''Survival of the Sickest'' is the fourth 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

Saliva Saliva (commonly referred to as spit) is an extracellular fluid produced and secreted by salivary glands in the mouth. In humans, saliva is around 99% water, plus electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells (from which DNA can be ...

. It was released on August 17, 2004. "No Hard Feelings" is the only song which features rap vocals in the bridge and it also has the same exact lyrics in "No Regrets" just using a different musical approach to both songs. The album produced two singles: "Survival of the Sickest" in June 2004, and "Razor's Edge" in November 2004. The title track was featured in the video games '' NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup'' and '' Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood'', and was the official theme song for

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

's Unforgiven 2004

pay per view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

Background and development

In an interview with

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, lead singer

Josey Scott Joseph Scott Sappington (born May 3, 1972) is an American musician, best known as the former lead vocalist of the rock band Saliva. In addition to Saliva, Scott co-wrote and performed "Hero" (which was used as one of the theme songs to the 200 ...

explained how he and the band changed their approach to crafting the album by cooling down on the girls and partying so that they're "well rested and well prepared" to record material that Scott made on his free time: "On our last tour, I personally got in the back of the tour bus with a little Wal-Mart tape recorder and just started beating these songs out. So when we went into the studio this time, I was prepared. I had 25 songs ready to go."

Critical reception

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' writer Sean Richardson found the album going back to the band's early hard rock sound from their 1997 self-titled debut, praising Josey Scott for crafting tracks that pay tribute to 80s hair metal and penning both "aching redemption songs and seething revenge tirades" that make it more contemporary. Johnny Loftus 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 ...

was mixed about the material throughout the record, criticizing the band's foray into "glowering, melodramatic plods ("No Regrets, Vol. 2", "Eyes Open")" and slumming with "massively compressed, hard-head rockers ("Carry On", "Fuck All Y'All")" but highlighted the title track, "Rock & Roll Revolution" and "Razor's Edge" for containing quality hard rock credentials with a Southern style, concluding with "That said, it's too bad the rest of ''Survival of the Sickest'' panders to unimaginative industry and genre posturing."

Chuck Klosterman Charles John Klosterman (; born 1972) is an American author and essayist whose work focuses on American popular culture. He has been a columnist for '' Esquire'' and ESPN.com and wrote "The Ethicist" column for ''The New York Times Magazine''. K ...

, writing for ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'', criticized Scott's musical craftsmanship on the album for giving the band a "crisis of confidence" when delivering his skewed vision of rock music, concluding that "Still, there's some

Godsmack Godsmack is an American rock band from Lawrence, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The band is composed of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Sully Erna, bassist Robbie Merrill, lead guitarist Tony Rombola and drummer Shannon Larkin. Since its forma ...

ian guitar work on ''Survival of the Sickest'', and the production has a

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

-esque vastness that will undoubtedly sound good on terrible radio stations across the U.S."

Track listing

Chart positions

;Album ;Singles

Credits

Credits adapted from album’s liner notes. Saliva *

- lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion *Wayne Swinny - lead guitar, backing vocals *Chris D'Abaldo - rhythm guitar, backing vocals *Dave Novotny - bass, backing vocals *Paul Crosby - drums Additional personnel *Paul Ebersol – producer, strings, keyboards, drum programming *Matt Martone — engineer *

Skidd Mills Skidd Mills is a songwriter/producer based in Nashville, Tennessee. Skidd began his career at Ardent Studios in 1991. There he learned from the likes of John Hampton, Joe Hardy, Jim Dickinson, and Paul Ebersold. In 2001, Skidd left Ardent and start ...

— mixing (tracks 1-3, 5-10, 12-14) * Andy Wallace — mixing (tracks 4, 11) *

Howie Weinberg Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer with over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize. Career Weinberg mastered Herbie Hancock's 1983 album ''Future Shock''. Other m ...

— mastering

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Survival Of The Sickest Saliva (band) albums 2004 albums Island Records albums