 5. From late June to mid-July, the band went on the 2007 edition of 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 touring ...
.
''Paper Walls'' was made available for streaming on July 10, and released a week later through Capitol.[ Following this, they played a handful of shows across Japan, Australia and Canada, including a few shows in ]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 ...
. From late September to mid November, the group went on a tour of the U.S. with support from Ozma, Shiny Toy Guns
Shiny Toy Guns is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 2002. The band is composed of guitarist/vocalist Chad Petree, vocalist Carah Faye Charnow, keyboardist Jeremy Dawson, and drummer Mikey Martin.
Their first studio alb ...
and Lovedrug
Lovedrug is an American alternative/indie rock band formed in Alliance, Ohio, United States, in 2002 by singer/guitarist Michael Shepard.
History
Lovedrug released their first EP, the ''Lovedrug'' EP, with the follow-up EP, the ''Rocknroll'' ...
. On October 18, it was announced that bassist Peter Mosely left the group to "pursue other endeavors."
In early 2008, the band played some shows in the Middle East for US troops overseas. On January 22, 2008, the band released the live album ''Live From Las Vegas at the Palms'' exclusively through the iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
. In March and April 2008, the band embarked on a headlining US tour, during which they only performed acoustically. They were supported by PlayRadioPlay!, Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France:
Treaties
1200s and 1300s
* Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade
* Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France
* Trea ...
and Secondhand Serenade
Secondhand Serenade is an American rock band, led by vocalist, pianist and guitarist John Vesely. Vesely has released four studio albums to date under the name Secondhand Serenade. The name can also refer to John Vesely alone. His debut album us ...
. In addition, MxPx
MxPx () is an American pop punk band from Bremerton, Washington, founded in 1992 as Magnified Plaid. As of 2016, current members include Mike Herrera on lead vocals and bass guitar, Yuri Ruley on drums and percussion, Tom Wisniewski on lead gui ...
was originally scheduled to support as well, however, they had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts. As a result, the Spill Canvas
The Spill Canvas is an American alternative rock band from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Known for their hits "All Over You" "Our Song" and "Staplegunned", as well as several emo classics like "All Hail the Heartbreaker" "The Tide" and "Polygraph, ...
took their place. On April 25, the band announced they would be going on an indefinite hiatus. Key explained that "It doesn't have anything to do with turmoil in the band. It's more of a, facing adulthood now, and we can't stay in Neverland forever. ... I think we just need a break."
Reception
Critical response
The reactions of critics who have been sent copies of the album to preview before its release have been positive, which has a score of 62 (indicating generally favorable reviews) on Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, 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 arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
which is higher than its predecessor ''Lights and Sounds''.
Jason Tate, webmaster of absolutepunk.net has said it is "the best "pop-punk" album of the past 5 or so years" and Drew Beringer claims it to be "like Ocean Avenue, but with more balls." He went on further to say "The more I listen to Paper Walls by Yellowcard, the more I fall in love with it. It has been a long time since a pop-punk album has really enthralled me. Everyone is going to dig this." Allmusic was satisfied with ''Paper Walls'' and claimed "Yellowcard is neither the flashiest nor the most popular among the new millennium's pop-punk bands but their fifth album Paper Walls goes a long way in proving that they are among the best of their breed."
With positive critical reception from critics, fans enjoyed ''Paper Walls'' as well. This is shown on Metacritic with a 7.6 out of 10, indicating generally positive reviews.
Commercial performance
Following the album's release, it debuted at number 13 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200, selling about 40,000 copies in its first week, which is less than half of the first week sales of their previous studio album, Lights and Sounds. In its second week, ''Paper Walls'' fell to #46, selling 17,000 units. On week three it hit #70 with sales of about 10,000 copies, and on week four it fell to #92, selling 7,000 copies that week. A total of 74,000 copies were sold in the first four weeks of release.[Katie Hasty]
"'NOW 25' Scores 12th No. 1 Album Of The Series"
, Billboard.com, July 25, 2007.
The lead single, " Light Up the Sky", peaked at #32 '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 ...
'' Adult Top 40 Tracks
The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen B ...
in the U.S.
Track listing
All lyrics by Ryan Key
William Ryan Key (born December 17, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the pop punk band Yellowcard. He is the owner/operator of a recording studio in Jacksonvil ...
, except "Dear Bobbie" by Key and William Alexander Speir. All music by Yellowcard.[
* "Gift and Curses" (Live & Acoustic) and "How I Go" (Live & Acoustic) were made available on the deluxe DVD of the album.
]
Personnel
Personnel per booklet.
Yellowcard
* Ryan Key
William Ryan Key (born December 17, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the pop punk band Yellowcard. He is the owner/operator of a recording studio in Jacksonvil ...
– lead vocals, guitar
* Sean Mackin – violin, strings and choir arrangement
* Ryan Mendez – lead guitar
* Peter Mosely
Peter Michael Mosely (born June 6, 1980) is an American rock musician. He is one of the two guitarists and vocalists and the pianist for the American punk rock band Inspection 12, as well as the former bassist for the American pop punk band Yell ...
– bass guitar, keyboards, piano
* Longineu W. Parsons III – drums
Additional musicians
* Rodney Wirtz – viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
* Christine Choi – cello
Design
* Bill McMillin – art direction, photography
Production
* Neal Avron
Neal Avron (born December 31, 1965) is an American record producer, mixer, audio engineer, and musician. Working predominantly in rock music, Avron began working on records in 1993 and achieved his production breakthrough when he co-produced Eve ...
– producer, recording
* Erich Talaba – additional engineering
* Bret Rausch – assistant engineer
* Bryce Iverson – assistant engineer
* Tom Lord-Alge
Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground f ...
– mixing
* Femio Hernandez – mix assistant
* Ted Jensen
Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''.
Biography
Ted ...
– mastering
Choir on "Paper Walls"
* Leanna Brand (contractor
A contractor is a person or company that performs work on a contract basis. The term may refer to:
Business roles
* Defense contractor, arms industry which provides weapons or military goods to a government
* General contractor, an individual o ...
)
* Emme Lehmann
* Vili Lehmann
* Amy Fogerson
* Nicholas Harper
* Casey Rae Hands
* Zoƫ Merrill
* Daniel O'Brien
* Antonella Quintana
* Ann Marie Rizzo
* Bobbi Page
* Edie Lehmann
* Helene Quintana
Charts
Album
Singles
References
External links
''Paper Walls''
at YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
(streamed copy where licensed)
First official press release with all information on new album
{{Authority control
Yellowcard albums
2007 albums
Capitol Records albums
Albums produced by Neal Avron