''War Is the Answer'' is the second studio album by American
heavy metal band
Five Finger Death Punch
Five Finger Death Punch, also abbreviated as 5FDP or FFDP, is an American heavy metal band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2005. The band originally consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Ivan Moody, rhythm guitarist Zoltan Bathory, lead gui ...
. It was released on September 22, 2009 through
Prospect Park. The album debuted at number seven on the
''Billboard'' 200, selling approximately 44,000 copies in its first week. It is the band's last album to feature bassist Matt Snell, who departed in late 2010, and the first with
Jason Hook
Jason Hook (born Thomas Jason Grinstead) is a Canadian guitarist, best known as the former lead guitarist of the Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch.
Early life
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Hook started his music career ...
. ''War Is the Answer'' has been certified platinum in the U.S., with sales of 1,000,000.
Writing and recording
''War Is the Answer'' was announced as Five Finger Death Punch's second studio album in May 2009. The album was produced by Kevin Churko, who had previously produced
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...
's ''
Black Rain'', and mixed by
Randy Staub
Randy Staub is a Canadian recording engineer. He has been nominated for the Juno Awards' " Recording Engineer of the Year" award 12 times. He won in 2002 for the songs "How You Remind Me" and "Too Bad" by Nickelback.Peebles, Frank (April 4, 2008). ...
, who had previously worked with
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
,
Nickelback
Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta. It is composed of guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Daniel Adai ...
, and
Stone Sour
Stone Sour is an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand ...
.
Guitarist Zoltan Bathory, commenting on the style of the album, stated "we've continued the journey we started on the first album, so there's a healthy balance of melody and aggression, and as always we concentrated on writing strong metal songs in the traditional sense."
Bathory said to ''
Metal Hammer
''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...
'' about the album title:
"It's a phrase we've had up our sleeve for some time, and I've been talking about it a lot in interviews. In fact, somebody just said to me: 'If war is the answer, then what is the question?', and I guess the answer to that is 'life'! Basically, you're fighting against something or other right from the start – fighting for survival with pretty much everything against you, and there are occasions when the only really appropriate response is to punch someone in the mouth! It's a pretty involved subject once you really start to think about it, and this record covers it all – the deeper meaning and of course the more shallow one too!"
Singles
Six singles were released from the album: "
Hard to See
"Hard to See" is a song by American heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch. The song was released as the first single from their second album ''War Is the Answer'', and their fourth single overall. The single was released on July 21, 2009.
It ...
", "
Walk Away", "Dying Breed", "No One Gets Left Behind", "
Bad Company
Bad Company are an English rock supergroup that was formed in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Boz Burrell.Bad Company ''AllMusic'' Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, also ...
", and "
Far from Home Far from Home may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Far from Home'' (1975 film), a 1975 Iranian film
* ''Far from Home'' (1989 film), a 1989 American thriller
* '' Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog'', a 1994 American adventure film
* ...
". "Hard to See" began receiving radio play on July 13, 2009. The song was noted for having "undeniable melodies". According to Bathory, the song is about people being attached to opinions based on limited amounts of information.
It is also a playable track in the video game ''
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock''.
The second single, "Walk Away", was released on November 2, 2009 and appeared in ''Tap Tap Revenge 3'' as one of their weekly free tracks and also was used as the theme song for
TNA's 2010 PPV
Lockdown
A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely.
The term is used for a prison ...
. The next two singles, "Dying Breed", released on November 16, 2009, and "No One Gets Left Behind", released on March 8, 2010, were both released exclusively in the UK.
The band released their cover of
Bad Company
Bad Company are an English rock supergroup that was formed in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Boz Burrell.Bad Company ''AllMusic'' Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, also ...
's song "Bad Company" as the fifth single on May 17, 2010. "Far from Home" was released as the sixth single on September 16, 2010. "Far from Home" was also featured as the incidental music over the closing scenes of the TV drama show ''
Criminal Minds
''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was r ...
'' episode "What Happens at Home".
Release
Although ''War Is the Answer'' was originally announced to be released on June 8, 2009, this was put back to October 6, 2009,
then brought forward to September 22, 2009.
On August 10, 2009, they announced the first leg of their Shock and Raw Tour, which will promote the new album. The second leg was announced on August 17, 2009.
"Bad Company" was originally only played live. One of Jeremy's friends told him Five Finger Death Punch should record "Bad Company" and release it on their next album, ''War Is the Answer''. "Bad Company" was originally going to be a bonus track, but ended up making the standard edition of the album and became one of Five Finger Death Punch's biggest songs.
The two bonus tracks, "Succubus" and "Undone", were originally cut from their first album ''The Way of the Fist''. A demo version of "Succubus" was leaked onto the Internet under the title "Hate Me". The band decided to re-record both songs and include them as bonus tracks on ''War Is the Answer''. According to
Jeremy Spencer
Jeremy Cedric Spencer (born 4 July 1948) is a British musician, best known for playing slide guitar and piano in the original line-up of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. A member since Fleetwood Mac's inception in July 1967, he remained with the ...
's book ''Death Punch'd'', Jeremy was drunk while editing "Succubus" and forgot to save the original edit.
"Never Enough" was going to be on ''War Is the Answer'' but was then released as a bonus track on both the re-release and "The "Iron Fist" edition" of ''The Way of the Fist'' due to the band wanting to release the song before ''War Is the Answer''.
Track listing
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Personnel
;Five Finger Death Punch
*
Ivan Moody
Ivan L. Moody (born Ivan Lewis Greening on January 7, 1980) is an American singer and songwriter who is the lead vocalist of Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch (FFDP). He performed for several other bands including Mo ...
– vocals
*
Zoltan Bathory
Zoltan Bathory (born in 1978) is a Hungarian-American musician and martial artist. He is the founder and rhythm guitarist of Las Vegas-based heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch. In 2010, he was named Golden God's "Best Shredder" by ''Meta ...
– rhythm guitar
*
Jason Hook
Jason Hook (born Thomas Jason Grinstead) is a Canadian guitarist, best known as the former lead guitarist of the Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch.
Early life
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Hook started his music career ...
– lead guitar, backing vocals
* Matt Snell – bass, backing vocals
*
Jeremy Spencer
Jeremy Cedric Spencer (born 4 July 1948) is a British musician, best known for playing slide guitar and piano in the original line-up of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. A member since Fleetwood Mac's inception in July 1967, he remained with the ...
– drums
*
Darrell Roberts
Darrell Roberts is an American guitarist best known as a former member of the heavy metal bands W.A.S.P. and Five Finger Death Punch.
Career
In 2002, Roberts debuted as a member of the heavy metal band W.A.S.P. In 2005, he left the band an ...
- writing credit on "Bulletproof"
;Production
*
Kevin Churko
Kevin Gregory Churko (born 19 January 1968) is a Canadian record producer, sound engineer and musician best known for his work with artists such as Ozzy Osbourne, Papa Roach, Hinder, Modern Science, Five Finger Death Punch, Disturbed, In This M ...
– producer
*
Randy Staub
Randy Staub is a Canadian recording engineer. He has been nominated for the Juno Awards' " Recording Engineer of the Year" award 12 times. He won in 2002 for the songs "How You Remind Me" and "Too Bad" by Nickelback.Peebles, Frank (April 4, 2008). ...
– mixing
;Imagery
* Sxv'leithan Essex and Zoltan Bathory – art direction and design
* Alyson Blanchard – live photo
* Nathan Gallagher – military photos
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:War Is the Answer
2009 albums
Albums produced by Kevin Churko
Five Finger Death Punch albums
Spinefarm Records albums