''Taking One for the Team'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian

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 Simple Plan. It was released on February 19, 2016 through Atlantic Records and represents the band's first full-length record in nearly five years. Following the release of three

buzz single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

s in mid-2015, the band released " I Don't Wanna Go to Bed" featuring American rapper Nelly as the official

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

for the album on October 16, 2015. It debuted at number 4 on the Canadian Albums Chart, earning the band their fourth consecutive top-5 and a perfect streak of top-10s for their first five studio albums. It is the band's final album release as a quintet, as bassist David Desrosiers left Simple Plan in July 2020 due to sexual misconduct allegations. It is also the band's last album released through Atlantic, as the band fulfilled their contract to the label with this album.

Production

Sessions for ''Taking One for the Team'' were held at West Valley Studios in Woodland Hills, California and Sparky Dark Studio in Calabasas, California.

Howard Benson Howard Benson is an American music producer and multi-instrumentalist. He was nominated for the Producer of the Year Grammy Award in 2007 and 2008. Early life and education Benson was born and raised in a middle-class family in greater Philad ...

produced all of the songs, with co-production from Ryan Stewart on "Perfectly Perfect", while recording was handled by Mike Plotnikoff and Hatsukazu "Hatch" Inagaki. Paul DeCarli did digital editing, and Wendell Teague and Chris Bousquet served as assistant engineers.

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 Ev ...

mixed the recordings, with assistance from Scott Skrzynski, at The Casita in Hollywood, California. Chris Gehringer mastered the album at Sterling Sound in New York City.

Singles

" I Don't Wanna Go to Bed" was released October 16, 2015 as the album's official lead single. The song features pop and funk influences in a stylistic departure from the

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 p ...

and

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

of the group is earlier work. A ''

Baywatch ''Baywatch'' is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bo ...

''-inspired music video premiered October 15, 2015 – a day before the song's digital release. It has since peaked outside the top 50 on the Canadian Hot 100 at number 54. " Singing in the Rain" was released as second single from the album on March 25, 2016. However, the single version of the song does not feature

R. City R. City (short for Rock City; and formerly Planet VI) is a Virgin Islands musical duo formed in 2003, from Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The duo is composed of brothers Theron "Uptown AP" Thomas and Timothy "A.I." Thomas. Primarily known ...

. The music video for "Singing in the Rain was released on April 12, 2016; set in the 1960s, it was a tribute to the movie '' That Thing You Do''. "Perfectly Perfect" was announced as the third official single on September 26, 2016.

Other songs

The first song released from the era was "Saturday" on June 22, 2015. In September 2015, drummer Chuck Comeau revealed the song would not be featured on the album. "Boom" was released August 28, 2015 as the second

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

after its music video premiered a day earlier. A third buzz track, "I Don't Wanna Be Sad", was released September 18, 2015. Initially presumed to be the album's first official single, it was later announced to be a promotional track only. The band released the album tracks steadily leading up to the release date. A music video for " Opinion Overload" was released on February 5, 2016. "Farewell" was released on February 14, followed by "I Refuse" on February 15, "Nostalgic", "P.S. I Hate You" and "Perfectly Perfect". At the end of the album, Canadian sports announcer Bob Cole calls a fictional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

game featuring Simple Plan, concluding with, "Oh my goodness, can you believe it? Just like that, Simple Plan have won the game!".

Reception

''Taking One for the Team'' received generally favorable reviews from music critics. On

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, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 65 based on 4 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Neil Z. Yeung 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 databa ...

called the record "pure, no-frills, feel-good fun, a start-to-finish crowd-pleaser for fans of that classic pop-punk sound." He concluded about the band's musical stance they made with their album: "When music is presented this directly, and after so many years holding firm to a particular style, it's hard to root against them ��Simple Plan -- whose members were in their late thirties at the time of recording -- are the comeback underdog team, winning whether critics like it or not." Collin Brennan of ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

'' commended the band for their longevity and continuation to deliver "earnest sentimentalism" through "heavy music for people who don't like heavy music" but was heavily critical towards their attempts at different soundscapes on "Singing in the Rain" and "I Don't Wanna Go to Bed", concluding that " en their punches land, you want to bless these guys for sticking to their guns and not growing up. But the misses are real and painful, and they make ''Taking One For the Team'' a far more embarrassing listen than it needed to be."

Track listing

All writing credits per booklet. ;Bonus tracks

Charts

Personnel

Personnel per booklet. Simple Plan * Pierre Bouvier – lead vocals, backing vocals *

Chuck Comeau Charles-André "Chuck" Comeau (born 17 September 1979) is a Canadian musician and drummer, best known for being the drummer of the rock band Simple Plan. He also founded the apparel company Role Model Clothing along with his bandmate Pierre Bouv ...

– drums, backing vocals * David Desrosiers – bass, backing vocals * Sebastien Lefebvre – rhythm guitars, backing vocals * Jeff Stinco – lead guitars, backing vocals Additional musicians * Lenny Skolnik – programming, keyboards, additional backing vocals *

–

Hammond B3 Hammond may refer to: People * Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist * Hammond (surname) * Justice Hammond (disambiguation) Places Antarctica * Hammond Glacier, Antarctica Australia * Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in S ...

Vox Continental The Vox Continental is a transistorised combo organ that was manufactured between 1962 and 1971 by the British musical equipment manufacturer Vox. It was designed for touring musicians and as an alternative to the heavy Hammond organ. It supp ...

* Jonny Litten – additional backing vocals * Chady Awad – additional backing vocals *

Melanie Fontana Melanie Joy Fontana (born October 3, 1986)Joyce Cohen''New York Times'', December 26, 2004. is an American singer, composer and songwriter signed to Universal Music Group. Early life Fontana was born in Newington, Connecticut. She moved to New Y ...

– additional backing vocals * Sidnie Tipton – additional backing vocals * Myah Langston – additional backing vocals *

Jordan Pundik Jordan Izaak Pundik (born October 12, 1979) is an American musician and songwriter. He is a founding member and the frontman of Floridian rock band New Found Glory, for whom he sings lead vocals and contributes lyrics. He was also the guitarist ...

– guest vocals (track 4) * Nelly – guest vocals (track 8) *

Juliet Simms Juliet Nicole Simms (born February 26, 1986), also known as Lilith Czar, is an American musician, songwriter, and entrepreneur. She established a fan base as the front woman of the band Automatic Loveletter. In 2007 - in the band's earliest ye ...

– guest vocals (track 14) *

– guest vocals (track 5) * Bob Cole –

play-by-play announcer In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio wa ...

Production and design * Howard Benson – producer *

– mixing * Mike Plotnikoff – recording * Hatsukazu "Hatch" Inagaki – recording * Paul DeCarli – digital editing * Gersh – drum technician * Marc VanGool – guitar technician * Wendell Teague – assistant engineer * Chris Bousquet – assistant engineer * Scott Skrzynski – mixing assistant * Chris Gehringer – mastering * Ryan Stewart – co-producer (track 10) * Chapman Baehler – album photography * Simple Plan – art direction, concept * Fred Jérôme – art direction, concept, layout design

References

{{Authority control 2016 albums Albums produced by Howard Benson Atlantic Records albums Simple Plan albums